The Unity Committee, comprised of representatives of  WHOA, TWHBEA, WHTA and The Celebration, met for the first time on Friday, January 6, 2012. This group discussed at length the possibilities of the improvement and strengthening of the image of the Tennessee Walking Horse industry from within and in the public arena. In this first meeting, the group established a structure of the group, goals, and planned their next meeting.

The Unity Committee will be made up of three representatives from each of the groups. These representatives are: WHOA – Kim Bennett, Duke Thorson, Tam Brogden; TWHBEA – Marty Irby, Christy Lantis, Tom Kakassy; Celebration – David Howard, Jim Allison and Henry Hulan; WHTA – Jamie Hankins, Link Webb, Chris Bobo. There is no one group that has a stronger position than the other; all will have equal input and voice in the group. The Unity Committee will remain open to including input from other organizations. The group also established some initial goals. Initially the group will focus on the following:

1. Unification meetings to include other industry groups in both large and small settings.
2. Encourage and support promotion and marketing of the Tennessee Walking Horse through a ‘one voice’ campaign.
3. Education to create a higher level of competency, integrity and professionalism among our trainers, owners, judges and inspectors.
4. Create consistency and predictability in the rules, judging, & inspections.

The Unity Committee will meet again on Friday, February 3, 2012. All members of the Unity Committee welcome input and may be contacted individually.