Let the Fun begin

One of three riders in a class makes her way around the outdoor arena on the opening night of the Spring Fun Show. (T-G Photo by Mary Reeves) [Order this photo]

Counterfeit Dollar and Bud Seaton opened the show with the presentation of the national colors, and the first blue ribbon of the 2009 Shelbyville walking horse season was presented to Lisa Baum aboard Tony Montana in the Owner-Amateur Riders on Walking Mares or Geldings, 15.2 and Under.

The weather was perfect for the opening night, but at least one disgruntled trainer thought the weather was the highlight of the evening.

" ... That's about all the good you can say about it," said a trainer who would speak only on condition of anonymity. He stood at the entrance to the warm-up barn, where the USDA and HIO inspectors were stationed at the far end.

"For every three horses that go in, two come back out," he said. "They can go back to the barn or they can go through with the inspection," said the trainer. "Most of them are going back to the barns."

But Andy Messick, DQP Coordinator for the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration's SHOW organization, painted a sunnier picture.

According to Messick, about 94 horses passed inspection, while a total of 12 tickets were given by the USDA: Six for unilateral sore violations, one for a bilateral sore violation, four for scar rule violations, and one for refusal to have a horse inspected with hoof testers by the USDA after submitting to a palpation test by a DQP and a USDA inspector.

When the trainers first arrive at the inspection area, they are given a thermography reading. If that reading is "not normal," they had the option to take their horses back to their barn, without fine or violation, or go through with the inspection process, Messick said.

Thermography is a technology that measures the surface temperature of an object. Areas that appear abnormally warm can indicate inflammation due to damaged tissue, and abnormally cool areas indicate decreased blood flow or the application of cooling agents, according to a release from USDA's Animal and Plant Health Initiative Service, which enforces the Horse Protection Act.

A total of seven horses opted out of inspection after they got not-normal readings, Messick said, relaying figures he got from USDA horse veterinarian Dr. Rachel Cezar this morning.

"There were several that went though with a not-normal reading and passed both inspections," Messick said, although he did not have exact numbers as of press time this morning.

The SHOW HIO issued six tickets: Four were for scar rule violations and two were for unilateral sore violations. The USDA ticketed those horses and six more, Messick said.

"If we write a ticket, (the USDA) is going to inspect the horse as well and take information for a federal case, no matter what," he said. "The USDA took information on the six horses we wrote, and they took information on an additional six horses that we did not, so they had a total of twelve."

The uncertainty of inspections

"How much have we shown him this year?" asked one owner about her horse as she led him back to the barn. "And he's never failed inspection before."

It was that issue that kept some of the horses away from the show ring, said Debbie Myers of Dallas, more so than the changes in penalties announced earlier this week.

"The uncertainty of the inspections -- you don't know what to expect," she said.

Celebration CEO Doyle Meadows echoed that sentiment this morning during a telephone interview.

"People are being reluctant to show in front of the government," he said. "But I think more and more horses will be going into the ring. I think that we'll have a bigger show tonight. The trainers have got a lot of compliant horses, and we need them to bring them to the horse show.

"The biggest factor of trainers not showing horses when the government is there is the subjectivity of the scar rule, and by us opting out of the (Operating Plan) it allows us the opportunity to more adequately address the penalty structure of the scar rule."

Meadows said the opt out should draw more horses to show.

"With opting out of the Plan there's a greater chance of federal cases being written, that's true," he said, but pointed out changes to the new SHOW penalty procedure that make some things better for the trainers.

"With our new plan, these trainers (who receive scar rule violations) do not receive a suspension. He has a penalty of 'No Show.' He goes back to the barn and receives a $50 fine, and that's the same for the first, second and third offense. On the fourth offense he gets suspended," Meadows said.

Smaller classes

The performance classes were smaller this year than she's seen at the Fun Show, Myers said, few having more than five horses enter the ring. Winky Groover walked away with the four-year-old stallion championship uncontested on Scratch Player.

She said the crowd appeared smaller, too, but Meadows said the official attendance was 2,167, compared to about 2,200 on opening Fun Show night last year.

Myers said it's just not what it used to be.

"Thursday night is usually light," said Myers, "But not this light. I can remember coming to the Fun Show 20 years ago and it was like the Celebration. It was that big."

Not all of the classes lost horses to the inspection process. Many of the flat shod, pleasure and plantation classes had several entries, especially the Western pleasure classes, which had 10-14 horses in them. Last year, only one class had two entries -- a few had five and most of the classes had at least eight.

Optimism

Both Myers and Meadows were optimistic.

"Those of us in the horse business have got confidence it'll come back," Myers said. "What other sport has a 95 percent compliance rate?"

"I thought we had a nice crowd last night," said Meadows "I'm looking forward to a good show and hope the trainers bring their horses tonight. We as an industry have got to put the horse back in the show ring."

Raising the bar

The trainer at the warm-up barn wasn't as positive.

"They keep moving the bar," he said. "They move it up and we meet it and then they move it up again. How can we beat that? And it's not just us. It's not just a few people with horses. Look how it affects the economy."

The economic impact of the Celebration was previously estimated to be well over $50 million in direct spending alone, according to Meadows in a 2008 interview.

Thursday night results

Following are Thursday night's results, according to the Celebration: Reserve in the Owner-Amateur Riders on Walking Mares or Geldings, 15.2 and Under class went to Shelley Lewis and Pushin For Parole.

Charlie Green and We're Ebony and Ivory captured the blue in the Two-Year-Old Walking Mares and Gelding Riders Cup Class for Ben and Dr. Lynda Brogden. Reserve honors went to Cash's Baby Girl with Jonathan Watts in the irons.

For the Owner-Amateur Riders on Two-Year-Old Walking Stallions Class, I'm Bellagio and Clay Mills were given the blue ribbon. The reserve honors went to Willie Do and Patti Pollack. Joses Dark-N-Stormy and Tricia Timmons received the third ribbon.

The Owner-Amateur County Pleasure, Gentlemen entered the ring as the fourth class. Princess Power and Jared Carrier made their way to the Winner's Circle for this class. Second place went to Prides General Delivery and Tim Brooks for Montverde Academy. The yellow ribbon was given to Xtreme Command and Mike Bell.

Don Julio and Alie Napier topped the Owner Amateur Riders on Walking Stallions, 15.2 and Under class. The reserve award went to Rocky Mountain Sky and Lucky Collins.

The sixth class of the night was for the Plantation Pleasure Walking Horses, Lite Shod. Castastrophic and Laurie Toone of Bell Buckle were given the honors for this class. The red ribbon was given to Major Orders and Patrick Thomas.

Jeff Green rode Showboats Showgirl and received the blue ribbon in the Walking Mares or Geldings, Over 15.2, Five Years and Over (Canter) class.

For the Owner-Amateur Country Pleasure, Lady Riders, Maggie Moore aboard Cowboy on Parole took the winner's circle. Reserve honors went to Sheeza Reba and Denis Underwood. The yellow ribbon went to Coppertops Miss Penny and Paige Montgomery.

Taking home the blue ribbon was Loose N Busty and Jacquelyn Brantley in the Walking Horse Trainer's Auxiliary Members on Walking Horses class. This was the entry of Jack Heffington of Murfreesboro and Shelbyville.

The Owner-Amateur Riders on Three-Year-Old Walking Mares or Geldings is always a crowd favorite. This year carrying a blue ribbon was Paroled in Texas and Holly Coggin. The reserved honors went to Crush and Whitney Breedlove. The third place tie and the yellow ribbon went to Dangerous Dollar and Jimmy Grant.

Riding into the winner's circle for the Four-Year-Old Walking Stallions (Canter) was Scratch Player and Winky Groover of Shelbyville. This is the entry of Crawford Colts out of Georgia.

The top of the class for Owner-Amateur Riders on Walking Ponies, 60" and Under was I'm Street Legal and Laura Lester. Reserved honors went to Carman Generator and Charles Craddock.

The Owner-Amateur Western Trail Pleasure class is always a treat. Taking the blue ribbon circle was Santa Emelia and Jared Carrier. The second place ribbon went to Sioza and Allison Thorson. The third place ribbon was awarded to Loot and Ashley Wadsworth.

The Silver Bandit and Kim Leonard made the winning ride for the Owner-Amateur Riders on Park Pleasure Walking Horses. The red ribbon was awarded to Overpass and Patti Pollack for Pollack's Silver Spur Ranch.

General Kennedy and Debbie McCaskill won the Owner-Amateur Riders on Walking Geldings, over 15.2 division.

The first day of the show ended with the Owner-Amateur Riders on Four-Year-Old Walking Mares or Geldings. Taking the final blue ribbon of the evening was I'm Dangerous With Cash and Jimmy Grant. The reserved honors went to Amnesty and Betty Warren. The third place tie went to Getting Out On Parole and Gail Walling of Shelbyville.

The Celebration Spring Fun Show will continue through Saturday night with performances scheduled for 6:00 p.m. each evening. Complete results, live video stream, and a schedule of classes can be found at www.twhnc.com.