Western Park Pleasure classes
will be part of the schedule at
the 2008 Tennessee Walking Horse
National Celebration®
following discussions with
exhibitors and trainers.
After researching the past six
years and seeing a dramatic
decline in entries in that
division, a total of four
Western Park Pleasure classes
were deleted from the initial
2008 class schedule. That
included two preliminary
(canter) classes, one
non-qualifying two-gaited class,
and the Western Park Pleasure
World Grand Championship®
(Canter) class.
The Celebration®
typically releases a tentative
schedule in January to get
feedback and input before
finalizing the docket in the
spring. That was no different
this year. After initial phone
calls and email requests to
reinstate the classes,
Celebration officials met with a
group of trainers and
exhibitors. The result of those
discussions was putting three
preliminary classes and a
championship class back on the
schedule. There were, however,
some changes made to help bring
the numbers up.
Two of the preliminary classes
will be for Owner-Amateur Riders
and will feature two gaits.
Those classes will be qualifying
classes for the Owner-Amateur
Western Park Pleasure Horses
World Grand Championship®.
There will be one open class
that will require entries to
canter, but will not be a
qualifying class for any
championship.
“This is an example of how our
system should work,” said
Celebration Entry Office Manager
Mary Lynn Dickens. “Our class
schedule is a work in progress
from year to year. We add
classes and championships where
needed and delete them in areas
that are not supported by
entries. Hopefully, this
compromise will spur interest in
this division and make for
exciting classes for the fans to
enjoy.”
The classes added back into the
schedule are:
