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GoogleFrom those blue-blooded and carefully nurtured lines come many of the champions of The Celebration.
For instance, in 2006 The Coach won the two-year-old stallions class at the Futurity -- and went on to win the world grand championship in the same class at The Celebration.
Traditionally, the Futurity is held on the Wednesday night before the Celebration begins its evening performances -- kind of a preview of what's to come, not only in the next 10 days, but in the next 10 years.
Last year was the only year since its 1939 inception that the Celebration did not partner with TWHBEA for the show, due to the convoluted aftermath of the 2006 Celebration and disputes and separations between various horse industry organizations. This year, it was announced in February that the Celebration would again host the futurity.
"I am pleased to continue a long-standing tradition for the TWHBEA National Futurity," said David Pruett, TWHBEA President at the time.
"We're very happy to be able to make this joint announcement," said Celebration Chairman David L. Howard in February. "The National Futurity is a wonderful showcase of the young horses in our breed. Having it in conjunction with The Celebration and have the classes serve as qualifying classes for Celebration World Grand Championships is the right thing for both organizations and the breed in general."
The 70th Annual National Futurity will be held at the Calsonic Arena tonight, beginning at 5:30 p.m. The National Futurity will use the same judging panel as the Celebration and its classes will qualify as preliminary classes for the Celebration.
The Futurity is the showcase for the breed's youngsters and represents the richest purse of any one-day event in the industry.
There are new classes this year: Two-Year-Old Park Performance, Three-Year-Old Park Performance, Two-Year-Old Western Trail Pleasure, Three-Year-Old Western Trail Pleasure, and Yearling In-Hand Extended Gait.
The purpose of the TWHBEA Futurity program is to breed and promote quality stallions, mares and colts. The Tennessee Walking Horse Futurity includes four divisions: Weanling, yearling, two-year-old and three-year-old. The two-year-olds and three-year-olds are further divided into padded and non padded classes.
Weanling and yearling divisions are also split according to sex classifications.
Also in 2008, the TWHBEA National Futurity will begin the four-year process of becoming a true futurity by allowing yearlings, 2-year-olds, and 3-year-olds the opportunity to "buy-in." All 2008 weanlings had to have been nominated by Aug. 1 to be eligible for future participation in the TWHBEA National Futurity. Starting in 2009, only foals nominated as 2008 weanlings will be eligible for the Yearling division. By 2011, all three-year olds eligible for competition will have been in the program for the full four years.
FUTURITY CLASSES
Class 1 -- Two and Three-Year-Old Park Pleasure Stallions, Mares, and Geldings
Class 2 -- Weanling Fillies
Class 3 -- Three-Year-Old Western Trail Pleasure Stallions, Mares, and Geldings
Class 4 -- Two-Year-Old Park Performance Stallions, Mares, and Geldings
Class 5 -- Two-Year-Old Mares and Geldings
Class 6 -- Yearling Fillies
Class 7 -- Two-Year-Old Western Trail Pleasure Stallions, Mares, and Geldings
Class 8 -- Two-Year-Old Lite Shod Stallions, Mares, and Geldings
Class 9 -- Weanling Colts
Class 10 -- Three-Year-Old Mares and Geldings
Class 11 -- Three-Year-Old Park Performance Stallions, Mares, and Geldings
Class 12 -- Three-Year-Old English Trail Pleasure Stallions, Mares, and Geldings
Class 13 -- Yearling Colts
Class 14 -- Three-Year-Old Lite Shod Stallions, Mares, and Geldings
Class 15 -- Two-Year-Old Stallions
Class 16 -- Two-Year-Old English Trail Pleasure Stallions, Mares, and Geldings
Class 17 -- Three-Year-Old Stallions