Local horse wins big at PNW Morgan Horse Show

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 BRUSH PRAIRIE – Oregon's Country Flash, a 2-year-old pinto palomino Morgan show horse, surprised everyone when he took home the top prize of Show Champion Stallion at the Pacific Northwest Morgan Horse Show in late August.

"PK", as the horse is known around the barn, was the first ever pinto palomino Morgan to win the honor in any Morgan show in America – an impressive feat considering the breed dates back centuries to the 1700s. Morgan horses are usually brown, bay or black.

"I honestly had really low expectations," said PK's trainer, Erica Parker Trager of Stone Temple Farms in Brush Prairie.

PK injured himself just two months prior to the competition, Trager said. Understanding his low chances of winning due to a combination of an injury, his youth, inexperience and unusual color; Trager planned the trip mostly for exposure and learning.

"I had no expectation of bringing home the biggest championship there is in the show," she said.

But, in a quirk of fate, the judges fell in love with PK’s striking blue eyes (another rarity to add to the list) and his distinctive palomino splash coat.

For the championship, judges examined PK's breed conformation – that is, the degree to which the horse conforms to the abstract ideal of what a Morgan horse should be.

"I would say, he is the epitome of Morgan type and his color is just an added bonus," Trager said.



To achieve such conformation, PK was specially bred from parents of a particular lineage most closely related to the original Morgan horse, his owner Carol Dombrowsky said.

The victory is a special one for Dombrowsky because, in addition to every other exceptional fact about PK, his name may be the most special to her.

Dombrowsky, who has been breeding Morgan horses for nearly 50 years, had a brother named PK who passed away years ago. He was a musician and he led a band called Country Flash.

On his deathbed, PK asked Dombrowsky to name one of her horses in his honor, she recalled Friday through a cracking voice.

She still gets emotional talking about it.

Turning back to the horse, her voice warmed as she talked about PK's ice-blue eyes and playful demeanor.

"I don't know what else to say about him besides I love him," Dombrowsky said. "He's quite a character."

You can catch a glimpse of PK at his next competition, the Halloween Open Horse Show at the Clark County Fairgrounds, Oct. 10-11.