Riderless Horses Honor 2015 Tragedy at OSU Homecoming

Saturday's Oklahoma State University homecoming parade featured a tribute to the four lives lost during the 2015 tragedy. Four riderless horses from Turning Point Ranch – Buddy, Josey, Bart, and Bubba led the processional, each carrying memorial flower sprays and backwards boots – a powerful symbol honoring Marvin Stone, Bonnie Stone, Nikita Nakal, and Nash Lucas.

The decision to place these animals at the front of the parade marked a significant moment in Stillwater's continuing journey of healing and remembrance. Rather than allowing the tragedy to fade into history, the community chose to center these four lives in one of the university's most cherished traditions.

"No matter how dire the circumstance, we are, and will always be STILLWATER STRONG," reads the inscription on the memorial at Main Street and Hall of Fame Avenue – the intersection where the tragedy occurred on October 24, 2015. That commitment to unity and remembrance extended to the parade itself.

Four Horses, Four Stories

The decision to have horses lead yesterday's parade transformed both the processional and the way spectators experienced homecoming. The presence of the animals – gentle, deliberate, silent – created a stark contrast to the usual energy and celebration.

This memorial calls back to the 2016 homecoming parade, where the Payne County Sheriff's Mounted Brigade led three riderless horses and one pony, each carrying a spray of flowers in memory of the four victims.

Almost a decade later, Josey, Bart, Bubba and mini horse Buddy continue the tradition with heightened symbolism. They carried memorial sprays of flowers paired with backwards boots. The backwards boots – stirrups reversed and empty saddles – represent an Old West tradition of mourning, symbolizing a fallen rider who will never ride again.

In placing these horses at the front of the parade, the community signaled that 2015 is not a chapter to be closed, but a story to be carried forward by every generation of Cowboys and Cowgirls.

A Tragedy That Changed Everything

On that autumn morning a decade ago, the joy of the Sea of Orange Parade was shattered in moments. At 10:31 a.m., Adacia Chambers drove her vehicle through barricades designed to protect spectators, striking approximately 50 people. Four did not survive.

Marvin Lyle Stone, 65, and his wife Bonnie Jean Stone, 65, died at the scene. Both were devoted Oklahoma State employees. Marvin spent more than two decades in the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering before retiring in 2006, earning a reputation as an exceptional mentor whose influence shaped countless students. Bonnie served the university for nearly two decades as coordinator of student information systems operations and training, known throughout campus for her dedication and willingness to help faculty and staff.

Nikita Prabhaker Nakal, 23, was a senior at the University of Central Oklahoma. The international student from Mumbai, India, had traveled far from home to pursue education in the United States.

Two-year-old Nash Lucas, also of Stillwater, was the youngest victim. His mother was among the injured. The child suffered severe injuries in the crash and died while being treated at The Children's Hospital at OU Medicine in Oklahoma City.

Beyond the four who died, 47 others were injured – including nine children between the ages of 1 and 13. The intersection where the tragedy occurred was blocked off, transforming a celebration into a crime scene in seconds.

For the Stones, who left no children of their own, their legacy lives through the students they mentored and the university they served.

Nikita Nakal's memory is carried by every UCO student and by the international community Nakal represented. Nash Lucas, though taken too young to have built his own legacy, represents the innocence lost and the reminder of why this moment demands continued attention.

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A Community Bound by Loss and Love

In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, Stillwater Medical Center treated 42 people. The hospital's administration made a decision that exemplified the community's response: they would send no bills to the victims treated that day.

That compassion became the foundation for the Stillwater Strong movement, which emerged to focus not on the act of violence but on the community's refusal to be defined by it. Former Stillwater Medical Foundation Director Scott Petty worked with survivors, first responders, and community members to document the tragedy's story in a book titled "Stillwater Strong," with all proceeds supporting the permanent memorial at the site.

Looking Forward While Honoring the Past

As OSU moved through its 2025 homecoming celebration, the horses that led the parade represented something larger than tradition. They embodied a choice – the choice Stillwater made ten years ago to respond to tragedy not with division or despair, but with unity and determination.

The parade proceeded down the same streets, passed through the same intersection, and celebrated the same university that was forever changed on October 24, 2015.

This is Stillwater Strong. This is how a community honors those it has lost.

For more information about the 2015 tragedy and memorial, visit StillwaterStrong.org

See photos from Homecoming All-Night Pomp and Sea of Orange Parade

📺 Watch the Inside OSU's broadcast of the parade