Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo horse exhibitor gets back to her roots on horseback
If she wanted to, Carisa Kimbro could fill her days with work — and that's what she's done most of her life.
But after deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and a lot of time out of the saddle, she wanted to revisit her roots.
"Just really needed to find something that brought me back into something," Kimbro explained. "Other than work."
The 46-year-old Burleson resident decided it was time to get back to riding and showing horses.
"It keeps me grounded," Kimbro said. "It reminds me of where I came from and what my family did."
It also clears Kimbro's head.
"When you come out here, you got to get focused," Kimbro said. "It's not fair to you, it's not fair to [the horse] if your mind's somewhere else."
With multiple commitments and tasks on her plate, Kimbro likes striving toward an end.
"Riding gives me goals," Kimbro said. "I'm pretty driven, and I have to have something to work towards."
Right now, Kimbro and her horse Frazier are working toward the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo.
"The show itself," Kimbro said. "The facility's quality, the animals they bring in are quality."
Last year, the duo won amateur all-around at Fort Worth, so the bar is high this year.
But like many other exhibitors, winning and losing is only part of the experience at Fort Worth.
"At the end of the day, the stock shows are about education, supporting education and really furthering the Western brand," Kimbro said. "Fort Worth does it better than anybody."