Back to where it all began, Tri State!

As I was pulling into the Fall Tri-State show I got flashbacks to my two wonderful years serving as Tri-State Queen. TSQHA knew nothing about me but gave me a chance to serve and represent them so proudly. I started my day by walking the showmanship inspection with the current TSQHA Queen, Riley Miller. A quick change into my Berry Fit outfit and it was time to reconnect with so many friends. I have been so lucky throughout my whole reign to be at many shows with beautiful weather. The best class of any show is leadline and it was special to see their faces light up with Queen Madi and Queen Rylie there. One of the best parts about TSQHA is the community of friends and the fall show has a tradition to a corn and hot dog dinner on Saturday night. I enjoyed celebrating Riley’s Queen Team and the amazing cheerleaders in her corner headed into the 2025 Congress. While at the show I saw a Facebook ad for a sweet Cowboy Corgi puppy and welcomed sweet Stetson to the family! Every queen needs a pup! Now only a few weeks before Stetson and I head to Congress.

If this is my last blog, thank you for following my incredible, once-in-a-lifetime journey as the 2024 All American Quarter Horse Congress Queen!

Much love! Madison

PQHA Nittany Classic Futurity Show

Centre Hall, Pennsylvania, is a beautiful place to be in the Fall, and the weather was absolutely perfect for the PQHA Nittany Classic, which has regular AQHA, futurity, and PA QIP (Quality Improvement Program) classes. It was special that my last two shows as Queen before Congress (PQHA and Tri-State) were with my friends in the horse industry, who saw and supported all my efforts to become Congress Queen. I got to present alongside Marisa Lynch, PQHA Queen whom I have become really great friends this year. Marisa and I got to meet Beau Baird, Indiana State Representative, who also serves on committees within AQHA. A fun fact about Queen Madi is that I love to braid hunt seat horses. Well, a Queen’s job is truly never done because I had some tails that needed braided and just happened to be in my CRS custom creations Queen clothes. Everyone thought it was such a fun sight to see the queen braiding. Since I moved the month before, it was special to be back at the show with friends. One last show to go to the place where my Queen journey began… Tri-State!

Much love, Madison

NSBA World Show

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.

AQHA Youth World Show

Getting to spend 2 weeks in full queen mode was an experience I have been looking forward to throughout my reign. August 1st was a big day; it was my last day at my job at Penn State and the day I was flying out to Oklahoma for the AQHYA Youth World and NSBA World. This year’s world show was extra exciting because it was the first in the new OG&E Arena, replacing the historic Jim Norick. I reunited with many of the AQHA employees I hadn't seen since the Level 1 Championships, but also met many new faces! I was nervous about whether it would be super hot in Oklahoma City in August, but the weather was gorgeous! I got to help present awards at the largest Youth Horse Judging contest in the country! In many classes, I was joined by AQHA and AQHYA Executive Committee members, which was so appreciated to see their support of our next generation. I got to meet former Miss Rodeo America, Hailey Fredericksen, where I might have fan girled because she always had the best queen hair wings! I also got to visit with OQHA CEO Justin Billings and talk about many exciting changes to the 2025 QH Congress! From cutting, fences, horsemanship, reining, halter, and more, I got to see the youth’s dreams come true, walking under the new Where Champions Meet sign. Former Congress Queen Mariah Sherer and I got to be in a TV interview! All the social media platforms were on fire with incredible reels!

A fun fact about me is that my master’s degree is in Agricultural Leadership from Oklahoma State University. However, it was completely online, so I never got to see the campus. When I needed to drive from Oklahoma City to Tulsa, the GPS happened to suggest I drive through Stillwater, where OSU’s campus is. This is one of those special moments that Queening has afforded me. I went on campus and got to visit Agricultural Hall. Ironically, I found a statue on campus with horses, so I had to take a picture! Go Pokes!

Next Up: National Snaffle Bit Association World Show

AQHA Region 6 Super 6 Show

One of the coolest things about my Queen travels is getting to go to new states I have never been too before. I travelled to Massachusetts to attend the Region 6 Regional Championship during the Super Six horse show. The Eastern States Exposition grounds have so much history and were beautiful. Uniquely they have a replica of each of the New England state capital buildings and a colonial village. Apparently, I brought the good weather with me because earlier that week it was very warm, but the weather was perfect during my time there. Within the first hour multiple people thanked me for being there, which was such nice hospitality. This group were some of the friendliest people I’ve met so far. I love it when I get to meet former Congress Queens as it is so special to share about favorite shows and memories, at this show I met 2012 Congress Queen Emily King. Thank you to Meg, Marge, Andy and the entire show team for having me help with the awards!

Next Stop: Youth World and NSBA World Show!

The (Not So) Little Buckeye

The “Not-So” Little Buckeye at the Garwood Arena was such a blast! Their leadline class had 35 exhibitors where each won a giant penguin! I was joined by many queens to help pass out awards. Thanks for the help PQHA Queen, Marisa, TSQHA Queen, Rylie, NOQHA Queen, Addison, and Cowboy Up Youth Rodeo Princess, Savannah. The other Queens and I helped with a youth coloring contest. Their prize room is so impressive thinking of so many practical awards for their exhibitors. They also provide delicious meals, ride pattern clinics, and welcome bags. I enjoyed filming some funny Tik-Toks and taking pictures with fabulous Congress Queen Sponsors such as Carolyn from Berry Fit and Michelle from Hold-It Magnets. Michelle even surprised me with a brand-new crown magnet and her new magnet holder! My list could go on and on of people I got to visit from when I was Tri-State Queen or became friends with throughout my Congress Queen travels. Besides the leadline, the highlight of my trip was getting to meet with Whitney from Mark West Denim, a brand-new Ohio based company that has become the Official Jean of the All-American Quarter Horse Congress Queen Contest! These jeans were made with equestrians in mind! They are super high waisted, long enough to not ride up in your stirrups, and best of all: they have a hidden cell phone pocket, so your phone doesn’t fall out anymore while riding! Each of the Queen Contestants will receive a pair of Mark West Denim to rock while we go on our Experience Columbus trip in October 2025! Thank you, Whitney, for this opportunity!

Next Stop: Region 6 Championship Show

AQHYA Region 5 Championship Show

In June, I attended the Region 5 Championship Show in Logan Township, New Jersey. Fun Fact: when I was a youth this was my first AQHA show ever where I DQ’d in my first two classes! It was super-hot that day, over 100 degrees but that didn’t stop me from having a great time! I worked alongside Sydney, Director of Championship Events from AQHA and the Region 5 Directors to help celebrate exhibitor accomplishments. I was also joined by the Keystone Quarter Horse Association Queen, Samantha Harvey to smile in many backdrop photos. Since we were near Philadelphia it was a great opportunity to enjoy Italian water ice and Philly Soft Pretzels, two of my favorite treats! I also got to visit AQHYA Executive Committee Member Adrianna Golsby and Region 5 Youth Director Lauren Goolsby. A special moment was getting to put the champion neck ribbon on 2022 Congress Queen, Kylie Good. Thank you to her and her mom for letting me stay with them for the show! Huge thank you to New Jersey Quarter Horse Association for having me.

Much Love,

Madison

The Premier

Oh, the journey to my old Kentucky home! I did not expect to have slept on the floor of an airport or turned into the Congress Queen in an airport bathroom on my bingo card for this year! My flight from Philadelphia to Kentucky ended up getting overnight delayed so my Brinks hat can turned into my pillow for the night. I feel bad for those around me that probably heard my snoring. Before my flight I did my hair and makeup then turned into the Congress Queen once I landed in Lexington, Kentucky. Just the area around the airport was so miraculous that I couldn’t wait to see more of Kentucky. When I got to the show, I met Lou and Peyton who would be handling the awards for the week. I also reconnected with some familiar faces such as Miranda Taylor who was managing Premier Sires photography and videography for social media, the photography team with Shane Rux, and announcer Pete Cannizzaro. Huge thank you to the Patterson Family that brought my electric scooter from PA, so I was able to take some time to explore the beautiful cross-country fields, Rolex Stadium, and the educational exhibits at the Kentucky Horse Park. One thing that I loved about the Stonelea ring was that it was the perfect place for people to pull up in their golf carts or lots of benches where people were sitting and watching the classes. Futurity classes are always exciting to see who the future superstar show horses are for our industry and I love passing out so many great prizes. The horse park was so beautiful that the background for my backdrop photo was the stunning green grass and hills. Julian Harris made sure to keep the horse show fun by playing games such as dizzy bat, granny panties, and music trivia. I was super excited to be included in the Premier Sires team video to the friends theme song. I always love vendor row to not only connect with Congress Queen Contest Sponsors but who doesn’t love to shop at horse shows! Thank you to Brinks Hattery for keeping my hat they donated always perfectly shaped! One night I had some time to go to dinner with my friend Morgan Askins who was SC Queen in 2023, the first year I ran for Congress Queen. Fun Fact: She also was Miss Rodeo Kentucky and first runner up in Miss Rodeo USA! Morgan has been such a great friend throughout my queening years and runs an embroidery business called Wild Card Customs where I have worked with her to design gifts and horse clothing. There is so much opportunity for education at the Kentucky Horse Park from their Big Breed Barn, Hall of Champions, Museum of the Horse, Mounted Police, and much more! We got very lucky that the weather was absolutely stunning except for my last day when it rained all day. On my flight home I enjoyed watching the final episodes of Yellowstone. Thank you to Claire Binkowski, Michelle Forness, and the team at Premier Sires for having me!

Next Stop: Region 5 Championship Show

Much love, Madison