• The Palms Restaurant, Lexington, VA
• Celtic Tides, Lexington, VA
• Virginia Department of Tourism
• Heartland Show Apparel

Please suppost these generous sponsors.

Please stop by and say “Hi” to this years Virginia Quarter Horse Queen, Margaret Moore, and show your support. She’ll be holding a Silent Auction with lots of great items up for grabs.

There will be a $5 entry fee at the gate and we will have a chance drawing for three lucky exhibitors with fantastic prizes to be awarded. We look forward to seeing everyone there!

Recently moved back to Virginia, Margaret Moore hopes to keep the Quarter Horse Congress Queen title in Virginia. Show your support and look for her at shows. Her sister Jamie Moore is the new Queen Mom (Diana Wolfrey will be in the wings to guide her).

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VQHA Queen Courtney Sturgill on the cover of the January 2012 Virginia Horse Journal

Our own VQHA Queen and 2011 All-American Quarter Horse Congress Queen is on the cover of the January 2012 edition.
We think it’s the best cover ever.

Here’s a link to the magazine online: http://virginiahorse.epubxpress.com/

The Virginia QH Association is so proud to announce that our 2010 and 2011 VQHA Queen, Courtney Sturgill, took top honors this year at the 2011 QH Congress in Columbus, Ohio. Congress is the largest horse show in the United States and this year averaged over 18,000 entries. The Queen’s competition is always a fabulous part of this show. Each state can send a queen to compete for the All-American QH Congress Queen. The competition consist of a written test which is 40% of the score, and an oral interview which is 40% of the score, and a horsemanship class scored by three AQHA Judges consisting of 20% of the final score. Courtney was riding Rockin Raisinette, aka Gretchen, and owned by Cydney Benes and Tammy Benes, owner of All That Show Clothing. Courtney placed first in the oral interview, second in the written test, and third in horsemanship. There is a fashion show and autograph signing. And, a wonderful fund raiser in support of breast cancer awareness which contributes greatly toward the nutrition benefits necessary for recovery in such patients.  The girls work hard at this fund raiser to support this worthy program and have managed to reach a higher goal each year with this year being $100,000.

Courtney is 21 years old and a senior at Florida Southern College.  She has a double major in Communications and Psychology with a 3.98 scholastic average.  Her parents, Elizabeth Wills and Jeff Sturgill reside in Wise, Virginia.

Courtney sang the National Anthem at the All-American QH Congress at opening ceremonies for two consecutive years. She was 2009 Congress Champion in Youth Performance Geldings and Top 5 in the NYATT Showmanship. She is former VQHYA Secretary, Sportsmanship Award recipient from BRQHYA and chosen to attend the Global Young Leaders Conference in New York and Washington D.C.

She is the recipient of the AQHA Journalism Scholarship, Dean’s List Student all semesters at Florida Southern College. She is Recruitment Vice President, PR Chair, and Scholarship Chair of Alpha Delta Pi Sorority.

Courtney was a former Miss Virginia Teen and she went on to receive third runner-up at Miss Teen United States in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In 2010 Courtney was employed by Good Ride Life Inc., a retail company dedicated to helping people in the equine industry to remember that “Life is a Ride, Make it a Good One.”  The company is the proud sponsors of the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas and was named “best new vendor” of the year in 2009. Courtney does advertising and marketing work as well as model for Good Ride.

VQHA Congratulates Courtney for all that she has done and we are so proud to have her as the Virginia Quarter Horse Queen and representing Virginia throughout the coming year as the All-American Quarter Horse Congress Queen. Look for Courtney at her next stop at the Gold and Gulf Coast Show in Florida and the Dixie Nationals. And, be sure not to miss her at our Virginia Classic in April of 2012. And, follow her on to the Southern Belle, the Tom Powers and the AQHYA World Show.

Courtney Sturgill was crowned the 2011 All-American Quarter Horse Congress Queen last night. It was the culmination of a lot of hard work by Courtney and this was just reward. Congratulations Courtney. Everyone here at the Virginia Quarter Horse Association is proud. Safe travels back home with all that loot!

Since the second year of the All American Quarter Horse Congress, an accomplished horsewoman has represented the Congress and in turn, the Quarter Horse industry. Candidates for Congress Queen must represent a state, regional or provincial Quarter Horse association and have the signature of their association’s president or vice president on their contest application.

The Grant Proposal submitted to the Virginia Horse Industry Board for the VQHA Queen Project was approved for funding. The program will receive $1,200 for one year. VQHA and the and the Queen Program would like to say, “THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION! The 2011 Queen is Courtney Sturgill.

Virginia Horse Industry Board

Please congratulate Courtney Sturgill. She’ll be representing VQHA again this year at shows and the 2011 Quarter Horse Congress. At the 2010 Congress, Courtney was second-runner up placing 1st in the Oral Interview and 4th on the AQHA Rule Book test. Please show your support.

1st Place – Oral Interview

4th Place – AQHA Rulebook Test

Congratulations to Courtney!