COLUMBUS, Ohio — The All American Quarter Horse Congress is well underway at the Ohio State Fair grounds. 

It's known as the largest single-breed horse show in the world, attracting hundreds of thousands of people every year to Columbus and generating hundreds of millions of dollars for the economy, but one man in particular is known to dominate the track. 

What You Need To Know

• The All American Quarter Horse Congress is known as the largest single-breed horse show in the world


• The event runs for an entire month, attracting hundreds of thousands of people every year to Columbus and generating hundreds of millions of dollars for the economy


• Reigning champion Shawn Flarida competed again this year

The dream started when he was young. 

"My dad brought me here when I was a youth kid,” Flarida said, “and started showing horses at the Quarter Horses Congress. I've been a professional horse trainer since 1988, so that's all I've ever really done. It's all I really know."

He’s getting ready to compete in The All American Quarter Horse Congress again this year, but as trainers like Flarida keep their eyes on the prize, CEO of the Ohio Quarter Horse Association Justin Billings is the man pulling it altogether. 

"This is the Super Bowl of Quarter Horse Competition right here in Columbus, Ohio. There's 200 staff that help pull it off," Billings said. 

The All American Quarter Horse Congress started back in 1967 as a three-day event. Fifty-seven years later, it runs for an entire month.

"as we've grown into a 30-day event with over a half a million visitors, 4,000 horses, that turns into a huge economic impact for the central Ohio area, just shy of $430 million generated for our local area," he said. "And that's hotels, that's restaurants, that's trucks, that's trailers. That's the 200 vendors here for the trade show generating over $400 million for the central Ohio area."

Competition may be fierce this year, but Flarida still has a reputation to uphold, crediting that to none other than his horse. 

"You're only as good as the horse that you're riding,” Flarida said, “and, you know, the owners and the people that support me and get me up and down the road and get me there. They've been tremendous to me."

But no matter, win or lose, Flarida’s doing what he loves where he first fell in love with the sport many years ago. 

"It's an honor to be here at the Congress. I'm probably one of the few people that can do something that I love to do every day. There's not a day that that I don't wake up looking forward to go do my job," he said.