Wayne Dean, Dan Waddell, and Larry Wheelon have been chosen as the judges for the SHOWCASE evening session. Diana McMurtry will judge the Trail Obstacle Competition in the morning. The 2nd Annual SHOWCASE by FAST will take place on the historic show grounds of the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration on Sunday July 3, 2011. The evening session will be in the Calsonic Arena. The Trail Obstacle course will be on the grounds. The Hall of Fame club will be open at 5:00 p. m.
In an innovative move, The FAST Board of Directors decided to ask for input in their selection of judges. One judge would be selected by the public by voting from the entire AAA & AAAA judges list, narrowing the choice from approximately 200 to 25 and then to top ten by popular vote with the judge receiving the most votes winning the assignment. One of the three judges would be chosen by popular vote by members in good standing with the Walking Horse Trainers Association and the final judge chosen by the FAST Board of Directors.
The online voting resulted in 10,663 votes. The voting started in early May and the competition was fierce at each level of elimination. As far as is known this number of votes received for a Walking Horse judge at a Walking Horse show is a historic number. FAST thanks all of those who took time to go online at www.FASTWalkingShowHorse.org to vote. The winner of the online voting is Wayne Dean from Lewisburg, TN and Montverde, FL.
Wayne Dean - 3612
Linda Taylor – 3594
Frankie Roarke - 2358
Michael Daniel – 497
Wendell Kirkpatrick - 171
John Fikes - 134
Brent Grider - 111
Bob Burris - 103
Jeff Hatcher - 61
Carol Wakefield - 22
Of the over 400 eligible trainers who received their ballots the trainers sent in a total of 23 votes with Larry Wheelon, Maryville, TN receiving the most votes
Larry Wheelon 11
Jamie Bradshaw 4
Michael Daniels 2
Joe Cotton 2
Bobby Burris 1
Jessie Dotson, Jr. 1
Brent Grider 1
Newton Parks 1
The FAST Board of Directors chose Dan Waddell, Union City, TN as their choice of a judge.
FAST is a 501 (c)3 organization that’s mission is to promote and preserve the Tennessee Walking Show Horse. All donations are tax deductible and are put to immediate use in the industry. For more information or to make a donation visit FAST online at www.FASTWalkingShowHorse.org