Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration

Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration
Sanctioning body Walking Horse Trainers' Association
Location Shelbyville, Tennessee
Held Annually
Length 11 days
Sponsors Various
Inaugurated 1939
Breeds shown Tennessee Walking Horses
Largest honor World Grand Championship
Divisions Amateur, youth, professional
Qualifying Yes
Total purse US$650,000
Number of entries ≈2,000
Attendance ≈250,000
Website Official website

The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration (also known as the Celebration or initialized as TWHNC) is the largest horse show for the Tennessee Walking Horse breed, and has been held annually in or near Shelbyville, Tennessee since its inception. The Celebration was founded in 1939 by Henry Davis, a horse trainer who thought the Shelbyville area should have a festival or annual event. He and a group of other horsemen founded the Celebration. Although it was originally held in Wartrace, it moved to the county seat a few years later. The Celebration spans 11 nights in late August and early September prior to Labor Day every year, and finishes with the crowning of the World Grand Champion Tennessee Walker on the Saturday night before Labor Day. The TWHNC draws an estimated 2,000 horses and 250,000 spectators to Shelbyville annually.

History

Merry Go Boy and Winston Wiser at the Celebration in 1947.

The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration was founded in 1939. A Wartrace resident, Henry Davis, went to Winchester, Tennessee to buy hay and while there observed the Crimson Clover Festival being held. He thought that Wartrace should have a similar festival, and proposed the idea to a group of fellow horsemen, who accepted it. The first Celebration was held in 1939. It began with a parade and elaborate pageant that depicted the evolution of the Tennessee Walking Horse breed, from its original use as a plow and utility horse to its present use as a show horse. The Celebration later moved to Shelbyville due to space issues, as tiny Wartrace was unable to cope with the volume of visitors and horses the show drew.[1]

The modern Celebration spans 11 nights in late August and early September prior to Labor Day every year, and finishes with the crowning of the World Grand Champion Tennessee Walking Horse on the Saturday night before Labor Day. The TWHNC draws an estimated 2,000 horses, 250,000 spectators and US$41 million in revenue to Shelbyville every year.[2]

Notable winners

For a complete list of all winners, see List of World Grand Champion Tennessee Walking Horses.
I Am Jose, three-time winner of the World Grand Championship

Several notable horses have won the World Grand Championship class, including Midnight Sun, the first World Grand Champion, who won the honor two years in a row in 1945 and 1946.[3] The first winner, however, was Midnight Sun's half brother Strolling Jim, who won the first Celebration in 1939, when the biggest class was referred to as the National Championship. The World Grand Champion in 1947 and 1948, Merry Go Boy, was known for producing the most desirable Tennessee Walker conformation type in his offspring.[4] The stake is traditionally a stallions' class, and has not been won by a mare or gelding since 1954,[5] when the gray mare Garnier's White Star, owned by W.V. Garnier and ridden by Percy Moss, was crowned as the World Grand Champion. Incidentally, Moss was also the youngest rider to win the stake.[6] The first female rider to win the World Grand Championship was Betty Sain on Shaker's Shocker in 1966,[7] and the oldest rider to win was 81-year-old Bud Dunn on RPM in 1999.[8] Although there have been six horses who won the stake two years consecutively, there have been only two three-time winners in the history of the Celebration: The Talk of the Town in 1951, 1952 and 1953, and I Am Jose in 2013, 2014, and 2015.[9]

Controversies

The Celebration has often been under fire due to allegations of horses at the event being subject to soring, an abusive training practice designed to make horses step higher, illegal under federal law by the Horse Protection Act of 1970. The sponsors of the Celebration have consistently denied the allegations.[10] Every horse entered in the Celebration must undergo an inspection designed to weed out sored horses conducted by an APHIS-employed inspector before it is allowed to show. Inspectors may use hoof testers, leg swabs, and other tools such as thermography to detect signs of soring.[11] In 2006, matters came to a head between trainers and inspectors from APHIS. Initially, trainers refused to submit their horses for inspection, creating a standoff that required law enforcement to be called. Then, prior to the World Championship finals, inspectors disqualified all but three of the finalists. A group of about 150 people gathered, demanding that the disqualified horses be allowed to show, but citing safety concerns, show management cancelled the class altogether and no World Grand Champion was crowned that year.[12]

Venue and classes

The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration is held in Shelbyville at the 105-acre Celebration Grounds, which encompasses Calsonic Arena. The facility contains 60 barns and two arenas, with warmup areas.[13] The outdoor arena has seating for 30,000 and is the one used for most classes. The indoor arena has seating for 4,500 and is used in case of rain.[14]

The TWHNC features a wide variety of classes in both in-hand and performance, including divisions for youth, amateurs, and professionals. Leadline classes, for children under six, are a crowd favorite. All horses entered must be registered with the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders' and Exhibitors' Association, although some may be registered with the Spotted Saddle Horse and Racking Horse associations as well. Double registration does not effect a horse's ability to enter the Celebration.[6] Over twenty World Championships are awarded in different classes throughout the course of the Celebration. The most anticipated class, however, is the World Grand Championship, which features horses turned out in saddle seat tack. Competition at the Celebration is traditionally opened each night by a white or gray Tennessee Walking Horse and rider carrying the American flag. During the course of the Celebration, over $650,000 in prizes is given out.[15] The Celebration also includes attractions such as a dog show, barbecue cookout, and barn decorating contest.[16]

World Grand Championship

The World Grand Championship, also known as the stake or rider's cup, is the final class of the Celebration. It is held late Saturday night, or more often, very early Sunday morning. Horses are required to perform the flat walk, running walk and canter twice each in two separate workouts. Between workouts, riders dismount and unsaddle their horses so the judges can evaluate their conformation.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Compte tes sous, Mathieu!". google.com. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  2. ↑ "Annual TN Walking Horse National Celebration". The Soundtrack of America, Made in Tennessee. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  3. ↑ "The Tennessee Walking Horse Celebration Website". twhnc.com. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  4. ↑ "Merry Go Boy". walkerswest.com. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  5. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1842&dat=19740827&id=GQEsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=6ccEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2113,5806798&hl=en
  6. 1 2 "e Walking Horse National Celebration - Ask the Celebration". twhnc.com. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  7. ↑ "Museum holds walking horse memories". timesfreepress.com. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  8. ↑ "Never Dunn". Times Daily. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  9. 1 2 "Shelbyville Times-Gazette: Local News: Triple play: I Am Jose earns third World Grand Championship (09/06/15)". Shelbyville Times-Gazette. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  10. ↑ Holly Meyer (28 August 2015). "It's Walking Horse Celebration Vs. Humane Society again". The Tennessean. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  11. ↑ "Shelbyville Times-Gazette: Local News: Inspecting the inspections (09/04/15)". Shelbyville Times-Gazette. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  12. ↑ Emery, Theo (September 4, 2006). "Horse Show Ends in Uproar Over U.S.D.A. Inspections". New York Times. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  13. ↑ "1,000 Places to See in the USA and Canada Before You Die". google.com. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  14. ↑ "Scenic Driving Tennessee". google.com. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  15. ↑ Mike Organ (6 September 2015). "Horses come second at Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration". The Tennessean. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  16. ↑ "Destinations and Diversions:It's Celebration time in Shelbyville". Shelbyville Times-Gazette. Retrieved 1 December 2015.

External links

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