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The start of this weekend marked the 173rd day since I was crowned the 2014 All American Quarter Horse Congress Queen. The day before arriving at the Equine Affaire I heard some very exciting news, Sweet Talking Mo, was making his official debut as a Peter Stone Model horse! I rode Sweet Talking Mo, affectionately known as King Mo, to a Congress Championship in Queen’s Horsemanship. Of course, as soon as I arrived in Columbus on Friday I went to The Ginger Horse booth, where Mo was being displayed front and center. Seeing him for the first time brought tears to my eyes. I spent the winter communicating back and forth with Ginger Patrick and the Peter Stone Model Horse Company designing the perfect Mo. He came out better than I could have ever imagined and his coat has just the right metallic shine to it. I spent some time admiring the model Mo and then autographed all the Mo models at the booth! Many of the kids visiting the booth also loved Mo and it was an honor to take pictures with them and tell them the story of Mo! A special thank you to Ginger of The Ginger Horse and Peter Stone for allowing Mo to live forever. I am also forever grateful to his owners Cindy and Shelbe Jarrett for giving me the opportunity to sit aboard such special horse.

After I autographed the Mo models, I headed to the Rod’s Western Palace booth. It was great to see the many familiar faces at Rod’s. I have had the honor of working with Rod’s the past couple of years as they are fantastic supporters of the OQHA Queen and the Congress Queen. It was great to see Trent Johnson of Greeley Hat Works! I was also very excited to meet Miss Rodeo America 2015, Lauren Heaton. Lauren and I spent the afternoon together meeting many young horse lovers and signing autographs at Rod’s.

On Saturday morning, Trent, Lauren, and I headed over to the Voinovich building where we did a clinic on becoming a queen with focuses on confidence, public speaking, interviewing, and horsemanship. Lauren and I introduced ourselves and then we had each of the young ladies in attendance come up to the microphone to introduce themselves and talk about their interests. It was a great clinic with a lot of interactions between Lauren and me and the young horse enthusiasts and aspiring queens. It was a great opportunity to help them feel more confident with public speaking whether in a pageant or a presentation at school. I know they all benefitted and Lauren and I enjoyed getting to know all the girls. Thank you to Trent Johnson for organizing the clinic and allowing it to happen. It is always an honor to have an impact on the upcoming generation of the equine industry!

Sunday was another thrilling day at the Equine Affaire. I had to opportunity to go around to the many vendors that support the Congress and the Congress Queen Contest. It was great to speak with all of them. I even snuck in a little shopping of my own! As always I met many fabulous people and talked about the Congress and my job as the Congress Queen. Before I knew it the 2015 Equine Affaire was in the books!