P.E.I. to get some western flair thanks to national competition

Simply put, you don't see a lot of rodeo queens walking around Prince Edward Island.

That is going to change in October though, when Charlottetown holds the annual national Pony Club Quiz.

To find out what it takes to be a pro rodeo queen, Island Morning talked to Emily Marston from Airdrie, Alberta, who holds that title for her city.

"I go around to all the different rodeos in Alberta, some in the United States, all over Canada, it's quite fascinating, you just represent your town, you ride in the rodeos, it's a lot of fun," she said.

It's no beauty pageant though.

"So the way it's done, it's a competition based the same way as let's say, Miss Universe pageant, except there's riding, there's public speaking, there's a fashion show, but there's no bikini fashion show, thank goodness," said Marston. "So we all get to ride different horses, we don't get to ride our own horses."

Riding a horse you've never been on before is pretty daunting, especially in a competition.

Unless of course, it's second nature.

"I've been riding for probably close to 20 years now, and I'm just 21," explained Marston. "I was on a horse before I was walking. My parents, we all live on a farm, so we have quarter horses, warm bloods, Welsh ponies, you name it we've had it, I've been doing this since I was tiny."

Horse sense

What Charlottetown is hosting isn't a rodeo or pageant though; it's an annual competition for the young horse community, where regional winners compete in a national event, kind of like Reach For The Top - the horse edition.

"Every year about a hundred kids from across Canada will get together, and we all have this big competition called Pony Club Quiz, where we're judged on anything horses, so that can be movies, books, veterinary knowledge," explained Marston. "There's different levels, for about 13 to 25 years old, we're there for three days. We get judged on a written test."

With muchof the horse crowd based out west, the event has oftenbeen held close to Marston's home, in Victoria, B.C., Manitoba, Ontario and Calgary twice, so this one is special for her.

"This is the one I've been waiting for for about 10 years, so I'm extremely excited," she said. "I've never been out east, I've met so many people, and I'm not going to lie, it's kind of hard to understand them."

The national Pony Club Quiz is being held October 7 to 10 in Charlottetown.

• MORE P.E.I. NEWS|School supply giveaway organizers 'blown away' by need
• MORE P.E.I. NEWS|Hearings to be held on reduced Wood Islands ferry service