Tennessee Walking Horse Celebration opens with intense scrutiny

Tennessee Walking Horse Celebration opens with intense scrutiny

Jordan Howell rides Gi Gi's Majestic, winning first place in the Trail Pleasure English Class on the first day of The Celebration, Tennessee's largest walking horse event, August 22, 2012 in Shelbyville, Tenn. / Dipti Vaidya/The Tennessean

 

 

 

 Written by 

Heidi Hall

The Tennessean

10:33 AM, Aug 22, 2012

The Tennessee Walking Horse Celebration opened this morning with the most intense horse inspections in its 74-year history.

Trainers took their horses through a chemical swabbing station sponsored by their own professional association. The results will be posted on the Walking Horse Trainers Association website in 24 hours.

If trainers are found to have chemically sored the horses -- burned them to induce their gait -- they will be stripped of their ribbons and prize money and immediately suspended.

Inspectors checked 144 horses by noon and found no evidence of soring.

The show will attract an estimated 200,000 fans and runs through Sept. 1.