  The Ostrovsky-Vakhnenko (OV) equation \begin{align*} &u_{txx}-3\kappa
u_x+3u_xu_{xx}+uu_{xxx}=0 \end{align*} is a short wave model of the well-known
Degasperis-Procesi equation and admits a $3\times 3$ matrix Lax pair. In this
paper, we study the soliton resolution and asymptotic stability of $N$-loop
soliton solutions for the OV equation with Schwartz initial data that supports
soliton solutions. It is shown that the solution of the Cauchy problem can be
characterized via a $3\times 3$ matrix Riemann-Hilbert (RH) problem in a new
scale. Further by deforming the RH problem into solvable models with
$\bar\partial$-steepest descent method, we obtain the soliton resolution to the
OV equation in two space-time regions $x/t>0$ and $x/t<0$. This result also
implies that $N$-loop soliton solutions of the OV equation are asymptotically
stable.
