Press Release from TWHBEA 

There have been some inquiries made at the TWHBEA concerning a circulating email soliciting donations on behalf of the Tennessee Walking Horse Foundation (TWHF). This organization's use of the name is in question and their request for donations is not sanctioned in any way by the Tennessee Walking Horse ™ Breeders' and Exhibitors' Association. We did not provide them with email address lists, we are unsure of their source for emails addresses but if it is a list obtained from the TWHBEA database either directly or indirectly, it is being used in a manner contrary to our Corporate Rules and Terms of Use Agreement.

The 501c(3) Foundation that is closely associated and has a working relationship with the TWHBEA is the Tennessee Walking Horse ™ Breeders' Foundation (TWHBF). That organization is co-located at the TWHBEA world headquarters in Lewisburg, TN.

That is the short version. Here is a much more detailed accounting for those who care to know the facts.

The renamed Tennessee Walking Horse ™ Foundation was formed and initially named The Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders Foundation Inc. funded by the TWHBEA on December 27th, 1989. In 2002 the name of the foundation was shortened to the present title. The Tennessee Walking Horse Foundation bylaws could only be changed by the Executive Committee of TWHBEA. Secondly, members of the Tennessee Walking Horse Foundation board of directors were to be appointed by the Executive Committee of TWHBEA. We have examined the minutes of all available Executive Committee and Board [of Directors] meetings of TWHBEA and have no record that either of these points were ever changed or altered such that administration of the foundation could legally be severed from the TWHBEA premises and governance. Several former TWHBEA directors and members of the TWHF assumed control of the foundation's assets and books and vacated the [Association] with them.

We have requested from the persons we know to have been involved, as provided by law, to examine the records of the Tennessee Walking Horse Foundation and have been summarily ignored. Likewise, association officers were told their attorney would be in touch. No such contact has been made. We have attempted to contact Fran Cole who is identified as their President on their website, but not on the official record of the state of Tennessee, and she has not returned our calls.

At TWHBEA we are very much appreciative to those that contribute to our industry foundations on behalf of OUR Horse. We also want our membership to be properly informed. We felt it our responsibility to clear up any confusion this situation may have caused.