Cowgirl Queen: Western Horsemanship at the Iowa State Fair

[Cowgirl 1] I started riding when I was about 5, 6 years old. What has kept me riding over the years has been, you know, the joy of it, the bond that keeps getting stronger and stronger between me and my horse every year. It's super fun and I love doing it.

[Cowgirl 2] It is just a fun contest. I believe it should just be all friendly and everyone should just support each other. It's just such a tradition.

[Chris Sommers, Announcer] This is the 2026 Iowa State Fair Cowgirl Queen Contest. We'll have 105 exhibitors tonight. They come from all over the state.

[Eric Moorman, Gate Steward] The Cowgirl Queen Contest is junior and senior age divisions, 10 to 15 and 16 to 26. Each of those groups, we have 3 preliminary classes. So the judges will pick the top 5 from each go-around to come back into finals held at the Richard O. Jacobson Arena here at the State Fair.

(On screen text: Junior Cowgirl Queen Finals)

You're trying to show the judge that you've got the brokest horse in the pen and you're the best rider. So the ones that sit up straight and don't move, that is what you're looking for. That's the top standard.

[Kailor Lown, 2025 Junior Cowgirl Queen, North English] I've competed for 3 years, all in the junior division, and last year as a third time, I won it, and it was just, it was a great experience.

(On screen text: Aubrey Rozycki, 2026 Junior Queen Attendant - Cumming)

What I focused on in the arena, keeping my posture straight, keeping my horse connected and out of the bridle. You gotta keep that bond with your horse.

(On screen text: Ellie Schmitt, 2026 Junior Queen Attendant - Rockford)

Whatever I feel, he also feels. All the hard work really paid off in the end when I heard my number.

(On screen text: Kaylee Wuebker, 2026 Junior Queen Attendant - Rockwell City)

Horses, you know, it takes a lot of work. It takes a lot of patience. You might have a bad ride, or you could have a really good ride one day, but you're gonna have both in your life, and you know, you gotta stay dedicated to get to those good days.

(On screen text: Grace Myers, 2026 Junior Queen Attendant - Runnells)

(On screen text: Francesca Wong, 2026 Junior Cowgirl Queen - Des Moines)

[Francesca Wong, 2026 Junior Cowgirl Queen] I have worked so hard to get here. I have put in the hours. I have gone to the barn when people are out partying, when people are hanging out with friends. I've always put this sport first. The horse I'm riding is Baby, or she's a Dancin' in the Dirt. I got her 3 years ago, and she has been the best thing that's ever come into my life.

After our big competition, she will now be going back into the ring to be competing for senior. with my very good friend Lola Speck. I know her and Lola have what it takes, and she'll be a good girl for everything she does.

(On screen text: Senior Cowgirl Queen Finals)

[Eric] From what I've seen over my 15 years here, it's created a lot of good horse people down the road. It's just a tradition, and we have judges that want to come and judge us because it's such a big, big thing. It's homegrown in Iowa. I think in the '70s it started. There's actually a Cowgirl Museum up here on the grounds.

So we've had some of the past winners come back and be judges.

[Chris] We have former queen contestants that are riding at the Division 1 collegiate level. We've also got ladies that are now professional horse trainers. Some have become veterinarians. Some show on the Women's Professional Rodeo Association level. It just doesn't stop here.

[Elivia Papcun, 2025 Senior Cowgirl Queen, Norwalk] So my first time competing in this competition was in 2017. I believe I was 11 years old. I just remember how excited I was. And then I went on to compete 7 times. I made the finals all 7 times, and I was in the Queen's Court top 5 3 of those times. And then I ended up winning the Junior Queen in 2022 and the Senior Queen in 2025.

(On screen text: Rylee Mauss, 2026 Senior Queen Attendant, Grinnell)

I've really put a lot of time into my sport and what I do. I've even made it to Division 1 equestrian, which has been a huge honor.

(On screen text: Kennedy Cheney, 2026 Senior Queen Attendant, Dallas Center)

And I'll be going into my sophomore year at Texas Christian University, TCU.

(On screen text: Vivian Brown, 2026 Senior Queen Attendant, Des Moines)

I would say some advice I have for contestants in the Cowgirl Queen Contest would be to just really go in there with a lot of confidence, good horsemanship, preparing yourself, making sure that your horse is in the bridle following you, listening to you.

(On screen text: Taylor McCreedy, 2026 Senior Queen Attendant, Atlantic)

(On screen text: Lola Svec, 2026 Senior Cowgirl Queen, Cumming)

[Lola Svec, 2026 Senior Cowgirl Queen] I rode in the Juniors in 2021. I did that for one year and I won it right away. So that was really exciting to kind of have like a full circle moment of I've won the juniors and now I've won the senior queen. And it's just really, it's a great feeling. So this is Baby.

I've been riding her for 3 or 4 years now. What makes this night really special is that she won the junior queen with Francesca about an hour earlier. And it's just so great for us to both be crowned in one night. It's just, it's so nice. My long-term goal is to become an equine vet, possibly end up back on the show circuit, and really just kind of give back to the community that raised me.