Right now the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration is in full swing in the Walking Horse Capital of the World – Shelbyville, TN. This event is held every year for 11 days before Labor Day. It’s the biggest thing that goes on in Bedford County, so everyone in the town is affected by the event, even if they’re not directly involved with it.
The school system even shuts down for it.
Yes, it’s true. Every year we would return to school from summer break for about a week or two, and then go back home for a whole week. I was always told that this happens since so many people are involved with the Celebration (or leave town), there would be no kids to teach each day.
Though I am not a big fan of horsies, I had a job for the 11 days of the event for 3 straight years. No, I wasn’t scooping up horse droppings and cleaning stalls in a barn. I was wearing nice clothes and sitting inside an air-conditioned World Champion Horse Equipment gift shop just outside the outdoor arena and beside the famous Optimist Club’s homemade doughnut booth. I helped customers in this gift shop (a satellite location for the main store down the road), but my main focus was taking subscriptions for the Walking Horse Report. I talked with a lot of horse fanatics, kept the daily Report stocked in the bins outside the shop, became friends with the cute boys in the shop next door, and was given quite a few of the amazing doughnuts – you know, very difficult and demanding responsibilities. Besides the doughnuts and visits from friends, one of my favorite aspects of the job was to look at the pictures from the previous day’s shows and see my friends all dressed up as ribbon presenters – another demanding responsibility. 
Since I played a couple of sports throughout middle and high school, I also worked a couple of nights each year in the East Bedford Civic Club’s popcorn and peanut booth. Each team at my school was responsible for staffing a night at the booth. I still don’t understand how the coaches and parents got us to do anything productive. Our friends were always stopping by. We kept looking at our watches, anticipating the next break time. All we wanted to do was walk around with our friends and been seen. The popcorn booth was just our free ticket in that night. Even now, 10 years later, I bet it’s the same story.
I wonder who is sitting at the subscription desk tonight as I am sitting here “babysitting” (aka making sure the kids don’t tear the house up even as they’re sleeping). I bet she’s flipping through the Report admiring her friends’ beautiful, shiny dresses, too – completely overlooking the horses. 
