Children (as young as six years of age) will risk suffering death or permanent crippling injury IF the Board of Directors  of the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration does not require all juvenile riders (ages 18 and under)  to wear protective helmets/headgear at its ten (10) day horse show which starts on August 26, 2021.  The young child pictured here on a "Big Lick" Tennessee Walking Horse is only wearing a straw hat.

YOUTH (11 And Under) Class  - Wartrace, TN Horse Show - Aug. 2019

https://youtu.be/3WFvp-hVOJY
 
The large Celebration oval arena (300 feet long x 150 feet wide)  features a tarmac track which is hard as concrete.   It will only take one spill to end a young life or leave a child permanently paralyzed or brain damaged. 

Risking Young Children (11 & Under)- No Helmets/Protective Headgear - Asheville, NC - Oct. 6, 2017 

https://youtu.be/I3TV9MdT7Us

Many Celebration classes feature “Big Lick” Tennessee Walking Horses. The “Big Lick” horses are especially dangerous because they perform wearing nearly eight pound platform STACK SHOES and CHAINS. The STACK SHOES often come off causing the horse to stumble, and sometimes fall.    Here is an example from the Woodbury (TN) Lions Club Horse Show held on July 3, 2021.
 
https://youtu.be/67cG4BaCsIk
 
THROWN STACK SHOE - "BABY HORSE" - TWO YEAR OLD STALLION CLASS - Woodbury "Big Lick" Horse Show
 
 The USEF (United States Equestrian Federation) requires all riders, 18 years of age and under, to wear protective helmets/headgear.    The USEF is the national governing body for equestrian sports in the United States and represents 29 breeds and disciplines and sanctions more than 2,500 competitions annually. The USEF bans all “Big Lick” Tennessee Walking Horses from participating at any of its horse shows. 
 
Here is an excerpt from HorseJournals.com article (2017):
 
“When a rider falls, the head is usually the first thing to impact the ground. The human skull can be shattered on impacts of 7 to 10 kilometers per hour, and horses gallop at over 60 kph. According to the Brain Injury Alliance of Kentucky, three out of every five equestrian accident deaths are caused by brain injuries, and there is four times the risk of mortality for non-helmeted riders who become injured. Horses are responsible for more than half of all injuries caused by large animals and approximately one-third of those are brain or head injuries.”
   
https://www.horsejournals.com/life-horses/11-reasons-not-wearing-riding-helmet
 
In 2006, in the State of Florida,  “Nicole Hornstein was riding a horse when the animal stumbled and fell, tossing her, and her head slammed into the pavement.
The 12-year-old girl, who wasn't wearing a helmet, died in 2006 after 20 days in a coma.

But her death was not in vain, her father and state legislators said Monday, moments before Gov. Charlie Crist signed a safety bill into "Nicole's Law."
 
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/sfl-horse-helmet-law-p060809-story.html   ;
 
YOUTH “BIG LICK” CLASSES AT 2021 TN WALKING HORSE CELEBRATION:         
 
 THURSDAY EVENING, AUGUST 26, 2021, 7:00 PM
26 Owner-Amateur Youth Riders 6-11 Years on Walking Mares
32 Owner-Amateur Youth Riders 15-17 Years on Walking Mares or Geldings

FRIDAY EVENING, AUGUST 27, 2021, 7:00 PM
51 Owner-Amateur Youth Riders 6-11 Years on Walking Geldings

SATURDAY EVENING, AUGUST 28, 2021, 7:00 PM
80 Owner-Amateur Novice Youth Riders 12-17 Years on Novice Walking Mares or Geldings
83 Owner-Amateur Youth Riders 6-14 Years on Walking Ponies
 
SUNDAY EVENING, AUGUST 29, 2021, 7:00 PM 
88 Owner-Amateur Youth Riders 12-14 Years on Walking Mares or Geldings
91 Owner-Amateur Novice Youth Riders 6-11 Years on Novice Walking Mares or Geldings  
95 Owner-Amateur Youth Riders 15-17 Years on Walking Ponies

 FRIDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 3, 2021, 7:00 PM
167 Owner-Amateur Youth Riders 12-17 Years on Walking Mares or Geldings, World Grand Championship®
171 Owner-Amateur Youth Riders 6-11Years on Walking Mares or Geldings, World Grand Championship®
173 Owner-Amateur Youth Riders 6-17 Years on Walking Ponies, World Grand Championship®
174 Owner-Amateur Youth Riders 6-17 Years on Show Pleasure Walking Mares or Geldings, World Grand Championship®
 
Two years ago on July 25, 2019, the United States House of Representatives cast an historic bipartisan landslide vote –333 to 96– to abolish the “Big Lick” because it is Animal Cruelty to Tennessee Walking Horses. 
 
Please SIGN and SHARE this Petition.  Your Signatures and Comments will be delivered to: Celebration CEO Mr. Warren Wells; Directors, Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration;  Mayor, Shelbyville, TN;  Mayor,  Bedford County, TN;  Shelbyville-Bedford County Chamber of Commerce.
 
 Horses Do Not Have A Voice So We Protest For Them.
 
Citizens Campaign Against “Big Lick” Animal Cruelty (CCABLAC) 

 
Click here for “Story of  “WE, The People” – CCABLAC:
 
 https://www.facebook.com/BillyGoBoy/videos/1143804862409275/
 
https://youtu.be/MuKWcqUdZbc
 
“WE, The People” -  CCABLAC is a grassroots movement whose advocates have peacefully assembled and protested against Animal Cruelty to “Big Lick” Tennessee Walking Horses from the Gulf of Mexico at Panama City Beach, FL;  to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, NC;  and delivered over 100,000+ petition signatures to the White House in Washington, D.C.   In 2019,  CCABLAC led the effort to obtain the historic bipartisan landslide vote – 333 to 96 - in the United States House of Representatives in favor of abolishing “Big Lick” Animal Cruelty to Tennessee Walking Horses. CCABLAC has ended "Big Lick" Tennessee Walking Horse Shows in Tennessee, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi.   This will be the seventh year that CCABLAC advocates will protest at the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration.