Here’s Chelsea’s preview of what’s in store for her Congress trip! Be sure to follow all of her adventures on her home turf.

Two weeks ago, Jen headed off to Lexington, Kentucky, for the World Equestrian Games. This week, it’s my turn to get on a plane, but this time I’ll be going home, to the great state of Ohio, for the All American Quarter Horse Congress.

I’ll be in Columbus all week, catching interviews with Team Horse&Rider members like Charlie Cole and Conformation Clinic judges like Clay Cavinder. And I’ll be showing you my side of Congress—the late night ride times, the barns and the great horses in them, the ultimate “Congress Calories”, and all of my friends who are there for an ENTIRE month showing their awesome horses.

The Coliseum at the Congress is hallowed ground for me. The top five best memories of my life happened in that arena during the pole bending and the barrel racing, and it’s in the Coliseum that I grew to understand what makes a great horse. I watched Teddy Terrific run a 19.4 to win the Senior Pole Bending there, and I’ve seen Joe B Jammin win not one, not two, but THREE Congress Barrel Racing Sweepstakes titles there with two different riders. I’ve also watched as my friends placed in the halter, showmanship, hunter under saddle, and Western pleasure in this arena, and this year I’ll get to watch Jason Martin show Vital Signs Are Good (H&R’s November “We’d Love to Own” horse) go for her 28th Congress title, this time in the open Western riding.

The Congress has always been my “home-field advantage”, and I can’t wait to show you all of it’s sites and sounds.

Stay tuned for more this week!