GoHorseShow is heartbroken to report that one of the all-time great all-around horses, Panners Pride, has passed away at the age of 33. The 1979 chestnut gelding by Mr Scat Man and out of Rocket Queen touched the lives of several riders and trainers over the years including: Mary Luther, Debbie Cuvelier, Kiff Parrish, Mike Carter, Bob Lawrence, Alma Liles, Lou Petty, Janelle Norton, Ginger Visser Baxter, Debi Visser Mast, Caley Coffey and the Yaklich family.
The 1984 Reserve World Champion Amateur Western Pleasure horse and two-time Congress Showmanship Champion also won several high point titles over the years as well as amassing over 2000 points and was a six-time superior in the western pleasure. In 1992, he won the Justin Rookie of the Year 12-14. He also received points in eight different events.
About five years ago, Cuvelier gave Panner to her friends, the Yaklich family, located in Princeton, Illinois for them to show and have fun at the local shows. Six months ago, Panner won a western pleasure class at their county fair at 32 years-old! He was sound until the very end. Due to a lack of appetite and complications from old age, Cuvelier took Panner back to her farm on Thursday, put him to sleep and buried him.
“I think he always thought he was half human,” Cuvelier told GoHorseShow. “He would always have fun and chase after the kids like he was one of them.”
Debbie adds, “What was also so amazing about him was that he always maintained his rhythm, his perfect top line, and remained sound until the very end of his life. I think his longevity had a lot to do with his conformation, the set in his hocks, his big feet and his correct legs. I thought of him as a grandfather and he always took care of his riders, and what was so neat about him is that he had a huge fan base and everyone loved him.”
Cuvelier tells us a story when on a whim her niece, Caley Cofey, talked her into showing Panner in the Senior Western Pleasure at the 2001 Illinois State Fair at the age of 22.
“It was so much fun. Everyone was screaming and clapping in the stands, and everyone in the stands was telling me that he had all the horses stacked up behind him on the rail because he was so slow and still on his game. We ended up winning the class,” Debbie recalls. “He loved to show, and I bought him at 15, and I had no idea I would be blessed to have him for eighteen wonderful years.”
Former owner Lou Petty of Williamston, Michigan has fond memories of Panner. “He was such a gentleman. Every time that I showed him I respected him more and more.”
In 1985, one of Panner’s owners, Debi Mast, won the High Point Youth Western Pleasure and Hunter Under Saddle in the nation. Their slogan for that year was, “Riding with Pride in ’85.”
“He only knew western when I bought him and Mary Luther and Jim and Patricia Bryce and I taught him English, pattern work, hunter hack, showmanship, and how to pull a cart,” Mast remembers. “We also were sixth in the all-around youth standings in 1985–pretty good for a horse that started the year doing only one event!”
From 1988 to 1991, Debi’s younger sister, Ginger Baxter of Rockford, Michigan showed Panner in the all-around youth events under the supervision of Mary Luther. This team had several big wins at the Quarterama, Dixie Nationals, Congress, and North American.
“He was a very strong horse…. almost machine like. He had a very comforting calm personality and he could make face expressions,” Ginger recalls. “Panner was a horse you could talk to and you swear he could understand. He was a big teddy bear. We did everything–halter, showmanship, western pleasure, horsemanship, hunter under saddle, equitation, western riding, hunter hack, trail…we even barrel raced once for an all around–with his quiet beautiful lope. He definitely had a personality like no other horse I have ever known.”
Baxter continues, “I loved him like a best friend. My trainer, Mary Luther, had him in her care for over 12 years of his fame. She always kept up with him. She was telling me that when we sold him–she took her last ride on him out in a big grass field and just loped him forever just crying and crying. That horse made so many people famous, and he will be missed.”
Click here to see a slideshow of Panner throughout the years. Thanks to the Yaklich family, Rhonda Coles, Debbie Cuvelier, Mary Luther, Lou Petty, Debi Mast, and Ginger Baxter for sharing their thoughts and photos of Panner.
Photos © Rhonda Coles, Harold Campton
