Cornersville Lions Club Horse Show, scheduled for July 16, 2021, has selected Dean Byard to mark the cards for this year’s event. The show will be held at the Lions Club Show Grounds in Cornersville, Tennessee. For information, contact Bobby McDaniel at 931-993-3237.
2021 CELEBRATION JUDGES POLL: Of these 20 Judges, which are your favorite top five? (PICK UP TO FIVE)
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The WHTA Auxiliary will hold their Fun Show Meeting on Saturday, May 29th at 11AM. The meeting will be held on the bleachers of Champions Arena on the Celebration show grounds. If you are a member or are wanting to join, please make plans to attend this meeting. Members are invited to join the officers for lunch at La Riviera Mexican Restaurant following the meeting as a treat from the Auxiliary.
The WHTA Riders’ Cup program is excited to announce the addition of a new division. Simons Show Horses and Stonewall Farm have teamed up to sponsor the new Country Pleasure division bringing the total pleasure divisions to 12.
On top of those 12 divisions, the performance side boasts 13 categories offering licensed trainers many options of classes to show their contenders.
The 51st Annual Spring Fun Show will be held on Memorial Day weekend in Maverick Arena on the showgrounds of the historic Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration. The show was moved outdoors last year and had to be held later in the calendar due to Covid restrictions.
Due to the positive feedback from exhibitors, trainers and spectators on the show being held outdoors in Maverick Arena, The Celebration made the decision to keep the show in Maverick Arena. The show will begin on Thursday May 25th and culminate on Saturday night May 27th. The show schedule includes 69 classes.
The Blue Ribbon Circle club will be open for sponsors and anyone in attendance. The three-night pass will be $125/person. Rowdy Ranch will provide the catering which includes a Mexican themed menu on Thursday night, Barbecue menu on Friday night and steak and shrimp on Saturday night.
The SHOW Board of Directors met yesterday afternoon. One of the topics of discussion was the following proposal, made by the SHOW Rules Committee, to clarify the Amateur, Owned & Trained Rule (AOT). The following was approved:
Amateur Owned & Trained to go under the section of “special classes” and the rule be as follows:
Amateur Owned & Trained:
• No professional training within 90 days
• Professional training shall include grooming, warming up or riding the horse, bracing, coaching, corrective or informative instruction by a professional on the show grounds, or a professional hauling a horse that is AOT to a horse show. Bracing is not allowed by a professional.
Additionally, AOT horses must be owned, trained, and shown by the same person or immediate family member of the owner of the horse.
All persons involved must meet the requirements of amateur status.
The WHTA Show Board of Directors will meet Wednesday, May 26, at 4 p.m. The General Membership meeting will follow at 5 p.m. Both meetings will be held at the Blue Ribbon Circle located on the Celebration grounds in Shelbyville, Tennessee.
The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration (TWHNC) has hired Warren Wells to be its new Chief Executive Officer. Wells will be the fifth CEO in the Celebration’s rich history. Wells, originally from Bedford County, currently lives in Signal Mountain, Tenn. and is the Assistant Vice President for Government Affairs at Unum Group, a fortune 300 employee benefits company headquartered in Chattanooga. Wells’ wife, Jessica and son Walker will be joining Wells when he relocates back to Bedford County. Jessica is expecting their second son, Wright in June.
Wells joins the Celebration with a wealth of knowledge in state politics. Wells began his career in politics helping Jim Tracy as his deputy campaign manager and eventually serving as his research analyst in the State Senate. Wells later joined Governor Bill Haslam’s administration as Deputy for Legislation and then advanced to a senior staff role in Haslam’s administration as Director for Legislation.
As the Director for Legislation, Wells was the governor’s chief lobbyist and primary liaison between the administration and General Assembly. Wells was also responsible for managing the administration’s legislative agenda. One of the most impactful pieces of legislation that Wells led on was the IMPROVE Act, which contained the largest tax cut in Tennessee history.
As a Bedford County native, Wells is intimately familiar with the impact The Celebration has on the community as well as the prestige of being the World Championship Tennessee Walking Horse show. Jessica is an avid horse lover and has owned and shown Tennessee Walking Horses as well as Thoroughbreds, Spotted Saddle Horses and currently a Paint mare. Wells and Walker have also participated in lead line classes.
“My family and I are extremely excited to be returning home to serve in the community that raised us. The Celebration is the cornerstone of Bedford County, and a treasured asset for all of Tennessee. I am humbled and honored that the board has asked me to serve in this capacity. I have so many fond memories of The Celebration and events on the grounds, including my wedding reception, that it feels surreal that I now have the opportunity to partner with the board in carrying on The Celebration’s great traditions and developing a vision of growth and prosperity. I can’t wait to hit the ground running and serve this community,” said Wells.
Wells is a graduate of Motlow State Community College with a A.S. in Criminal Justice and received his B.S. in Political Science from Middle Tennessee State University. Wells is a first-generation college graduate. Wells also served in the Tennessee Army National Guard from 2001-2010 and in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005-2006, where Wells earned a Combat Action Badge and an Army Commendation Medal.
“We are extremely excited to add someone of Warren’s experience and background to The Celebration. We were fortunate to have several good applicants for the position and conducted a thorough search. Warren first impressed our search committee and then our entire board. What he has been able to accomplish in his career is something that impressed our board, and made all of us confident Warren will lead The Celebration to new heights. We can’t wait for our Tennessee Walking Horse community to get to know Warren and his family and we know our Bedford County community will also be grateful for his family’s return home,” said Celebration Chairman David Crowell.
Warren will officially begin his duties as Chief Executive Officer on June 7th, but in the meantime has already hit the ground running learning more about The Celebration and the upcoming World Championship show in August.
Friends,
We have been overwhelmed by our recent growth spurt since WalkingHorseChat.com WHC was redesigned to be the WalkingHorse.video. Our traffic on our live video streams has been record breaking, and we will soon expand our concentration to Walking , Racking and now Spotted Saddle horses, that are in a huge growth period.
We can not accomplish this wonderful experience without members and advertisers and we welcome these sponsors to our family!
RISING STAR RANCH
DENALI CONSTRUCTION COMPANY SHELBYVILLE TENNESSEE
WALK FOR ROSES-LOGAN, MANOS AND BRASSY-RUSS THOMPSON STABLES
SPENCER BENEDICT STABLES, BREEDING TRAINING SALES, GLASGOW KY
SPOTTED SADDLE HORSE BREEDERS AND EXHIBITORS ASSOCIATION, SHELBYVILLE TN
WOODRUFF REALTY AND AUCTION COMPANY, SHELBYVILLE TN
HORSEMEN PROTECTING AMERICA’S SHOWHORSE HPAS
LONE MAGNOLIA FARM , LOGAN AND MANOS PROPERTIES- TROTNOT LLC
Friends,
As of today May 1st, I will no longer be a co-host of Whatahorse TV.
Back in August of 2020, I was asked to join as a co-host of Whatahorse. I was humbled and grateful for the opportunity, Jerry Harris, Jimmy Fuller, Jon Gray, and C.J. Henry have always been gracious and helpful, and I truly believe they have a commitment to make the TWH experience better. I thank them all. I hope I made a contribution. I wish them well.
On May 1st I sold the webcast “This Week with America’s Showhorse“ and the retail store “Mypony.store“ to TROTNOT LLC, a California and Tennessee based real estate and equine investment group. With that, and the huge success of the re-design of WalkingHorseChat.com to the new Walkinghorse.video, there is so much more to do. Opportunity to expand what I started 23 years ago has been a huge blessing. What Dean Johnson crafted in 1997 to bring the Tennessee Walking Horse to the World Wide Web via Horse-Review.com was way before its time. WalkingHorseChat was the format for Facebook…before Facebook, but I was too channeled on walking horse people to know others might like to banter back and forth aswell. Dean brought TWH shows streaming to the net before the Super Bowl was streamed. That’s just the facts.
Blessed with the sale of the webcast and the online store to TROTNOT LLC, and their resources, and with the encouragement of our new corporate sponsors, WalkingHorse.video owes it to it’s members to expand to podcast, expanded live streaming, and TV, like RFD, and Public TV, Roku, and other more venues with widespread availability. The TWH business needs more than the restriction of news and information, solely based on who buys advertising for horses that win or though they should have won. We have had decades of that nightmare already, and often our crowd attendance has suffered. We can do better. There are 30,000 seats in The Celebration arena, and they are empty now because too often fans are dictated who their “Fan Favorite” is with a simple payment of an advertising bill. As a new sponsor put it “let the actual reaction of the fans decide.”
Again, my gratitude and well wish’s are always with Whatahorse TV, the staff of Peahead Productions, Jerry Harris, Jon Gray, Jimmy Fuller and their talented crew and we look forward to working with them in the future.
sincerely,
Tommy Williams