A Time For Pride
Friday, September 22, 2006
As owners left the Celebration grounds on Saturday, September 2, 2006, we were all somewhat confused and dismayed. For the first time in our history, we did not view the competition and crowning of a new World Grand Champion for our industry.
With that said, we need to keep the great achievements of the 2006 Celebration in perspective. First, our dedicated trainers, along with their owners, worked diligently all season to exhibit extremely talented and compliant horses. As the Celebration unfolded, 3,241 of our industry’s finest animals were brought to inspection with the hope of competing for world championship honors. We all feel honored to know that 92.3% of these horses were found to be in compliance, AFTER inspections were conducted by our industry DQP’s and government VMO’s. We should never lose sight of this important accomplishment.
Throughout the ten days, we crowned 161 World Champion and World Grand Champion Winners. As an industry, we do not want to diminish the accomplishments of all these trainers, exhibitors, and owners. There were very high levels of competition, and this year as in years passed, persons receiving any award in these classes were proud of their win. As an industry, we enjoyed a GREAT Celebration, and we cannot allow the loss of one class to dampen our excitement and support of these hundreds of entries who won world class honors.
As the season started, who would have believed our industry would rally, and for every one horse which was unable to show at the Celebration after inspection, a whopping thirteen were approved to compete for honors. This is another impressive statistic we should not overlook. In addition to this, the industry had a decrease of 1.5% in sensitivity violations, another reason to applaud our hard working trainers and committed owners.
As we begin the fall show season, our industry is proud of our horses, trainers, exhibitors, and owners, who continue to work daily to improve our breed. The Walking Horse Owner’s Association shares the pride of the industry and looks forward to showcasing our great horse with our 28th Annual International Grand Championship Walking Horse Show, September 28th-30th.
This industry will only be a success if each person participates and shares our pride in the strides, which have been made this season. No one needs to look to “leaders” to change the industry, each of us are leaders. We each have a circle of influence, no matter how large or small, and each one of us can become a leader. We recognize we have areas which need improvement, but we also want to reflect on the ACCOMPLISHMENTS of this industry and communicate this.
We look forward to your participation in our show and we ask that the great spectators of the Tennessee Walking Horse attend and show your support for this industry and all the hard work that has been done this year. At this time, the trainers, exhibitors, and owners need to hear the cheers of the fans as they continue to show these talented horses, just as you were heard the final night of the Celebration.
Sincerely,
WALKING HORSE OWNERS’ ASSOCIATION’S
BOARD OF DIRECTORS