The WHINNY awards dinner will be held October 6, 2011 at the Radisson Hotel Opryland starting at 6:00pm. Included in the evening’s program are live country music performances, the Rhythm & Hooves auction to benefit several equine charities and the presentation of the awards to this year’s recipients.
This year’s recipients include: animal rights and wild mustang advocate Madeleine Pickens, charitable horse industry leaders Elizabeth and William Shatner, horsewoman and advocate country music legend Lynn Anderson, music industry icons and thoroughbred racing breeders/racers Mike and Martha Borchetta, horsewoman and advocate singer/songwriter Templeton Thompson, and animal rights and music industry veteran Bonnie Garner.
The Rhythm & Hooves auction will be offering a large variety of items and some very special items including a signed guitar by Tim McGraw and Gwyneth Paltrow, from Curb Records, an autographed DragonCon badge from William Shatner, an autographed “61 hits” by George Strait, a breeding to a son of Seattle Slew by New Swan Farm, and an autographed book from Shania Twain. Madeleine Pickens will be donating a native American choker from artist Travis Jackson, Jr. from the Seminole tribe of Oklahoma. Elizabeth Shatner will be donating auction packages including a “Faire Game Package” including original artwork, her trademarked leather stirrup picture hangers (as seen on American Pickers!), also an “All Glory Package” including both an original portrait and a rare, limited edition autographed Breyer model of All Glory, the Shatner’s World Champion American Saddlebred . She will also be donating bottles of her custom-blended Faire Game White wine as door prizes.
The event is open to the public but tickets are limited. “We only have about 50 tickets left to the event so if people in town wish to attend, they are being offered on a first come first serve basis,” states WHIN’s CEO, Catherine Masters. Tickets can be ordered online at www.womenshorseindustry.com/attendwhinnys.html. Tickets must be purchase in advance.
Performing at the event are: Cassidy Lynn, Mark Wayne Glasmire, Keith Bryant, DeeAnn Dominy, Templeton Thompson, and Lynn Anderson.
“We never dreamed this event would become as big as it has and we are simply delighted to have the opportunity to shine the light on so many deserving people in the horse world. It will be my pleasure to hand them their awards,” adds Masters.
The event will be videotaped for a delayed broadcast on HRTV and many other cable stations by Speaking of Horses TV production company headed by Wayne Williams. The official photographer will be Raeanne Rubenstein, one of the top photographers in the world with extensive credentials in many areas including music, theatre and art.
On October 7-8, also at the Radisson, WHIN will host its 3rd Annual Business Networking Expo which will include exhibits offering a variety of horse related products and services and panel discussions covering many topics of interest to the equine world. A complete list of exhibitors and speakers can be found on WHIN’s website: www.womenshorseindustry.com. Registration is open to the public but you must be pre-registered to attend. Interested individuals can register online at the website.
The Women’s Horse Industry Network is the largest network in the world for women working in the horse industry and is based in Nashville, Tennessee. This is the first time the annual meeting has been held in Nashville, Tennessee. Masters, who runs the network is a former music industry executive and felt that the attendees who are coming from around the world would really enjoy visiting “Music City”. It appears she is right.
“This is going to be something that everyone will remember for the rest of their lives,” Masters adds.
Contact:
Catherine Masters
Women’s Horse Industry Network
615-730-7833