Shelbyville, Tenn. is known as the Walking Horse Capital of the World and the tax revenues associated with those parcels of land prove it. Shelbyville, the county seat of Bedford County, is home to the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration, the largest non-profit organization in Bedford County.
In Bedford County, there are 265 separate parcels of land that have at least one horse barn. These parcels consist of 15,195.2 acres and have an appraised value for taxes of $130,173,300. Not considering Greenbelt, and figuring just the county tax at 25% of appraised value the Bedford County tax for 2008 on $130,173,300 is $738,733.48.
The Walking Horse community has used Bedford County as an increasing hub for weekend visitors visiting shows across the Middle Tennessee area. Hotels, restaurants, gas stations and local stores benefit year-round from the influx of horse enthusiasts to Bedford County. Shelbyville has also seen a real estate boom from second home sales to horse owners as well as an increasing number of training facilities relocating to Bedford County.