1964-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1964 August Voice | Page 8

WHAT £ WORLD i CELEBRATION?
By Fred E. Friend
A “Community Miracle,” the
“Greatest Horse Show on Earth,”
the “World Series of the Walking
Horse,” a “Big Family Homecom­
ing with a Horse Show,” an “Old-
Fashioned Camp Meeting Where
Horses are the Religion” — these
are a few of the terms often used to
describe to the uninitiated exactly
what is the gala event known of­
ficially as the “Tennessee Walking
Horse National Celebration, Inc.”
Now beginning its second quarter
of a century, “the Celebration” (as
it is universally called for short)
regards the first twenty-five years
as a long and glorious prelude to
an unending symphony of horses
and horsemen.
The Twenty-Sixth Annual re­
newal of the Celebration is sched­
uled for August 29 - September 5,
with the National Futurity of the
Tennessee Walking Horse Breed­
ers and Exhibitors Association of
America, Inc., set for Friday night,
August 28. All events will be held
in the “Big Ring” of the National
Celebration Grounds, Shelbyville,
Tennessee. Here in the heart of
Walking Horse Country, more than
1,200 carefully trained horses will
be officially entered in sixty
classes, and uncounted hundreds of
other horses will be ridden, ex­
amined, led, bought, sold, traded
and just looked at during the nine
big days of the shows. Paid at­
tendance will more than likely ex­
ceed 80.000 for the nightly shows,
and hundreds of others will be on
hand as officials, workers, grooms,
exhibitors, etc.
BEAUTIFUL LAYOUT ... an air view of the famous National Tennessee Walking
Horse Celebration grounds reveal the magnitude of this civic project. Note the
permanent grandstands, show ring. Horse barns with stalls to house over 1,200
Horses are available.
The most exciting moment in this
equine extravaganza will of course
occur as the smooth tones of Em­
met Guy begin to call out the num­
ber of the World’s Grand Champ­
ion Walking Horse of 1964. For
1964 total prize money being of­
fered in the Grand Championship
Walking Horse Stake has been
raised to $10,000.00, but the first
prize of $2,000.00 is relatively un­
important when compared to the
prestige and the future enjoyed by
the owner of the winning horse.
Since we can well believe the old
proverb, “The higher the stakes,
the harder the competition,” we
can anticipate the 1964 Celebration
surpassing all past sucesses in the
horse show world and achieving a
special prominence all its own.
(Continued on Page 16)
EXCITING . . . nothing parallels the
excitement of the Celebration at night
when the lights beam down on thousands
of enthusiastic spectators.