2011 Queen Contestant

Introducing Name.....Tara Smith

Tara Smith is the 20 year old daughter of Billy and Kayla Smith of Ponca City, and granddaughter of Jerry and Teresa Bakewell of Ponca City. A native of Ponca City, Tara graduated from Ponca City Senior High School in 2009. While in high school she was named on the honor roll several times and was an active member of the FFA. After high school Tara went on to Northern Oklahoma College in Tonkawa, OK. She graduated from there last May with an Associates of Science in Biology/Zoology.

Currently Tara is enrolled at Oklahoma State University is Stillwater, Ok where she will start as a junior in just 2 weeks! There she will pursue a degree in Animal Science with an emphasis on Pre-Veterinary Science. Once that is completed she plans to move on The School of Veterinary Medicine and specialize in Equine Sports Medicine and Surgery.

Tara enjoys riding her horses the most. Other than that most of her time is spent studying for school and expanding her knowledge in everything that relates to horses. She also likes to travel and would like to go to as many different countries as possible in her lifetime, to expand her knowledge of their cultures and horse riding techniques.

She is currently a member of The American Quarter Horse Association, The American Paint Horse Association, and The Jockey Club, as she has owned horses of each of these wonderful breeds. Other than the sport of rodeo, Tara also competes in 3-day eventing and occasionally dressage and show jumping. Tara was a member of The United States Pony Clubs making it to her C-2 rating. She qualified for USPC Championships in 2004 and 2005. Now that she is dedicating more time to school and studying her riding is more casual, but plans to pick back up during breaks and when she is finally finished with her education!