Page 48 - May2020.indd

Ok
From Race Horse to Trick Riding Performance Horse
Toni Fry with OK Black Panther
Black Panther by John Moorehouse
Ever hear the saying that life is what happens when you’re making other plans? It applies to more than just people. OK Black Panther was bred as a racehorse. After earning $55,000 from three wins in 17 starts on the Quarter Horse circuit, he got some work for a potential career in barrel racing. For a racehorse, OK Black Panther ultimately turned out to be a darn fine trick horse. This is his story.
Toni Fry owns OK Black Panther (Panther Mountain-Classic Bully, Bully Bullion), a product of the 2008 Heritage
Place Sale. “I didn’t run him very much,” Fry recalled. “He was more of a pet than a racehorse.” Fry started the gelding on
barrels, but he had too much speed to make the transition. “He’d overwork the barrels,” Fry said. “If he can’t slow
down, he doesn’t have a lot of brakes. He always tried really hard.”
Meanwhile, Fry was going through some very serious trials of her own. Her breast cancer, originally diagnosed in 2008, had returned. Her parents were also dealing with their own medical issues.
“He was by himself with no other horses,” noted Windy Ratchford Lattin, who now works with OK Black Panther. “My health got bad, so I gave him to her with an understanding,” Fry said. At first, she continued to work to make the gelding a barrel racer. Lattin recalled spending a good six months focusing on body control to make the turns. The problem was, he was too athletic: too fast, too quick... and also, as it turns out, too high-strung. “I could
tell he was starting to get irritated with the whole idea of it,” Lattin said. “He started not wanting to go down the alley. He started getting antsier and more upset.”
“The racetrack helped prepare him a lot for what he’s doing now. The crowds, the lights, the music, that had him all prepared to concentrate on what we were doing.”
46 SPEEDHORSE May 2020