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The Tennessee walking horse industry is a $267 million chunk of the economies of Bedford and Marshall counties, among others. The industry's signature annual event, the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration is a 70-year tourism fixture in the state.

Two years ago, that event was shut down as a result of animal welfare problems within the show circuit. Bad publicity on an international scale rained down on South Central Middle Tennessee and the horse industry. The biggest walking horse event in the world did not crown a grand champion. Since that seminal event, the industry has been at a crossroads. Walking horse registrations have dropped. Sales have declined. Despite the turmoil, the Celebration returned in 2007.

More recently, last November, the CEO and show manager of the Celebration was fired after more than two decades in the position. Last month, the Celebration announced its new CEO, Dr. Doyle Meadows.

Meadows recently retired from a 20-year career with the University of Tennessee Extension where he led the statewide horse program. Meadows has coached 25 World and National Champion Youth Horse Judging Teams. He has judged horse shows in the United States and eight foreign countries. He has conducted judging workshops and judges' ethics seminars for the National Horse Show Commission (NHSC) in Tennessee, Kentucky and Nevada. The Celebration honored Dr. Meadows upon his retirement from the University of Tennessee in 2007 with the Celebration Champion Award. This distinguished award was established in 1991 and since that time only ten people have been selected.

Meadows recently granted a brief interview to BTN. The following is an edited transcript of that conversation.

BTN: Help our readers, who may at best have a surface knowledge of the industry and the Celebration, understand the impact of those entities on agri-business and agri-tourism on Tennessee and the role The Celebration specifically plays from a business/leadership standpoint in the community, region and state.

Meadows: As people have moved from both coasts into Middle Tennessee as the summer months progress, there is well over $50 million in direct spending alone. We spend a lot of dollars on food, fuel and motel, but also other businesses--trucks, trailers, tack companies--that are also involved with this. Economic impact can be a nebulous term, but when you start putting it in terms of direct spending, it becomes extremely significant.

It's also important to understand economic impact if we took all these breeding farms and all the training barns away. All these horse owners and trainers buy groceries and everyday items. These horses are significant not only to animal agriculture but to the economic well-being of Bedford County. The trickle-down effect is so significant. Travel State Route 64 and U.S. 231, and you see horse barn after horse barn, and they are all contributing to direct spending in our economy and the state's economy.

Regarding the significance of walking horses to our community--the Celebration is the community treasure. It's the highlight of Bedford County. It's significant historically and traditionally to Bedford County.

BTN: It is fair to say these last two years have been tumultuous times for the walking horse industry. The Celebration and other walking horse events came under worldwide scrutiny for mistreatment of horses through the practice of soring. In 2006, the Celebration's final champion class was halted before a grand champion was named. The Celebration made a comeback in 2007. The show went on, as they say. How do you continue to move forward and build on that?

Meadows: Recently, I was at Waterfall Farms, which had a large colt preview--basically an exhibition of horses. The attitude of the people there was so positive. I almost had to park in Bell Buckle there was such a large crowd there. The Celebration staff and The Celebration did such a good job on the rebound from 2006 to 2007 that we are seeing carryover from that.

We're not going to just jump up and not talk about 2006. Sure, it's not on the top of our minds right now, but we'll always think about that and try to do the things it takes to keep that from happening again. And right now, it's the little things, like the community involvement.

It begins here. Part of the decline in attendance and stalls has been very, very local. And one of the things I can do is help build back some of that local credibility. Many people who have been ticket holders or ticket purchasers may not have come the last couple of years. But if we can put a good product back in this arena, in center ring, they'll come. We saw a little bit of that in 2007. Little by little, piece by piece, we'll get there.

BTN: In terms of the quality and soundness of the product that the trainers put in the ring, where do you think it is right now, and where is it headed?

Meadows: The horse industry is an industry, but it is also a recreational pursuit. It's hard for me to talk to people at horse barns that have been mucking stalls all day long about how they are involved in a recreational industry. That's no different from the guy working an eight-hour shift at Mercury Marine thinking, "Boy, I'm working in the recreational business!"

That said, our trainers are realizing more and more that hard work and dedication wins championships, and most of these guys who are trying to make a living in the horse business can't afford to do things that aren't acceptable in the industry today. They are doing a much better job. We saw that in 2007.

I'm going to say something that is 100% different from what you typically hear. Ninety-seven percent of all the horses were clean. And that's what we need to dwell on, not the 2% to 3% that wasn't living to standards or that the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture didn't think were.

I think that we're better. We are where we want to be. I'd love to have a Celebration and the USDA not even have to be here. Obviously, that's probably not going to happen. But that would be our goal. I can promise you that the goal of the Celebration CEO is to produce a good sound quality product that we can all be proud of.

BTN: You are obviously and rightfully focused on the present. But talk to me a bit about what's on the horizon. What do you see as the crucial factors for the growth of the industry and The Celebration over the next five, 10, 20 years, at a time when equine numbers in some states are falling?

Meadows: We need to get more of our young kids into walking horses. Twenty years ago, there were a lot more kids underneath the west grandstand having fun, shooting the bull and all that. They were here. Were they watching the horse show? Well, most of them weren't. But I want them to be here. I want to have some events and activities that will allow those kids to be part of our Celebration.

There are a lot of gray hairs at the Celebration in the crowd. They look like me. So we want to have an event that is more than a horse show. We want to have some activities and involvement for our kids.

BTN: After spending many years in higher education, what excited you about the position with The Celebration?

Meadows: Many good things have happened here through the years. There's a good team in place. I want to take the horse-related things in my life and the business things in my life and blend them together to have a business operation and business plan to move forward and make the kind of changes we'd like to make. I want to take what we've done and make it better.

BTN: There's an old saying that "Life is best viewed through the ears of a horse." What's your take on that?

Meadows: I grew up in West Texas riding old worn-out cutting horses. You can see a lot of things sitting up in the saddle looking over through the ears of these walking horses.

They are wonderful horses. I never appreciated growing up in Texas how good this horse was. It's amazing how athletic this horse is. To put the pads on and action devices and for them to go around center ring, hitting a really pretty gait and lifting and reaching and shaking their heads•that's an athletic performance. I don't want people to forget that.

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