The next leg of my 2 weeks of Queening was at the National Snaffle Bit Association World Show in Tulsa, Oklahoma. A super cool thing about the Ford truck arena is that the awards on the “island” in the middle of the Arena. Getting to watch classes such as the over fences, western pleasure, and hunter under saddle while the horses are around you is such a unique experience! Heroes on Horses is a special class honoring our service men and women that starts with a beautiful flag ceremony. This was a moment I had on my Congress Queen Bucket List. I got to enter alongside Carla Carfora, the United States of America Miss. Thank you for introducing us Becky George! I also got to meet former 2000 Congress Queen, Cori Gould and ran into 2023 Queen, Jessica Blevins . A fun fact is that NSBA employee, Elise was my camp counselor when I was 8! That is how small a world the equine industry is! The NSBA Honors Banquet was fun way to celebrate those who have impacted our industry. This year was special as Congress Tri Chair Ms. Chris Cecil-Darnell was inducted. It was neat to see professional horsemen I have presented awards to all year enter the Quarter Million Dollar Club. I had a few moments to catch up with Katie Van Slyke after I got to meet her young stallion First Thingz First. My final night was spent watching the Cinch Horsemanship Finals and got to have a walk out song to present awards. Thank you Ms. Stephanie Lynn and the team at NSBA for fantastic hospitality and the opportunity to present!
My list of shows is getting smaller the closer we get to the 2025 Congress. Next Stop: Pennsylvania Quarter Horse Association Nittany Classic.
