Fully committed to the future of our great breed, the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders’ & Exhibitors’ Association (TWHBEA) will host a full slate of 18 classes at the TWHBEA National Futurity. This event, which is scheduled to commence at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 25, at Calsonic Arena on the Celebration Grounds in Shelbyville, Tenn., will once again be the richest one-night horse show in the industry, offering over $100,000 in premiums and awards. The premier showcase for the industry’s foremost breeders since 1939, the TWHBEA National Futurity continues to attract the best of the best among young Tennessee Walking Horses.

Adjusting to the needs of the exhibitors, TWHBEA has made the following changes to the class schedule for the National Futurity. The TWHBEA/WHTA Youth Challenge Championship will be the first class of the evening.

TWHBEA is extremely grateful to L&M Awards for providing the ribbons for this year’s Youth Challenge and to the FAST Foundation for their sponsorship of this valuable program. New this year to the National Futurity are separate classes for weanlings foaled Oct. 1 through March 31 and weanlings foaled April 1 through July 31. In the class for those foaled October through March, colts and fillies will show together. Those foaled between April and July will be split, as is tradition, according to gender.

A new Country Pleasure class has also been added for two and three-year-olds and, in the performance division, three-year-old mares will have a separate class from three-year-old geldings. Recognizing the importance of breeding for the unique gait of the Tennessee Walking Horse, the TWHBEA National Futurity will continue to feature the In Hand Extended Gait Yearling class.

However, in a return to the traditions of the past, TWHBEA staff will manage the National Futurity and will select a three-judge panel to tie this prestigious event, and, as a result, classes at the TWHBEA National Futurity will not be qualifying classes for the Celebration. The past several years have been financially trying for both the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders’ & Exhibitors’ Association and the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration. As both organizations continue to seek sound financial footing, difficult decisions have had to be made. The Celebration will continue as a corporate sponsor of TWHBEA and TWHBEA will continue as a corporate sponsor of the Celebration. The long-standing relationship enjoyed by these two organizations over the past several years has been mutually beneficial as both have worked on behalf of the Tennessee Walking Horse industry and it is fully TWHBEA’s desire to continue this relationship within the constraints of today’s financial reality. TWHBEA continues to work very hard to add value to registered pedigreed horses and to expand the international success of the Tennessee Walking Horse industry.