Copyright WHR 2007

The Celebration has had two meetings and an exchange of letters with TWHBEA President Jerrold Pedigo regarding the Futurity continuing to be held on the first Wednesday of the Celebration.

The original proposal from the TWHBEA was voted down by the Celebration board but we were later informed by Mr. Pedigo that we had misunderstood his proposal and he has since clarified the TWHBEA’s request during a meeting with three Celebration representatives.

This new request has yet to come before the full Celebration board and no decision has been made. Also, the Celebration wants it clearly understood that in order for the Futurity to be a qualifying event, they would have to use the same judges as the Celebration.

The Celebration has had many discussions over the past months with other industry organizations, the United States Department of Agriculture, the Humane Society of the United States, and the American Association of Equine Practitioners. As a result of these exchanges, the Celebration is attempting to put together a program that helps insure that all horses are shown in compliance with the Horse Protection Act; brings the industry organizations back together in a unified effort and develops a constructive working arrangement with outside organizations that impact the padded show horse.

We can no longer sit idly back and allow circumstances beyond our control to further damage this industry and our World Championship Horse Show. The industry and our horse show must remain the master of its own house and we intend to do everything in our power to accomplish the objectives of sound horses, a united industry, successful horse shows all year long and the staging of a championship event of which we can all be proud.

We thank you for your comments, suggestions and support and let’s all move forward together.