Eakin Primary students learn more about their town, Shelbyville, TN. The Walking Horse Capital of the World.
The following reports were done by the children in Mrs. Karen McDonald's second grade class and Mrs. Reita Vaughn's third grade class from their research and field trip to The Celebration in Shelbyville, Tennessee:
The Tennessee Walking Horse
The outdoor arena at the Celebration will hold 45,000 people. Winning horses win money, flowers, and ribbons. The Celebration last for 10 days. Some horses wear horseshoes. Walking horses get really old and still show. There are 11-12 washing stalls for the horses at the showgrounds. A farrier is a person that puts on horseshoes.
The Calsonic Arena has 4500 seats. The dirt in the arena is called quarter-down. There is one rodeo held here each year. Bill Cantrell won trainer of the year in 1996. The flat foot walk is smooth and has four beats and can go 5 to 7 miles per hour. The first Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration was in 1939. The first World Grand Champion was Strolling Jim. There are 62 barns on the grounds.
The Celebration brings approximately $18,000,000 into Shelbyville those days.
Written by Amanda Cook, 2nd grade student, Deery Eakin Primary School
The Celebration
The first Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration was in 1939 behind Harris Middle School. Every year the Calsonic Arena has about 10 shows. The first World Grand Champion Horse was Strolling Jim. There are 62 barns and 1650 stalls on the Celebration grounds. The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration is held in Shelbyville for 10 days each year. The Celebration brings approximately $18,000,000 into Shelbyville those 10 days. 3,000 people can sit in the outdoor arena. Strolling Jim was buried behind the Walking Horse Hotel. The horses are still riding with pride.
Written by Kelly Pietkiewicz, 2nd grade, Deery Eakin Primary School
The Tennessee Walking Horse Show
When we went to the walking horse celebration we learned that about 4,000 horses came to the horse show in 1996. It is only the ten nights before Labor Day. They win ribbons and flowers and stuff like that. There are 42 rows in the grand stand. There are 1650 barns. The dirt in the inside in the inside area has a special covering. They usually have one rodeo a year.
Written by Evan Macquarrie, 2nd grade, Deery Eakin Primary School
Tennessee Walking Horse
The first Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration was in 1939. The first World Grand Champion was Strolling Jim. The old horse show was behind Harris Middle School where he won the horse show. In 1948 they moved farther into town. The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration is held in Shelbyville for 10 days each year. Last year Puttin on the Ritz won and the crowd went wild.
Written by Heath Helton, 2nd grade, Deery Eakin Primary School
Celebration Grounds
The Horse Show starts 10 days before Labor Day. About 4000 horses come to the show. There are 2 different kinds of walking horses. There are Pleasure Plantation and the Big Lick. Big licks have good gaits. In 1939 the Horse Show started behind Harris Middle School. The Horse Show stands were only three rows high in the beginnings now there are 42 rows of seats and they are full. Now there are 110 classes. The horseshoe has to have 4 or 5 nails. Most horses weigh about 100 pounds. The Celebration has 1650 stalls for the horses.
Written by Chelsey Crowell, 2nd grade, Deery Eakin Primary School
The Celebration
Under the grandstands is called the mall. There are two arenas, the indoor and the outdoor. There are 30,000 seats in the outdoor arena and 4500 in the indoor. The Celebration is ten days long. There are two types of horses that you can show, Walking Horse and Pleasure Horse. There are three types of gaits; flat, run. and canter. The Celebration began in 1939 behind Harris Middle School. In 1948, it moved to where it is now. There were only three rows of seats in the first year. The ring master says the gait. The dirt in the ring is called quarter-down. There are all sorts of things in the indoor arena like monster trucks and concerts. There is a building called the Blue Ribbon Circle and you can rent it from The Celebration. Last year the civic clubs earned 360.000 dollars. There are 1,650 stables at the celebration grounds. Betty Sain was the first woman to win. In 1946, one of the prettiest horses won, Midnight Sun. Strolling Jim was the first horse to win. Last year The Ritz won. Delight H. won 600 blue ribbons.
Written by Drew Macquarrie and Mitchell Petty,3rd grade, Deery Eakin Primary
The Horse Show
The outdoor arena seats 30,000 people. The indoor arena seats 4,500. At the beginning of each horseshow there is a white horse carrying a flag, The civic clubs made $360,000 last year. A walking horse has 3 gaits. Last year there were 102 classes. There are about 11 horseshows each year.
Written by Casey Simpson and Dustin Carroll,3rd grade,Deery Eakin Primary
Report about Horses
The center ring has 7 or 8 people every time they have a horseshow. They have 42 rows and those rows are always full. Every year they have a rodeo. Last year they raised $360,000. The horseshow has a Blue Ribbon Room that is always open. They have 1,650 stables. They have 10 different horseshows. Last year they had 4,000 horses. It takes 10 days.
Written by Slone Norton, Kally Dawn Darnell, and Heather Haynes,3rd grade,Deery Eakin Primary
1996 Tennessee Walking Horse World Grand Champion
Puttin on the Ritz
Trainer: Sammy Day
Owners: Bill and Sandra Johnson
Sammy Day's son, Seth, is a student of Eakin Primary working on this project.