Before He Was ‘Louie’

Before He Was ‘Louie’

From reined cow horse to reining then barrel racing,
Lisa Lockhart’s An Oakie With Cash gives his all every time.

Courtesy of The American Quarter Horse Journal | By Katie Navarra

An Oakie With Cash is any breeder’s dream: He inherited the best from both parents. He’s cowy, he can drop his hind end in the ground and drag his tail, and he is fast. Very, very fast. That mix of athletic traits has been a winning combination in a multitude of events, and it was first apparent in reined cow horse events. That’s where “Louie,” now a Wrangler National Finals Rodeo round winner with barrel racing all-star Lisa Lockhart, got his start.

The 2003 buckskin gelding is by Biebers Oakie, a ranch and performance stallion, grandson of National Cutting Horse Association Derby champion Doc’s Lynx. Louie’s dam, Lady Kaweah Cash, is by top barrel racing sire Judge Cash. Judge Cash, a former racehorse, is a son of American Quarter Horse Hall of Famer Dash For Cash. That’s just one of many places Lady Kaweah Cash sports Hall of Fame bloodlines: She also traces on the bottom side of her pedigree to famed racehorse Easy Jet.

“There was never a cow that could out-run Louie. He was never a runaway, but he always wanted to go,” says Bill Fischer, who operates Bill Fischer Performance Horses and trains for Tim and Kelly Bagnell, Louie’s breeders and original owners.

The Bagnells sent Louie to Bill for training as a 2-year-old, who then showed the horse as a 3- and 4-year-old. The sensitive, level-headed youngster gave his all every time he was under saddle. He had so much try that Bill sometimes worried the horse would hurt himself.

“When you asked for something, he gave you all of it, sometimes too much,” says Bill. “I had to be careful that I didn’t overtrain on him.”

In 2006, Bill and Louie won the Montana Reined Cow Horse Association Snaffle Bit Futurity limited open championship, as well as multiple Montana Reining Horse Association accolades.

“I don’t believe that I ever showed him anywhere in the cow horse that he didn’t win a check,” Bill adds. “He was super athletic and trainable – you never had to ask more than once.”

Louie could have continued a lucrative career in the show pen, but Bill could tell the horse’s heart wasn’t in the sport. And the Bagnells were looking for a barrel horse prospect for their daughter, Lexi.

But before he made it to Lexi, first Louie needed to learn how to be a barrel horse. Enter $2 million barrel racing champion Lisa Lockhart. The Bagnells had known Lisa for nearly 30 years and had already sent her multiple horses to train, including Fast An Gold, “Chisolm,” who helped advance Lisa’s career.

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