North Maclean barrel racer Larissa Stremouchiw is ready to head to Georgia, USA to take part in the National Barrel Horse Association World Championships.
Barrel racing is a horse and rider event where three barrels must be ridden around in the quickest time frame in order to gain points.
Stremouchiw said she will represent district one (Brisbane) at the championships after winning the 2016 division five title at Caboolture in her first year of professional competition.
She said not many riders took up the chance to compete at the worlds due to the cost but she was able to fund raise with the support of sponsors and the community.
“This is just a once in a lifetime opportunity and I thought why not,” she said.
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Stremouchiw said she would basically start from scratch at the worlds event as riders have to hire horses to compete.
“I know my horse, Fergie, back to front, so using another horse is quite stressful,” she said.
“Races are timed down to the hundredth of a second so one miss step could wreck an entire run.”
Stremouchiw said she had a lot of trust in her team find a great horse for her to use in Georgia.
“You’ve just got to get over the fact that things are different and ride as you would here,” she said.
Not only has Stremouchiw never ridden at the international level, she said she had also never been overseas.
“My mum is coming with me as she is my biggest support,” she said.
“So it’ll be great to have her there and have a little holiday before the competition begins.
“There are also about seven riders from the district one area coming along too and us association guys always cheer each other on.”
The championships will run from October 28 to November 4 at Perry, Georgia, USA.
Follow the international journey by searching ‘Larissa Stremouchiw Open WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017’ on Facebook.
