Editor's Note:  The following document was prepared by Purple Strategies, the public affairs company retained by the Tennessee Walking Show Horse Organization and Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration.  The document is used as an educational tool for members of the press and public not familiar with the Tennessee Walking Horse industry or inspection process.

INSPECTIONS AT THE CELEBRATION
BY-THE-NUMBERS

Inspection and Compliance
• 2293 = Pre-Show inspections by SHOW HIO
    o SHOW HIO inspects every horse entered for competition regardless of how many times the horse is entered for competition
• 189 = Post-show inspections done by SHOW HIO
    o SHOW HIO inspects the first place horses and those second and third place horses referred to SHOW HIO by USDA (USDA normally inspects the second and third place horses)
• 2482 = Total inspections by SHOW HIO  
    o SHOW HIO inspects every horse in every class in which they are entered, all post-show first places, any horse referred to SHOW HIO by the USDA post-show and horses excused from the show ring
• 1277 = Total number of horses that participated in the 2293 pre-show inspections
• 56 = Total number of horses that received violations from SHOW HIO
• 97.6% = Compliance rate, with the Horse Protection Act, at 2012 Celebration
    o There were 56 violations from the 2293 entries presented for inspection, a significant improvement from the 93.6% compliance rate in 2011 
    o While there were more inspections post-show, since those horses are inspected before the show we counted them only once
• 43 = Number of horses disqualified from The Celebration for violations that could be indicative of soring - scar rule or sensitivity violations - as defined by the Horse Protection Act
• 13 = Number of horses disqualified from The Celebration for technical violations such as a high band (a band that could be 1/8” off) or a chain that is 1/10th of an ounce too heavy

Entries
• 3092 = Total preliminary and championship entries
    o 2660 is the total number of pre-entries
    o 432 is the total number of championship entries
    o Trainers often enter their horses in many more classes in which they actually end up competing for reasons such as, preserving the horses energy for a championship contest, the amateur exhibitor showing the horse rather than the professional exhibitor and therefore the number of horses who actually compete is smaller
• 1463 = Number of horses that make up the entries

USDA Inspection Crew Comparison
• 80 = Total number of violations that could be indicative of soring written by USDA that SHOW didn’t agree with or didn’t inspect post-show
• 64 = Violations that could be indicative of soring written by USDA inspectors in the first five days that they were inspecting (first crew)
    o The group of inspectors that the USDA sent that have a history of unfair enforcement of the HPA, four of which were there the first five days and responsible for issuing the 64 violations
• 70% - The percentage of times an independent veterinarian at The Celebration disagreed with the USDA’s violations that could be indicative of soring (sensitivity violations)
• 16 = Violations that could be indicative of soring written by the USDA inspectors after the first five days (second crew)
• 400% = The increase in violations issued by the first crew of USDA inspectors compared to the second crew of USDA inspectors
• 1000% = The increase over last year of scar rule violations issued by the USDA
    o Last year the USDA issued 7 scar rule violations and this year, the USDA issued 67