Category: Press Releases

Judges selected for 84th Annual Celebration

The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration has selected Jamie Bradshaw, Johnny Puckett, Paul Robbins, Sam Sorrell and Amy Trimble to judge the 84th 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 4th 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 84th Annual Celebration will be held August 24-September 3, 2022.  For more information please visit www.TWHNC.com.

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Celebration releases final class schedule

QUALIFIERS

The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration has finalized the class sheet for the upcoming 84th Annual Celebration to be held August 24th through September 3rd.  “We are excited to release our final schedule.  There are some major changes to our schedule including starting our final three championship nights at 6:00PM,” said Celebration CEO Warren Wells.

            Major changes to the 2022 version of the class sheet include The Celebration® having an evening session on the Wednesday August 24, where the Futurity has traditionally been held for years.  The Futurity classes and competition will be spread throughout the entire class sheet of The Celebration® instead of all being held on one night.

            In addition, 2022 will mark the first Two-Year-Old Walking Mares World Grand Championship.  The Celebration®  was asked to consider this in 2021 and its class sheet committee recommended the change in 2022 which was received with overwhelming support during the comment period.  Certain divisions have been expanded based upon support throughout previous Celebrations and industry events and some have been contracted for the same reason.

            “We are grateful to our class sheet committee that worked so diligently with us on this process.  There is no perfect class sheet, but we do our best to combine the interests of our exhibitors along with having the most competitive and entertaining horse show that we can,” said Wells.  He continued, “We will begin this process much earlier for the 2023 Celebration and will be looking at those classes that lack the participation levels we expect from World Championship and World Grand Championship classes.”

            The Celebration®  incorporated several classes in the final schedule that had previously been removed, due to the significant response received during the comment period.  Due to the addition of these classes, the decision was made to start the final three championship nights at 6:00PM instead of the traditional 7:00PM start.  “We really appreciate the input we received and it made a difference in our final class sheet.  We hope that input and enthusiasm is displayed at the entry office for both our preliminary and championship classes,” concluded Wells.

            Click here for the final version of the 84th Annual Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration.  For more information about the upcoming show please visit www.TWHNC.com

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Eagleville Implement and Bush Hog to sponsor youth class at Fun Show

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

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Online entry system available for Spring Fun Show

The Spring Fun Show, scheduled for May 26-28, 2022 will accept entries online, beginning on May 22, 2022. Entries can be made online at entermywalkinghorse.com. Entries will be accepted each day of the show until 1:00 pm. The show office will be open daily during the show between 3:00 pm-5:00 pm, for those who wish to make entries in person.

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Celebration releases tentative class schedule for 2022

2022 CELEBRATION TENTATIVE CLASS SCHEDULE

The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration recently received its tentative class sheet back from its committee for the 84th 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 16th 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 13th and sent to Connie Allen at callen@twhnc.com.

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