Ron Thomas, Chief Executive Officer of the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration, has received a death threat that is being investigated by the Bedford County Sheriff’s Department and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The note was taped to the outside door of Thomas’s office on the show grounds.

            The note issued several warnings and appears to be the work of an extremist group or individual. The primary focus of the note was the presence of sore horses on the grounds during the upcoming Celebration.

            The phrase “you will be executed for breaking the law” is being taken seriously by law enforcement officials following analysis of the note by several different experts. These experts have given the Celebration and the Sheriff’s Department a very candid and frightening description of the type of person involved and all efforts are being undertaken to find and prosecute this individual.

            “The Board is very concerned about this matter and the safety of Mr. Thomas and we intend to investigate and prosecute this situation to the fullest extent of the law,” said Celebration Board Chairman David L. Howard.