U.S. Nationals III

After being in Tulsa for a few days now, the toughest part of the show is behind me... My first class. It was the half Arabian English 18-39, and I must confess, I was a bit nervous. When it comes to showing, nerves are something I never like to admit to having. I consider myself a very laid-back person, and I really try to remain cool and collected when I ride. But in this particular situation, I am allowing myself to divulge the fact that I, Kara Larson, was nervous for my first class at U.S. Nationals. Can you blame me though? I've been out of the big time show circuit since Youth Nationals in 2008, so I'm a few years rusty. Getting back on subject, I was in section B of an incredibly solid group of English horses, and as soon as Taco and I trotted through the gate, my nerves floated away. We flew around the arena... seriously, we did our fair share of passing. What can I say, I like to go fast! As the class rolled on, I will say that the combination of an increasingly strong horse and the sizable amount of time per gait lead to one very exhausted girl (right arm especially) by the time the class was over. But it was all worth it when I was announced as a finalist... Whew! Thursday afternoon is the final; what an entertaining class that will be!

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