Owner suspended over cash offer

The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration board of directors met via conference call on Thursday afternoon to specifically look at two issues stemming from Saturday night's World Grand Championship class.

The first issue involves the acknowledged offer by Hamilton County Election Commissioner Mike Walden to pay each of the three approved entries for the World Grand Championship class $10,000.

Walden is the owner of Private Charter, one of the five horses disqualified Saturday evening. In a written apology earlier this week regarding his offer, Walden stated that his intention was to build unity in what he saw as a move to boycott the championship over "unfair subjective treatment by the inspectors."

"I made that offer because I was led to believe by several trainers they did not want to show, not to stop them from showing," wrote Walden.

According to a statement on the Celebration's Web site announcing Walden's suspension, the board noted that "while Walden's motives may have been congruent with a published statement he made after the fact, the perception of his actions was not in the best interest of The Celebration or the Tennessee Walking Horse industry."

Because of that, the Celebration board voted to suspend Walden from participating as an exhibitor or as an owner for a period of two years. In addition, Walden will not be allowed to participate in The Celebration's corporate sponsorship program during that period."

The second issue reviewed by the board yesterday involves the World Grand Championship class itself.

"The Celebration stands by the information it received on Saturday night and feels the correct call was made with the best information available at the time," the Web site states. "Since that time, the three eligible trainers have made statements that they were ready and willing to show. While the moment and exact circumstances can never be recaptured and the class cannot be held, the Celebration board has voted to award each of the three eligible entries for the class first-place prize money of $15,000 each."

"These issues have been at the forefront since Saturday night," said Celebration Chairman John T. Bobo. "While our overall evaluation of the show will continue, the board felt these two issues should be dealt with in a clear, decisive manner."

Another issue industry leaders must deal with is the widespread charge of abuse of horses.

Chip Walters, Celebration public relations director, told the Times-Gazette this morning that leaders in the walking horse industry are aware of the negative comments and charges regarding the treatment of walking horses, and "positive steps" are being taken to clear up those allegations.

"We need to do a better educational job to let people know," Walters said. "This is an issue that arises from time to time, but we know what we have."