Racking Horse World Celebration
| Sanctioning body | Racking Horse Breeders' Association of America |
|---|---|
| Location | Priceville, Alabama |
| Held | Annually |
| Length | Over a week |
| Breeds shown | Racking Horse |
| Largest honor | World Grand Championship |
| Number of entries | 1,000 |
| Attendance | 70,000 |
The Racking Horse World Celebration is the largest show for the Racking Horse breed. It is held annually in late September at the Celebration Arena in Priceville, Alabama, a few miles outside Decatur. The Celebration encompasses over a week of nightly shows, and includes approximately 170 classes. Over 1,000 horses compete there each year. The World Celebration's counterpart is the Spring Celebration, held in April at the same location.
The Celebration was started in 1972, not long after the formation of the Racking Horse Breeders' Association of America (RHBAA). Although most of the organizers were from Birmingham it was decided to hold the show in Priceville, which is in Morgan County, northern Alabama, because the horse center there was the best in the state at the time. The first Celebration lasted one day and included 23 classes and 257 horses. Many of the exhibitors and horses were from the Muscle Shoals area. The competition was patterned after the larger and to some extent, more widely known Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration, with a World Grand Championship as the largest honor. The first World Grand Champion Racking Horse was Go Boy's Road Runner in 1972. The trainer with the most World Grand Championships was Kenny Ailshie, who won the honor six times. The first female rider to win the World Grand Championship was Barbara Agnich riding the horse Tragedy in 2005. In a twist, Agnich competed against her boyfriend Rick Parish to win. In 1986, the Racking Horse World and Spring Celebrations were named by the Southeast Tourism Society as being among the top 20 attractions in the Southeastern United States.
World Grand Championship winners at the Racking Horse World Celebration.
The Celebration includes a variety of classes, including saddle seat, trail, English pleasure, western riding, driving, speed classes, and even stick horse riding for young children. Multiple World Championships and one World Grand Championship are awarded. The largest class, the World Grand Championship, has a cash prize of $3,000 and a silver tea set. The Celebration has average attendance of around 70,000 people. It includes about 1,000 horses from 25 US states.
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