Eagleville Implement and Bush Hog recently announced their sponsorship of class 32, Amateur Youth Riders 12-17 Years on Walking Mares or Geldings at the upcoming Spring Fun Show. The sponsorship will award $1000 to the youth exhibitor who wins the class.

 “It makes for a very exciting class for the fans and youth riders. I can’t thank Eagleville Implement and Bush Hog enough for partnering with us to increase the excitement around our next generation of Tennessee Walking Horse enthusiasts,” said Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration® CEO Warren Wells.

This is the second time Eagleville Implement and Bush Hog have added a sponsorship to a youth exhibitor at a Celebration event. In November 2021 they  donated $1,000 to the winner of the Andy Adkins class at the 2021 Fall Classic. “We love the Walking Horse industry and The Celebration® and want to encourage more young riders where we can. It was exciting at the Fall Classic to surprise the young rider after he won, but this time we want to encourage more youth riders to participate,” said David Price of Eagleville Implement. 

The 52^nd Annual Spring Fun Show will be held May 26th-28th in the Calsonic Arena.  For more information visit www.twhnc.com.

2022 Fun Show Entry Form

(Reminder- Online Entry available for Fun Show Click here)

2022 Fun Show Prize Disbursement Form

2022 Fun Show Credit Card Form

2022 Fun Show Class Schedule

2022 Fun Show Premium Info

The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration has selected Leah Boyd, Derek Bonner and Jamie Bradshaw to judge the 52nd Annual Spring Fun Show. The Fun Show will be held May 26th-28th in Calsonic Arena.

The judging panel includes two experienced Celebration judges along with Boyd, who will be making her first assignment at a Celebration event. Bradshaw, from Arab, Al., has previously judged The Celebration five times, most recently in 2019. Bradshaw will be marking the cards for the third time at the Spring Fun with the last being in 2012.

Bonner, from Moresboro, N.C., has also judged The Celebration three times, most recently in 2021. Bonner also previously judged the Fun Show in 2014. He and Bradshaw were on the same judging panel at the 2013 Celebration.

Boyd, Murfreesboro, Tenn. will be marking the cards at the Fun Show for the first time in her judging career. Boyd most recently judged the TWHBEA Summer Sizzler in 2020 but has also judged the International in her career in 2007.

“We are excited to have this panel judge our show. We receive a lot of feedback from our exhibitors about the lack of variety in the judging panels across the industry so The Celebration feels it is vital to do what we can to help grow the list of experienced judges while also providing the most competent panels for our exhibitors to show before,” said Celebration CEO Warren Wells.

In order to continue to achieve The Celebration’s mission of expanding the judging panel this year’s associate judges will be Vickey Gilbert, from Rogersville, Al., and Chad Williams, from Murfreesboro, Tenn. The associate judging program is an effort to give additional judges the opportunity to judge one of the industry’s premier events while also allowing show management to learn more about their judging. Their cards will be kept and reviewed but won’t count toward the tie of the class at this year’s show.

For more information on the 52nd Annual Spring Fun Show 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.

Celebration releases splits

The 83^rd Annual Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration® will be held August 25-September 4, 2021.  The class sheet was revamped for 2021, with several changes made per recommendations by a committee formed by the board of directors.

In total, 11 classes were split and for the first time in several years there will be no three-way splits in 2021.  “We are tremendously excited to have competitive classes that pit many of our industry’s most talented horses against one another in both preliminary and championship classes,” said CEO Warren Wells.

For the first time in years, the Two-Year-Old Stallions will be split only into an A and B division.  The total numbers of entries were down significantly in the division which warranted only a two-way split. 

Although the Walking Stallions, Five Years and Over (Canter) only had 11 entries, The Celebration® kept with tradition and split the class into two divisions.

“It was a tough call with only one trainer having multiple entries and the total number of entries not warranting a split.  I know our fans would love to see all 11 horses in the ring at the same time, and it would make for great theatre. But I chose to keep with tradition in my first year on the job,” said Wells.

The A division will feature:

Walk For Roses and Russ Thompson

Joe Pa and Winky Groover

Mach 1 and Jimmy McConnell

Hey, Tomcat and Jamie Lawrence

Really Coach and Rodney Dick

The B division will feature:

Jose’s Power Broker and Keith Blackburn

A Big Honor and Ryan Blackburn

Minor Ordeal and Tyler Baucom

Jose’s Revival and Casey Wright

Gin’s Shadow and Jimmy McConnell

He’s Unleashed and Jeff Green

2021 CELEBRATION® CLASS SCHEDULE-SPLITS

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. 

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.