Emily Messing, All American Quarter Horse Congress Queen

Listen in as Debra Fox, President of Image Development Group Speakers Bureau, interviews Emily Messing, the 2013 All American Quarter Horse Congress Queen.

Emily Messing, Massachusetts, Crowned 2012 Congress Queen

By Tracy Bidwell, OQHA

Annually, affiliate Quarter Horse associations send contestants to compete at the All American Quarter Horse Congress for the title of Congress Queen.

The Queen’s reign, however, does not end on October 28th. She makes appearances at many national events, including the AQHA Convention, AQHA World Shows and other major horse shows throughout the entire year. Aside from horse shows and AQHA events, the Congress Queen shares her love and knowledge of the American Quarter Horse with students, youth teams, 4-H and FFA groups.

The road to become Congress Queen is not an easy one. All queen candidates that compete at Congress must represent a state, regional or provincial Quarter Horse association, many of which hold competitions of their own for the honor.

After winning a regional Queen title, candidates then compete at the Congress in a three-part test. The first portion, worth 40 percent of the contestant’s total score, is a written examination of the AQHA Official Handbook of Rules and Regulations.

Next is an oral interview, which is also worth 40 percent. In this section, contestants are judged on their poise, appearance and personality.

Finally, the last 20 percent of the competition is based on a Horsemanship pattern, in which contestants are judged by a panel of AQHA-approved judges on their performance. The goal of the Horsemanship class is to demonstrate excellent riding ability and horsemanship skills. The candidate who receives the highest overall score is crowned the All American Quarter Horse Congress Queen.