Grace Ann Himes has a close bond with her show partner, Gota Lota Lace. She likes to think she knows everything about the 2003 American Quarter Horse bay mare by Gota Lota Potential out of Iron N Lace. Like how she oinks like a pig when Gracie pokes her on the nose. Or like how she gets so excited when she’s turned out that she takes chunks of the ground with her mouth and tosses them in the air.

“She is such a drama queen,” Himes said. “She has really big, brown, kind eyes.” Himes shows Gota Lota Lace in Trail, Horsemanship, Showmanship, Equitation, Hunter Under Saddle and Western Pleasure, under the direction of Ohio trainers Brian and Darla Lee.

Last year Himes and Gota Lota Lace won 13 & Under Trail at the AQHA Level 1-East Championship Show. They won a Bronze in 13 & Under Horsemanship and placed in the Top 10 in Equitation, Hunter Under Saddle, Halter and Western Pleasure, claiming the 13 & Under Reserve All- Around Award.

At the Quarter Horse Congress the team captured a Reserve Championship in 13 & Under Novice Youth Showmanship; placed third in 13 & Under Novice Youth Equitation and was a finalist in 12-14 Showmanship. In the AQHA High Point race they finished in third place in Youth All-Around competition by earning: first place honors in Novice Youth Showmanship and Horsemanship; second place honors in Novice Youth Trail and Equitation; a fourth place in Youth Showmanship; and a ninth place in Youth Performance Halter Mares. Himes and Gota Lota Lace earned open and youth Championships and over 1,000 points.

The daughter of Ken and Penni Himes, of Bristol, Indiana, Grace has been riding for as long as she can remember.

“I started with a Shetland pony named Smokey that my grandparents owned,” she explained. “Every time we would go to visit them I would go out to the barn and saddle up Smokey while my sisters, Francie and Issie, would be swimming. It took forever to saddle her because she would run away whenever I tried to put a halter or bridle on her.”

Then one day when Grace was just 10 years old, her mother ran into an old friend who had a registered Quarter Horse for sale. His name was Sweet N Slow and he shared a St. Patrick’s Day birthday with Grace (hence the nickname Patrick). The bay gelding was originally purchased for  the whole family to show but Grace and Patrick just clicked. Together they competed at 4-H shows and a few AQHA shows.

When Grace was a sixth grade student at Northridge Middle School in Bristol, Indiana, she and Patrick won the Master Showmanship at her 4-H Saddle Club.

“I was so excited because my mom had won this award once when she was in 4-H,” Grace explained. “I wore the banner around and enjoyed rubbing it in my sister Francie’s face. Usually when you win master Showmanship you get to go and represent your club at round robin, but I was still only a junior and you had to be a senior.

This is when I gained a lot of confidence when I showed.”

Over the next few years Grace had the opportunity to show several talented horses including: Potentially Money, Mystery Signature and Zippin Mac. Grace said that she attempted other activities, lots of them.

“I have tried pretty much everything throughout my childhood,” she explained. “Dance, swim, soccer, and even theater (which I was horrible at). The only thing I really stuck with was soccer. When I was 13 years old I was playing soccer and busted my knee. After going through physical therapy, I got back on the soccer field and my knee held for a while. My knee continuously got hurt while playing soccer. As I get more involved in showing my horse, I start missing more and more soccer games and practice. When I hurt myself in soccer, it would make it harder to ride my horse. I finally accepted that my soccer career was over. This sacrifice led me to being more successful with my horses. I could devote more time to riding, and I was not in so much pain all the time.”

Grace is currently enrolled at Indiana Connections Academy, Online school, based in Indianapolis. She has been on the honor roll the last three straight years and serves as treasurer of the Indiana Quarter Horse Youth Association. She hopes to attend a college with an Equestrian team and wants a career that takes her outdoors.

“I’m not productive when I’m not moving,” she said.