82ND ANNUAL TENNESSEE WALKING HORSE NATIONAL CELEBRATION®
August 26 – September 5, 2020
ENTRY DEADLINE – TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2020
All Entries must be received no later than 5:00 pm on Tuesday, August 4.
2020 CELEBRATION® FINAL CLASS SCHEDULE
Any Yellow copies of the schedule are incorrect. Replace with Green schedule.
2020 CELEBRATION® PREMIUM BOOK
2020 CELEBRATION® PRIZE DISBURSEMENT FORM
The 82nd Annual Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration will be judged by the experienced panel of Rollie Beard, Ross Campbell, Mike Hilley, Sam Sorrell and Leigh Stuart. The panel has a collective 20 Celebration’s judged between them. “We are excited to announce this panel for our 82nd Annual Celebration. They bring a wealth of knowledge in both our flat shod and performance divisions as well as a geographic diversity in where they come to us from,” said Celebration CEO Mike Inman.
The Celebration judges’ committee met on Monday July 6, 2020 and made the recommendations to the full board who later that day ratified the selections recommended by the committee. The Celebration affiliates with the SHOW HIO, which is owned by The Celebration and selects the panel from the list of AAA licensed judges at the SHOW HIO. There were 20 AAA judges that expressed the desire and availability to judge this year’s show.
Beard, from Lewisburg, Tenn., is the most experienced of the panel, judging The Celebration eight times previously. The most recent was in 2014 but also includes stints judging in Maverick Arena in 1988, 1994, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2013. Beard has been active lately in some of the industry premier events including the 2019 Spring Fun Show, Money Tree Classic and North Carolina Championships. He also judged the Columbia Spring Jubilee this year.
Sam Sorrell, from Lexington, Ky., has previously judged The Celebration six times. Sorrell marked the cards in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2015, 2016 and 2018. Sorrell most recently judged the Money Tree Classic on July 3, 2020 but has judged most every major venue in the industry including twice at The International in 2005 and 2010.
Leigh Stuart, from Alvaton, Ky., has been a popular choice in recent years and will be making her fifth appearance at The Celebration. Stuart previously judged in 1997, 2013, 2016 and 2018. Stuart also judged the Tunica Fall Classic in 2016 and 2019 for The Celebration and she too has judged The International. Stuart is respected for her knowledge of the SHOW rulebook and her role in the drafting of it.
Hilley, from Shelbyville, Tenn., will be marking the cards for the second time in 3 years. Hilley judged The Celebration for the first time in 2018. Hilley has judged the Tunica Fall Classic in 2014 and 2019 and most recently judged at the 2020 Money Tree Classic in Calsonic Arena.
Campbell, from Cullman, Ala., will be making his second appearance in the big oval. Campbell judged with Stuart and Hilley at the 2018 Celebration. Campbell has also judged the Tunica Fall Classic, FAST Spring Showcase, Gulf Coast Charity and Money Tree Classic. Campbell also judged this year’s Columbia Spring Jubilee with Beard.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the Celebration felt it prudent to select two alternates for this year’s show in case any of the five initial selections were to fall ill and be forced to quarantine. Chris Bobo and Paul Robbins will serve in those alternate roles, after both received serious consideration by the committee.
“We are extremely excited to work with this group of judges to make our 82nd Annual Celebration the best it can be. Competition has been extremely tough to start the year and we expect large numbers and deep classes for this group to consider later in August,” concluded Inman.
The 82nd Annual Celebration will be held August 26th – September 3rd in Calsonic and Maverick Arenas on the historic Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration show grounds. For more information contact the administrative office at 931-684-5915..
The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration board of directors continued to finalize plans for the upcoming 82nd Annual Celebration to be held August 26th – September 5th. The board met July 6, 2020 and made some final decisions regarding the upcoming horse show in light of the COVID-19 recommendations from local, state and federal guidelines.
Box Seating
The Celebration will reconcile the sale of its box seats on July 15th to check available inventory. If at that time box seat holders that would like to move their location to a less crowded area they can work with Celebration staff to do so. The move will be a one-year temporary move and the customer will not lose the right to the original box they’ve previously had. Also, if the customer moves to a different location they will be refunded the difference in price if the new box is less expensive and charged the difference if the new box is more expensive than their original box.
Blue Ribbon Circle Club
The Celebration will have the Blue Ribbon Circle Club but will add a new outside location which will be located in the front lawn of the current Blue Ribbon. The area will have a tent and be equipped with table tops for those that would prefer to be in the outside air but also to increase the spacing of the club. On the most attended nights, the outside location will offer bar service and some food service. The food selection will be similar to past years in the Blue Ribbon Circle but may be limited in the selection as the food caterer will haver servers in place instead of patrons serving themselves. The Celebration will follow state guidelines on occupancy and may limit those in the area at any specific time. We will continue to update our pass holders as we get closer to time.
Corporate Sponsor Party
Unfortunately, the Celebration will not have a corporate sponsor party in 2020. The board just didn’t feel comfortable with the current executive orders in place of having that many people in one confined location. Due to this cancellation this year, the board did upgrade the Blue Ribbon Circle decorations, add the outdoor area and on the first Saturday night will have a special meal during the normal time of the sponsor party for those sponsors that would like to eat prior to the show.
After Show Entertainment
In the past several years the Celebration has hosted after-show entertainment in the Blue Ribbon Circle Club. Those band parties have been very popular but due to the current circumstances the Celebration will not host those parties after the show this year. In addition, in previous years barns have hired bands and entertainment to play at their locations on the show grounds. Unfortunately, in 2020 this will not be allowed due to the large crowds that gather at those barn parties. Individual barns can still have gatherings, food and normal customer entertainment but just won’t be allowed to bring in outside entertainment.
Stabling
The Celebration will require all championship entries to stable on the show grounds for 48 hours prior to their championship performance. The entry deadline for championship classes will once again be 12:00PM two days prior to your championship evening performance (for example Thursday evening championship entries will be required to be on the show grounds by showtime Tuesday evening).
The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration has released the final Class Schedule for the 82nd Annual Celebration to be held on its historic show grounds August 26th – September 5th. Click here to view the final class sheet.
The Celebration released a tentative schedule on January 31st and took comments and suggestions through March 3rd. The Celebration received a significant amount of input from owners, exhibitors and trainers and analyzed the impact of each comment. “The Celebration Board is very thankful to have received so many responses to their request for input into this year’s schedule. The scheduling committee reviewed the nearly 30 recommendations received and are pleased that the majority of those recommendations have been implemented,” said Celebration CEO Mike Inman.
Each year the Celebration appoints a committee to look at thee class schedule and look for ways to improve it as well as improve the overall experience for our fans. The Celebration looks heavily at participation in specific divisions and classes to see current trends and to put the most horses in the ring for our fans. In addition the current rulebook as well as an emphasis on diversity in our class sheet is considered and The Celebration is doing everything it can to continue to promote participation of our youth.
“We feel this schedule combines both traditions from over 80 years as well as evolving trends in our industry. Balancing those two elements are essential both to our participants and our spectators,” concluded Inman.
The Celebration has just announced the classes it will split for the upcoming Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration, which kicks off Aug. 21 and runs through Aug. 31. Ten classes have been split with A and B divisions and one class, the Two-Year-Old Walking Stallions, will have three sections.
“Not only do we have large classes that required splits we also had quite a few right on the cusp,” said Celebration CEO Mike Inman, who also announced yesterday that entry totals are up slightly from last year. “This speaks to the incredible talent we’re going to be seeing at this year’s show.”
Serving as the headliner in the news regarding the splits of course is the breakdown of entries for the aged stallions on the first Saturday night of the show. Entries in the aged stallions preliminary, class 79 sec. A are as follows: Jose’s Power Broker and Keith Blackburn for Dan and Susan Erwin, Jose’s Thunderstruck and Scott Beaty for Barron Witherspoon, Star Of Ritz and Casey Wright for Herb Murrath, He’s Unleashed and Chad Williams for Virginia Stewart, Hey, Tomcat and Jamie Lawrence for Roy and Joan Wester, Bourban Street I and Chad Way for Duke Ingram, A Cowboy Casanova and Nick Price for Sarah Coffee Burks, Putt For Dough and Bill Cantrell for Cantrell and Powell, I’m Mayhem and Rodney Dick for JoAnn Dowell, and Jose’s Cold Chills and Jimmy McConnell for LaRue, Ann and Bart McWaters.
Sec. B for class 79 also features 10 entries, includes the following: Woodford and Justin Harris for the Andrew Family, Master’s Razzle & Jazz and Herbert Derickson for the Alan Riddley Family, The Darkest Hour and Tyler Baucom for Teresa Kincaid, The Iron Door and Alan Price for Sarah Coffee Burks, Jose’s Red Rock and Chris Helton for JimBo Conner, Gus Malzahn and Rodney Dick for JoAnn Dowell, Border Run and John Allan Callaway for Gayle Holcomb, Fly Dragonfly and Jimmy McConnell for Barnes & Farris, My Shockwave and Jimmy McConnell for Bill and Karen Bean, and I’m Lombardi and Gary Edwards for Henry and Peggy Metcalf.
The complete list of splits are as follows:
• Class 26 — O/A Two-Year-Old Walking Stallions
• Class 30 — O/A Novice Lady Riders on Novice Walking Mares or Geldings
• Class 51 — Three-Year-Old Walking Stallions
• Class 70 — Three-Year-Old Walking Mares
• Class 73 — Two-Year-Old Walking Mares
• Class 79 — Walking Stallions, Five Years and Over (Canter)
• Class 91 — O/A Four-Year-Old Walking Mares or Geldings
• Class 109 — Two-Year-Old Walking Stallions (A,B,C)
• Class 117 — O/A Two-Year-Old Walking Mares or Geldings
• Class 122 — O/A Three-Year-Old Walking Stallions
• Class 126 — Three-Year-Old Walking Mares or Geldings
The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration has selected Jamie Bradshaw, Nathan Clark, Jamie Hankins, Kenny Smith and Robbie Spiller to judge the 81st Annual Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration. The 81st Celebration will be August 21st – August 31st on the historic show grounds in Shelbyville.
The panel once again is a blend of experienced judges with new faces to the Celebration. Both Smith and Spiller will be making their first appearance at The Celebration. “Last year’s panel included two new faces and we felt like the mix of three experienced judges along with two new ones was a good mix and produced great results last year. In addition, The Celebration is committed to expanding the judging pool and giving more of our licensed judges an opportunity to work our shows,” said Celebration CEO Mike Inman.
Clark and Bradshaw will return for the fifth time to mark the cards. Clark previously judged in 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2016. Bradshaw last judged the Celebration in 2013 but also marked the cards in 2006, 2009, and 2011.
Hankins will be returning to center ring at The Celebration for the first time since 2011 and will be marking the cards for the seventh time. Hankins judged in 1994, 1996, 2001, 2003 and 2008. Hankins judged with Clark in 2008 and with Bradshaw in 2011. The Celebration has been committed to diversifying its panels and this year’s panel only includes one judge who has marked the cards at The Celebration in the last five years.
“We are excited for this year’s show and appreciate these five judges for agreeing to take on one of the most prestigious jobs and responsibilities in our industry. Judging the Celebration is the most important job our judges can accept and we expect this year’s panel to do an excellent job. These five individuals have judged at most all of our industry’s major venues and continue to judge prestigious shows even in the time periods that they have not judged our shows. The confidence the industry has placed in selecting these individuals for their shows was a major factor in our committee’s decision to select them for this year’s assignment,” concluded Inman.
