Star In Stripes Shines At Great American/USDF Region 9 Championships

Pam Fowler Grace takes home her second Grand Prix championship in a row.

Pam Fowler Grace has ridden some extraordinary animals during her career, but no horse puts a smile on her face
every day like Star In Stripes. That smile grew even wider when she won the Great American/USDF Region 9 Grand Prix Championship, held Oct. 17-19 in Guthrie, Okla.

“I live to ride that horse,” said Grace. “We have a really special chemistry. Every time I ride him it’s exciting and fun.”

Grace knew from the first moment she sat on “Kossini” that she’d found something special. Never shy about
her emotions, Grace had been coached by her business partner to maintain a poker face while trying horses in
Germany, regardless of how much she liked them.

“We had this code. If I liked the horse, I was supposed to ask How he does in large auditoriums. Then she would know to negotiate the deal,” said Grace. “I got on this horse and went into another world. I had a big old ear-to-ear grin. Within about 10 minutes I did what I wasn’t supposed to do, threw my arms around his neck and said, ‘He’s perfect! I love him!’ Then I sat up really straight and asked, almost in a British accent, ‘And how does he do in large auditoriums?’ ”

Fortunately for Grace, Kossini’s owners were willing to sell the Dutch Warmblood (Rossini—Ulissa) for a reasonable price despite her eagerness, and she hasn’t looked back since.

He was schooling fourth level when she started riding him five years ago, and the pair moved up to Grand Prix two years later.

“He’s gotten stronger every year, and his scores have gone up,” said Grace. “I have more control in the piaffe and passage. In the beginning when you train a Grand Prix horse, they need a lot of help from the rider, and now I feel like he’s come into his own. He’s become a seasoned Grand Prix horse.”

This is the 16-year-old gelding’s second Region 9 Grand Prix Championship in a row, and Grace said she was extremely pleased with their ride this year (65.20%).

“He gave me everything he had. You can’t ask more than that. His pirouettes were nice and tight. I was really happy
with his piaffes and passage. He nailed his tempis and zigzags. It was a pretty nice ride,” she said.

Kossini, owned by Seek His Grace, has a distinctive pattern of ridges in his skin that make him hard to miss. “That’s why I named him Star In Stripes, because he’s a star and he’s wearing stripes,” said Grace with a laugh.

But Kossini isn’t the first unusual looking Grand Prix horse for Grace. A lifelong horse trainer, she’s worked with all breeds and types, including Friesians, Welsh ponies and Gypsy Vanners. Her first Grand Prix horse was a loud leopard Appaloosa named Pay N Go.

“Now people are a little more open-minded to color,” said Grace. “Pay N Go and I really paid our dues before we started to see scores, but once the German judges decided to give him scores, everybody else followed suit. I had several successful show tours in Florida with him at Grand Prix. I enjoyed riding him. I just wanted to show him and have fun.”