It had been over 20 years since American Saddlebreds exhibited on the Celebration Showgrounds, but in June, 2020, when the Spring Fling horse show had to be rescheduled and relocated, Shelbyville TN welcomed us with open arms and rolled out the red carpet. The facility is working hard to make upgrades and improvements to accommodate multi-breed events, such as new footing, new equipment to maintain the footing, and a $7million dollar upgrade to the Coliseum in 2024.
The 105 acre Celebration Showgrounds has multiple arenas, 650 stalls in recently renovated barns, and plenty of RV camping. Our show will be held in the recently renamed COOPER STEEL ARENA that is in the midst of getting a $7million dollar renovation, which should be completed by showtime. It is a 125,000 sq ft indoor coliseum with a 150 x 300 ring, seating for 4,500, with an attached 125 x 250 make-up area. The footing in the coliseum, the make-up area and the adjoining covered Champions Arena is a clay/sand mixture. There is also a lovely outdoor ring located in the stabling area with crush-and-run footing.
The 39 recently renovated barns on the showgrounds range in size from a minimum of 8-12 stalls to a maximum of 30-35 stalls. Each stable is assigned a "private barn" based on the number of stalls they need.
Premium barns are assigned based on:
1) Previous attendance record to Spring Fling @ Shelbyville
2) Sponsorship
3) Date of receipt of entries
Shelbyville is GROWING by leaps and bounds, and they have some exciting plans on the horizon. The Celebration Showgrounds is quickly becoming a multi-purpose facility and attracting a wide variety of breeds and other events. Their growth, coupled with other new area attractions, will bring new hotels and new restaurants in the near future. Southern Saddlebred feels fortunate to have developed a strong partnership with The Celebration since 2020, and we look forward to growing with them!
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