Sharli MacDonald was one of nine competitors for the title. After two hours of horsemanship and interviews, MacDonald won the title of the 2012 Colonel’s Daughter on Sunday, Sept. 30, at Fort Verde State Historic Park.

Following a technical portion of the competition where the girls rode their horses in a figure eight pattern and other requirements, MacDonald joined the rest of the girls in 19th century period dress to talk about her preparation for the contest and her plans for the future.

“I’ve been in the Verde Valley for my whole life,” MacDonald said. “I’ve been riding horses before I could walk.”

This was the 52nd year for the Colonel’s Daughter competition, which started in 1960 and has been held every year since.

Camp Verde Cavalry members, in their army blue and yellow, heads up the competition, escorting the girls both on horseback to the field of competition and before the judges for the question-and-answer portion.

For the full story, see the Wednesday, Oct. 3, edition of The Camp Verde Journal.