The Germantown Charity Horse Show board received eight strong applications for Horse Show Queen this year. They had all formerly been Princesses and provided sound reasons for aspiring to be Queen. Under the scrutiny from the board, they successfully answered substantial questions from members. Yet only one could be chosen as Queen, but those not chosen were encouraged to apply again, as the age limit is 25.
The choice of the new Queen was kept secret until December 16, 2021 when the Queen was announced at the annual Germantown Charity Horse Show Christmas party at the Pickering Center, near the show grounds. Before the secret was revealed, Nancy France read the official bio of the successful candidate. Official bio:
“The next Queen of the Germantown Charity Horse Show has grown up in Germantown and cannot remember life before her first Charity Horse Show experience. She has been an avid equestrian since her first costume class, which was before she could even walk. She has spent many seasons at the Charity Show showing in the hunter/jumper divisions and enjoying watching others compete.
“To continue riding and showing as much as possible, our new Queen completed her high school studies through the Connection Homeschool Tutorial, which allowed her to compete up and down the east coast as well as regionally. Currently, she is a junior at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, where she is majoring in International Business with a minor in Archeology. This past semester has been particularly fun because she has been researching ancient Egyptian artifacts from the Banks Collection of the Baker Museum of Rollins College.
“She is a member of Alpha Omicron Pi sorority and is an active member of the Rollins Student Government Association. She has held the offices of Residential Life and Explorations Senator and Finance Chair.
“During her freshman and sophomore years, she rode with the Rollins equestrian team, but this year, she chose to focus on her personal horse and their showjumping career.
“When not riding a horse, our Queen enjoys hiking, kayaking, and anything outdoors. She has been an active volunteer assisting in organizing and executing fundraisers for the Arthritis Foundation and the Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando.
“Like some other college students, our new Queen has been accepted to study abroad, but the pandemic has thwarted those plans for two consecutive semesters. Fortunately, she has been accepted again to study at Kansai Gaidai University in Osaka, Japan for the Fall 2022 semester.
“When it comes to horseback riding, our Queen has always set her goals quite high. Her first big goal was to be a contender in the Gamblers Choice, which she achieved in 2017 finishing in 4th place. And now her new goal is to compete in the 2022 GCHS Grand Prix.
“The Germantown Charity Horse Show is pleased to introduce the 2022 Queen: Miss Kiersten Alexis Sudlow.”
After the announcement, it was quite apparent that Kiersten is excited about the honor, as are her parents Fara and Chad Sudlow. Kiersten and her mom are the proud owners of the Germantown, Tenn. tack shop, Saddles N Such. Kiersten was a GCHS Princess in 2017.
Master photographer Alex Ginsburg and his wife Rhonda were present, as Alex captured candid photos of the 2022 Queen and her family. You’ll be seeing more of Alex’s photos this year, as he photographs all the Princesses for the horse show. And you’ll see him photographing at the horse show in June, too. Find more at: http://www.alexginsburgphotographics.com/.
