1969 Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1969 August Voice RS | Page 21
Nine days, 216 hours, 12,960 minutes or 777,600
seconds . . . not a lifetime by any stretch of the imag
ination except in the Walking Horse business . . . and
it comes once a year. This year will mark the 31st
renewal for the Tennessee Walking Horse National
Celebration. The dates have been set as August 29
through September 6 at the Celebration Grounds in
the Walking Horse tradition-filled city of Shelbyville,
Tennessee.
August, 1969
It is difficult to sum up exactly what the Celebration
means to the Walking Horse breed but everyone is
agreed that it means "the most.” It is the World Ser
ies, the Kentucky Derby and the Super Bowl all rolled
into nine days. It is an endurance test for horse and
exhibitor that marks the termination of a year’s effort
to achieve the "unreachable goal.” Unfortunately
there will be only one blue in each of 62 classes to be
divided among nearly 1,700 entries, so there will be
many who never reach that goal ... at least, not in
1969.
As can be said every year, 1969 looks like a record
setting effort in about every conceivable way a show
can set records. Attendance should reach 125,000 af
ter suffering a drop of close to 12,000 last year to
110,857. The entry sheet should show near 1,700
names, following last year’s record entry of 1,662
horses. The flags of all the states of the union fly
proudly over the Celebration grounds and horses
and exhibitors from all of these states will be making
a bid to take a coveted blue home.
A degree of the Celebration’s success is due to their
continuing improvements in the facilities with the best
interest of exhibitors and spectators in mind. This
year there have been no dramatic changes, but sev
eral improvements have been made. Two new warm
up rings have constructed, with one scheduled to be
used as a paddock. There will be no new boxes this
year, but the wooden seats are being covered with
aluminum. Also, for the first time in recent years, no
new stalls have been added.
The officials of the Celebration perform a labor of
love in putting on this annual "endurance test” and
they certainly deserve the thanks of all those who en
joy the show yearly. Show manager Sam Gibbons of
Athens, Alabama is, without question, doing a great
job. The Celebration Executive Committee has more
work and responsibility than imaginable and receives
little credit. The Committee is made up of President
W. C. Tune, Jr.; Vice President W. L. Parker; Secre
tary-Treasurer P. J. Scudder; and Directors E. L.
Adamson, Ben D. Kingree III, H. J. Thompson, and
■ H. C. Tilford, Jr. The office staff at the Celebration
is without peer in the show horse industry and is
headed up by Mrs. Katherine D. Potts.
One of the most difficult and important jobs that
faces the Celebration every year is the selection of
the judges. No single piece of news is more widely
rumored and discussed in the horse business. This
year the announcement of the judges was greeted
enthusiastically in most quarters in the horse busi
ness. The three-man team for Walking Horse saddle
classes is: Steve Hill, Beech Grove, Tennessee; Bob
Lindsey, Little Rock, Arkansas; and Richard Mary,
Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The colt classes will be
judged by Benvis Beachboard, Bell Buckle, Tennes
see; J. T. Nelms, Nashville, Tennessee; and Joe Urqu-
hart, Columbia, Tennessee. (Complete details about
the judges are in another story in this issue.)
(Continued on page 102)
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