In January, I attended the AQHYA Region 5 Youth Leadership Conference in State College, Pennsylvania. I am so proud of all the youth attendees for taking the time to meet, collaborate, and network with other horse crazy youth within the region. Attendees did not have to be an AQHYA members or even own a horse just be a passionate equestrian from Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Delaware, and Maryland. The 3 AQHYA Region 5 Directors: Lauren Goolsby, Caroline Wisniewski, and Addison Kimble, along with AQHYA Executive Committee Member Adrianna Goolsby created such a welcoming and educational event.
I got to interact with the youth members wearing two different hats, as an Academic Advisor for the Department of Animal Science and as Congress Queen wearing my gorgeous crown crafted by Miguel Aguilar. I gave a presentation on equine based educational opportunities at Penn State along with a form to function discussion where I encouraged youth to consider how the conformation of their horse affected their performance ability along with the benefits of competitive horse judging.
I have a strong passion for the youth educational contests, without them I would have never gone to the Congress for the first time in 2015. The next day, I reconnected with the youth to talk about opportunities both in and out of the saddle available to them at the All-American Quarter Horse Congress. These included youth classes across all disciplines, NYATT, Horse Bowl, Horse Judging, Hippology, and Communications. I also talked about all I had to do to prepare for the Congress Queen Contest, where I will be travelling to, and all the incredible leadership and life skills I have gained through my years of being a Queen. I am proud to be from Pennsylvania and I am just amazed at how incredibility talented young horseman reign from Region 5. I hope to see many of them throughout my travels including the Region 5 Championship show I will attend in June.
Much love, Madison.
