Embattled Tennessee Walking Horse trainer Jackie McConnell has been permanently banned from the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration (TWHNC) under a vote taken by the event’s board of directors. The TWHNC is a high-profile Tennessee Walking Horse exhibition event during which the breed’s World Grand Champion and other champion horses are chosen. The 11-day event takes place annually in Shelbyville, Tenn., just prior to Labor Day.

In February, a federal grand jury in Tennessee indicted McConnell and three other individuals for conspiring to violate the Horse Protection Act (HPA), which forbids soring. On May 22, McConnell appeared in U.S. District Court in Chattanooga, Tenn., where he pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the HPA in various ways.

While the case was pending, video images of soring procedures reportedly taken at McConnell’s training barn by were featured in a broadcast of the ABC News program "Nightline." Subsequently, longtime Celebration sponsor PepsiCo., discontinued its affiliation with the event, and the Walking Horse Trainers Association board of directors voted to begin proceedings to suspend McConnell’s trainers license indefinitely.

On May 22, in a written statement posted on the Celebration website, members of the Celebration board of directors announced that they had voted to suspend McConnell for life. Under the lifetime ban, McConnell may not enter the TWHNC grounds for any event, regardless of its affiliation or ownership. Any horse in McConnell’s custody is also banned from entry onto TWHNC grounds, according to the statement