The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration has selected Jamie Bradshaw, Johnny Puckett, Paul Robbins, Sam Sorrell and Amy Trimble to judge the 84^th Annual Celebration.  The panel is a combination of two veterans, three total judges with Celebration experience and two newcomers to center ring at The Celebration.

            “We are excited to select such a diverse group of judges that blends experience with newcomers to our show,” said Celebration CEO Warren Wells.  He continued, “Our board takes very seriously the process of selecting our judging panel with a continued goal of selecting the best judges available.  We feel once again this year we have achieved this goal.”

            Sorrell, from Lexington, Ky., will be making his eighth appearance in center ring at The Celebration.  Sorrell is a veteran across the industry circuit and most recently judged the FAST Spring Showcase earlier in 2022 after judging four major venues in 2021.  Bradshaw, of Arab, Ala., will be marking the cards for the sixth time, his last appearance coming in 2019.  Bradshaw recently judged the Fun Show earlier this spring and just completed an assignment at the Money Tree Classic. 

            Robbins, from Shiloh, N.C., previously judged The Celebration in 2014 and most recently worked for The Celebration at the 2021 Celebration Fall Classic.  Robbins also judged over the recently completed 4^th of July shows at the three-day Christmas in July horse show.

            Both Puckett and Trimble will judge at The Celebration for the first time.  Puckett, from Shelbyville, Tenn., will be a rookie at The Celebration but has previously worked a Celebration show at the 2018 Spring Fun Show.  Puckett’s resume since 2018 includes the North Carolina Championships, Belfast, Fun Show, Fayetteville, National Trainers’ Show, FAST Spring Showcase, Money Tree Classic and Puckett recently judged the Christmas in July show on panel that included Robbins.

            Trimble, from Pulaski, Tenn., judged the Columbia Spring Jubilee earlier this show season.  Trimble’s judging resume includes judging the Celebration Fall Classic in 2010 and in 2021 as well as stops at the Marshall County Horsemen’s Association, Mississippi Charity, and Money Tree Classic.

            The 84^th Annual Celebration will be held August 24-September 3, 2022.  For more information please visit www.TWHNC.com.

2022 CELEBRATION TENTATIVE CLASS SCHEDULE

The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration recently received its tentative class sheet back from its committee for the 84^th Annual Celebration.  The class schedule has major changes as 2022 will mark the first Wednesday evening session of The Celebration®.  The TWHBEA Futurity, which has traditionally been held on the first Wednesday evening of The Celebration®, will now have its classes as part of the traditional Celebration classes during the 16 sessions.

The first Wednesday evening will still host four Futurity only classes in the yearling fillies and stallions and weanling fillies and stallions and will be held in Calsonic Arena meaning just as in previous years. Thursday’s evening session will be the first in the outdoor Celebration Arena.

“The move to incorporate The Futurity as well as add a 16^th session will allow us to further spread out some of our classes, keep our session lengths manageable and increase the competition across our divisions,” said Celebration CEO Warren Wells.

Another new change that has received an overwhelming positive response is the addition of the Two-Year-Old Mares World Grand Championship on the second Friday evening.  The Celebration’s committee has also included an Open Canter class on the second Wednesday evening that replaces the 15.2 & Under Canter from previous years.  This class will be a qualifier to the Tennessee Walking Horse World Grand Championship.

“We would really like to thank our committee that worked so diligently on this task.  This year provided some unique challenges and opportunities with some of the changes that were incorporated so we are especially grateful for the committee’s hard work,” said Wells.

The class sheet committee is chaired by Jennifer Bingham and includes Nathan Clark, Justin Jenne’, Laurie Toone, Howard Hamilton, Amy Trimble, and Chris Hazelwood.  The Celebration® will send out the schedule to industry organizations, post on its web site and include in industry publications for trainers, owners and exhibitors to review and send in comments. 

All comments should be completed by Friday May 13^th and sent to Connie Allen at callen@twhnc.com.

After a 10% increase in entries in 2020, The Celebration® announced a total of 2,262 pre-show entries for the upcoming 83^rd Annual Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration®.  The 2,262 total is up 10 entries from last year.  “We are extremely pleased with the entries for our upcoming show.  With such a large increase last year, the ability for us to continue to add entries year over year continues the positive trends we are seeing in the industry,” said Celebration CEO Warren Wells.

The number of unique horses that make up the 2,262 entries also increased from last year.  In 2020, 1,311 different horses were entered at The Celebration®.  In 2021 that number jumped to 1,320 horses.  “Being the world championship horse show, we want to host as many horses as we possibly can, and we look forward to continuing to grow this number over the next several years,” said Wells.

The 1,320 horses competing is a jump of 120 horses over two years ago.  This number has been continually rising and this year’s increase is another positive sign.  The 83^rd Annual Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration will be held August 25^th through September 4^th. 

2021 CELEBRATION® ENTRY FORM

2021 CELEBRATION® CREDIT CARD AUTHORIZATION FORM

2021 CELEBRATION® PRIZE DISBURSEMENT FORM

2021 CELEBRATION® CLASS SCHEDULE-SPLITS

2021 QUALIFYING CLASSES

2020 CELEBRATION® PREMIUM BOOK

The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration has selected Chris Bobo, Derek Bonner, Brent Grider, David Sisk and Dale Watts to judge its 83^rd Annual Celebration, the premier event on the Tennessee Walking Horse industry’s calendar.  The panel will include a newcomer to center ring in Watts and includes judges from Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina and Mississippi.

            “We are excited about this panel which includes such a diverse geographic representation and includes some valuable experience along with a newcomer that recently judged our Fun Show.  We look forward to a great Celebration that continues the momentum we’ve seen thus far this show season,” said Celebration CEO Warren Wells.

            The Celebration affiliates with the SHOW Horse Industry Organization and thus selects is judges from the SHOW HIO certified judges’ list.  The SHOW HIO has 70 total judges but only 54 of which hold a AAA or better license, which is a Celebration requirement.  The Celebration sends an email to all AAA or better judges asking if they have a desire and availability to judge The Celebration and would like to be considered.  Of the 54 eligible, 28 responded they would like to be considered. 

            The Celebration has a committee that vets the candidates and puts together a slate that is then ratified by the entire board.  Both the committee and board votes only require a majority vote.

            Sisk, from Columbia, Tenn., will be marking the cards for the fourth time.  Sisk previously judged the Celebration in 2014, 2015 and 2018.  Sisk has judged the Fun Show, Tunica, Gulf Coast Charity, North Carolina Championships, Alabama Jubilee, Mississippi Charity and National Trainers’ Show demonstrating his appeal across a wide range of the industry.  Sisk also just judged the Christmas in July show over the 4^th.

            Bobo, from Shelbyville, Tenn., will also be making his fourth appearance in center ring having judged The Celebration previously in 2012, 2016 and 2017.  Bobo also judged the Christmas in July show over the 4^th and has almost every major show on his resume, including the International Pleasure and Colt show.  He has also judged the Fun Show, Tunica, Gulf Coast Charity, Mississippi Charity, Alabama Jubilee, North Carolina Championships and Pulaski just to name a few.

            Bonner, from Mooresboro, N.C., will be making his third trip to judge the world championships.  Bonner previously judged the Celebration in 2013 and 2015.  Bonner judged the Columbia Spring Jubilee this year and has also judged the Fun Show, Mississippi Charity, multiple 4^th of July shows, National Trainers’ Show and FAST Spring Showcase.

            Grider, from Columbia, Ky., will be judging the Celebration for the second time with his first being in 2012.  Grider has judged most of the industry’s premier events and also judged the Columbia Spring Jubilee this year.  Grider has judged multiple times at the Columbia Spring Jubilee as well as judging the Kentucky Celebration, Alabama Jubilee, Gulf Coast Charity, National Trainers’ Show three times, Marshall County and at the 4^th of July.

            Watts, from Summit, Miss., doubles as a walking horse trainer and also as a Hall of Fame girls and boys high school basketball coach in Mississippi.  Watts will be marking the cards for the first time, but recently worked for The Celebration at its 2021 Spring Fun Show.  Watts has also previously judged Woodbury Lions Club, Alabama Jubilee, North Carolina Championships, FAST Spring Showcase and Marshall County.

            “It is the board’s goal each year to put forth a panel capable of judging at the highest level in our halter, pleasure and performance divisions.  We feel confident this group meets that standard and provides all of our exhibitors with a level playing field,” said Celebration Board Chairman David Crowell.  The 83^rd Annual Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration will be held August 25^th – September 4^th.

The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration® has finalized and released the final class schedule for the 83rd Annual Celebration. In late 2020, The Celebration® formed a committee to review its class sheet and make recommendations for changes that would take into account past participation, industry trends and overall fan experience.

The committee was chaired by Jennifer Bingham and consisted of Nathan Clark, Justin Jenne’, Laurie Toone, Howard Hamilton and Amy Trimble. “We can’t thank the members of this committee enough for their hard work and how much thought and time they put into this task. We weren’t able to take all of the recommendations but we were able to incorporate most of them and our show will benefit as a result,” said board member Jeffrey Howard.

The committee released a tentative class sheet earlier this year and during the comment period the Celebration received over 70 comments regarding the schedule. “We were pleasantly surprised and encouraged by the number of comments and the overall interest level we received,” said Celebration Director of Operations Connie Allen.

The Celebration® will keep its committee in place and have them again look at the class sheet after this year’s show and make sure changes continue to reflect the areas of growth and participation levels. Classes that continue to have limited or declining participation will be looked at to eliminate and/or consolidate. “Our ultimate goal is to have the most competitive show we can have that is entertaining for our fans and ends at a reasonable time each evening,” concluded Howard.

Click here to view the schedule:

Class Schedule Splits

Qualifying Classes

The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration recently formed a committee to review and recommend changes to the Celebration’s class schedule. The committee has met over the last couple of months and reviewed past schedules, participation levels, industry trends and other criteria to come up with an initial class schedule.

The Celebration will be sending the schedule out in a tentative form to many of the leading industry groups as well as including it on their web site and publishing the schedule in industry publications. There will be a 30-day comment period that will end on Friday March 12, 2021. Comments will then be reviewed by the committee and a final class sheet released around the first of April.

The committee consists of Jennifer Bingham who chaired the committee and Nathan Clark, Justin Jenne’, Laurie Toone, Howard Hamilton and Amy Trimble. “We can’t thank the committee enough for their hard work and thoughtful discussions that have led us to a better place in our class schedule. This is a hard task and it is impossible to meet everyone’s needs but the work done is a major step in the right direction. We look forward to getting comments back from owners, exhibitors and trainers to continue to make changes that will improve our schedule,” said Celebration director Jeffrey Howard.

The tentative class sheet will show classes listed in red that have had changes made to them. Changes include moving classes to another day/night or changing, adding or deleting a class. Below is a summary of the changes recommended by the committee:

Model Pleasure Walking Geldings moved from Thur AM to Mon AM

Added Lite-Shod Two-Year-Old Walking Horses, O/T

Added Trail Pleasure Walking Horses, O/T

Park Pleasure Walking Horses, Five Years and Under, O/T moved to Thur PM

O/A Riders on Three-Year-Old English Trail Pleasure Walking Horses combined with O/A Riders on Three-Year-Old Western Walking Horses into O/A Riders on Three-Year-Old Trail Pleasure Horses, O/T

O/A Riders on Western Country Pleasure Walking Horses, Five and Under combined with O/A Riders on English Country Pleasure Walking Horses, Five and Under into O/A Riders on Four and Five-Year-Old Country Pleasure Walking Horses, O/T

Added Amateur Owned and Trained Country Pleasure Walking Horses O/T

Removed O/A Riders on Trail Pleasure Walking Horses, O/T Canter

Western Trail Pleasure Walking Horses, Five Years & Under combined with English Trail Pleasure Walking Horses, Five Years & Under into Five-Year-Old Trail Pleasure Walking Horses, O/T on Thur AM & Four-Year-Old Trail Pleasure Walking Horses, O/T on Fri AM

Added Amateur Owned and Trained All Day Pleasure Walking Horses, O/T

Added Park Pleasure Two-Year-Old Walking Horses, O/T

Changed Park Pleasure Walking Horses O/T to Park Pleasure English Walking Horses & moved to Sat PM

O/A Riders on English Trail Pleasure Walking Horses, Five Years and Under combined with O/A Riders on Western Trail Pleasure Walking Horses, Five Years and Under into O/A Riders on Five-Year-Old Trail Pleasure Walking Horses, O/T and moved to Sat AM & O/A Riders on Four-Year-Old Trail Pleasure Walking Horses, O/T & moved to Thur PM

O/A Riders on Walking Horses, Classic Horses moved to Mon PM

Walking Mares or Geldings 15.2 & Under (Canter) combined with Walking Stallions 15.2 & Under (Canter) into Walking Stallions, Mares or Geldings 15.2 & Under (Canter) & moved to Tues PM

Combined Amateur Owned & Trained Western Trail Pleasure Walking Horses with Amateur Owned & Trained English Walking Horses into Amateur Owned & Trained Trail Pleasure Walking Horses, O/T on Mon AM

Added Four-Year-Old Trail Pleasure Walking Horses, O/T

Moved O/A Youth Riders 6-11 on All Day Pleasure Walking Horses, O/T to Fri AM

Moved Two-Year-Old Walking Geldings to Wed PM

Changed Lite-Shod Walking Horses, O/T to Lite-Shod English Walking Horses

Moved Two-Year-Old Walking Mares to Tues PM

O/A Riders on Walking Pony Stallions combined with O/A Riders on Walking Pony Mares or Geldings into O/A Riders on Walking Ponies and moved to Mon PM

Moved O/A Novice Gentlemen Riders on Novice Walking Mares or Geldings to Sat PM

Moved Lite-Shod Western Walking Horses to Sat PM

Moved O/A Riders on Two-Year-Old Walking Mares or Geldings to Sun PM

Moved O/A Riders on Four-Year-Old Walking Mares or Geldings to Tues PM

Moved Two-Year-Old Trail Pleasure Walking Horses, O/T to Mon PM

Added Show Pleasure Walking Horses, Five Years and Under

Lite-Shod Walking Horses WGC O/T changed to Lite-Shod English Walking Horses WGC & moved to Thur PM & Lite-Shod Western Walking Horses WGC & moved to Thur PM

Park Pleasure Walking Horses WGC O/T changed to Park Pleasure English Walking Horses WGC & moved to Sat PM & Park Pleasure Western Walking Horses WGC, on Thur PM

O/A Two-Year-Old Walking Horses WGC moved to Thur PM

O/A Youth Riders 6-11 on Walking Mares or Gelding WGC moved to Sat PM

Removed O/A Riders on Walking Ponies WGC

O/A Youth Riders 6-17 on Walking Ponies WGC moved to Fri PM

O/A Youth Riders 6-17 on Show Pleasure Walking Mares or Geldings WGC moved to Sat PM

O/A Riders on Walking Horses 15.2 & Under WGC moved to Fri PM

Added O/A Riders on All Day Pleasure Walking Horses WGC to Thur PM

Moved the Four-Year-Old WGC to Thur PM

Moved Park Performance Walking Horses WGC to Fri PM

Added Trail Pleasure Walking Horses, Three & Under WGC O/T to Fri PM

Moved O/A Trail Pleasure Walking Horses, Three & Under WGC O/T to Sat PM

Moved Show Pleasure Walking Horses WGC to Fri PM

Removed Trail Pleasure Walking Horses, Five Years & Under WGC O/T

Moved O/A Riders on Country Pleasure Walking Horses, O/T to Sat PM

Moved O/A Novice Riders on Novice Walking Horses WGC to Thur PM

Moved Walking Horse Specialty WGC to Sat PM

Moved Two-Year-Old Walking Horses WGC to last class Fri PM

Moved the O/A Riders On Lite-Shod Walking Horses WGC O/T to Fri PM

Moved the O/A Youth 6-17 Trail Pleasure WGC O/T to Fri PM

Removed O/A Riders on Trail Pleasure Walking Horses, Five Years & Under WGC  O/T

Added Trail Pleasure Walking Horses WGC O/T

Added Retired Trainers Class Sat PM

Moved Equitation 6-11 to Sat AM

Moved Equitation 12-14 & Equitation 15-17 to Wed AM

Moved Equitation WGC to last class on Sat AM

Added Youth 6-17 Lite-Shod 

Added Youth 6-17 Park Pleasure 

Added Youth Yearling, Handlers 12-17

Added Mare & Foal

O/A – Owner Amateur
O/T – Optional Tack

*All comments should be submitted to Connie Allen, Celebration Director of Operations, at callen@twhnc.com.  For more information you can also reach out to any of the committee members directly.