Lucas Adam Lang, age 8, will show at his very first Congress this year. He will show Coolest Mr, aka “Tank,” in Youth Three-Year-Old Geldings on Friday, October 17. Lucas’s dad, Russell Gilliam, will also show Tank in Amateur Three-Year-Old Geldings on Sunday, October 19.

Lucas attends Grand Valley Elementary School in Orwell, Ohio, where he is in the 3rd grade, and spends most of his free time in the barn. “When I was really little, I used to play with cars in the arena dirt while my mom rode. When I would get tired, I would go into the lounge, crawl up onto a couch and fall asleep while she rode. I pretty much grew up in the barn!” Lucas said.

The youngster spent so much time at the barn, that he began riding as soon as he was big enough to sit up in the saddle by himself. Lucas’s mom, Casi Gilliam, trains Hunter Under Saddle horses, and immediately put him on a longe line with her 16.2 hand Hunter Under Saddle gelding, Move Over Art. “I love ‘Vinnie,’ and he became my horse,” said Lucas. “Last year, I showed him in Small Fry Showmanship. I hated the patterns and Vinnie was lazy and hated picking up his feet to trot with me, but we both learned as we showed.”

Towards the end of the year, Casi entered Lucas and Vinnie in a Halter class, and they placed higher than they ever had in Showmanship. “I liked that you don’t have to do a pattern in Halter, and I liked winning – so I decided that I wanted a Halter horse!”

Lucas’s parents worked with Randy Jacobs to find the perfect horse for Lucas, and they bought Tank after the 2007 AQHA World Show. This year, Lucas and Tank have been showing at every AQHA show they can, and are currently 2nd in the nation for the Youth Rookie of the Year (11 and Under), and are leading in Ohio. Lucas was not able to show at the AQHYA World Show because he is not old enough yet, so he is even more excited to show at his first big show – the Congress. “I watched my trainer, Randy Jacobs’, daughter Molli show at the Congress last year, and I couldn’t wait to get my new Halter horse and show there this year!”

Thanks to his parents’ interest in Quarter Horses, Lucas has been a spectator at the Congress for as long as he can remember. This year will be the first year for both Lucas and his father to show at the Congress – we wish them good luck!

Check back later in the show to find out more about Lucas and Tank’s first Congress.