Greene County royalty will be competing for a state title at this year’s Iowa State Fair.

Sandra Dawson is the 2023 Greene County Pony Express Riders of Iowa Senior Queen, as well as the 2022 Yale Saddle Club Junior Cowgirl Queen. Dawson is from Greene County and has been riding horses for five years and with the Pony Express Riders of Iowa for three years. She tells Raccoon Valley Radio this is a non-profit organization that raises money all year which is then donated to Camp Sunnyside in Des Moines for disabled children and adults.

Dawson will be competing at the Iowa State Fair on Friday in the Cowgirl Queen Contest, which she did last year. She talks about the kind of pressure there is for this year.

“I would say a little less pressure because now I know what I’m kind of doing, because last year was kind of all hectic and I didn’t know what I was doing. I mean it is still pressure because you’re against a bunch of girls that have really expensive horses, and have all the money in the world, and can do all of that. But it is really fun. Once you’re in the show ring, you just feel really special. It’s a really special feeling that you get.” 

Dawson points out that the day begins when she brings her 19-year-old quarterhorse George in his stall on the fairgrounds at 9am. After she does a practice round at 11am, the horse is then cleaned up and ready for the contest in the evening. Dawson describes what she is looking forward to the most on Friday.

“I’m really hopeful that I don’t make the same mistakes I did last year with it. But I’m excited that I get to do it again because it was really fun and I’m excited to see all the other girls and how they dressed up and what color they chose.”

The Cowgirl Queen Contest is open to the public. The program begins at 6:30pm Friday in the Jacobsen Center on the state fairgrounds.