Boones Little Buckeroo

Boones Little
Buckeroo
e were pleasantly surprised when fate predestined that Little King Farm was drawn as the
front cover for the June/July issue of Miniature
Horse World. Knowing that Boones Little Buckeroo would
soon be celebrating his birthday, it seemed like a perfect
match. We contacted Little King Farm and with the
promise of a beautiful cover photo, we started the daunting task of writing about this extraordinary stallion.
W
How do you go about introducing such a significant
horse? There are 5431 foals share the Buckeroo name in
the AMHA database. Amazing, isn’t it that one little stallion could make such a dramatic influence on breeders of
Miniature horses worldwide. We went to the source of all
things AMHA, Barbara Ashby, who graciously shared her
most private moments with the great little horse from the
first time she saw him as a five year old to her recent visit
with him just months before his thirty-second birthday.
These two icons of the breed would most certainly agree
it’s been a wild ride. And Barbara is the first to agree what
an astounding impact and effect Buckeroo has made to
Miniature horse breed. Phenomenal doesn’t begin to
describe it.
Photo by Stuart Vesty
Statistics:
Foaled 5/22/1978
30.5 inches
Bred by Ralph Lawson, West Lafayette, IN
Sold to Lowell Boone 6/18/1979
Sold to Ed & Marianne Eberth 8/1/1983
40 Miniature Horse World
June/July 2010
We were also extremely happy to receive the following
story from Robin (Eberth) Mingione. Who to better
describe what this little horse has meant to the Miniature
breed than one of the Little King family members, who
has seen her life transformed and shaped around this
compelling stallion. The Eberth family has been a part of
the AMHA as long as it has been in existence; Ed and
Marianne Eberth were awarded the Lifetime Achievement
A Award in 2009.
Continued on page 42
LEGENDS
continued from page 40
If Dreams Were For Sale,
What Would You Buy?
By Robin Mingione
It has taken me thirty-two years to understand what the
Miniature Horse has done for me and my family.
Looking back to the earliest of my memories they have
always been a part of my life. The Miniature horse has
taught me something I do not think I could have gained
in any other industry in the world….loyalty. I have met
many professionals in a variety of fields that become
addicts in their own offices inside some huge concrete
building in the middle of a chaotic city. Many of these
people claim they are loyal to their jobs and their
employers and their careers, but it is a different kind of
loyalty from what I know. There is a difference between
loyalty and dedication to a job and the loyalty and passion that drives you to get up in the morning to go to the
barn. It is a commitment that only a true horse person
can relate to and understand.
I was raised by two loving parents, Marianne and Ed,
with three other siblings. John, Heather and Brian and
I grew up in the middle of small town USA. The opportunities for kids were only what one made for themselves
in school and in sports. However my mother foresaw an
opportunity that she knew would encourage us to learn
about life, death and everything in between from love
and responsibility to timeliness and eventually the
aspects of doing business. My mother grew up living at
a hatchery and feed mill and had grandparents with a
herd of Shetland ponies. She didn’t play with dolls or
other “girly” things. It was plastic horses and miniature
farms that occupied her time and creativity. Her best
days were when she could go to her grandparents and
bring the mares into the barn and pick her favorite
42 Miniature Horse World
June/July 2010
mare “Lady May” to ride around. Although it wasn’t
often that she visited her grandparents, they planted a
seed in her that would grow and consume all of her
childhood thoughts. She dreamt of owning her own
horse farm. As soon as the opportunity came for her to
have a farm of her own to raise her children, Marianne
and Ed made plans for the future business; the plans she
began making in her room with her toy horses years
before. It wasn’t until 1979 that Marianne with Ed and
three children moved from the city and established
Little King Farm in Madison, Indiana.
Shortly after the move the couple remodeled the old
cattle barn into a horse barn; new fences were put in,
and Brian, the fourth child, came into the picture in
1981. About that same time the number of animals on
the farm rapidly began to increase. It started with two
ponies, a Morgan, a Walking Horse, goats, sheep, chickens and one Miniature named Peanut. Back then, there
were only 13 registered Miniature horse breeders in the
United States. Marianne came across some information
on the Komoko Ranch in Florida. She inquired and
talked Ed into going to the first Komoko Production
Sale. They purchased several mares and stallions from
Continued on page 46
Bob Bridges and brought them
home to start a breeding program.
They had already purchased some
horses from Bob and Dorothy Stout
in Rushville, Indiana. Marianne
thought she had a plan for her
program until one day she met a
very special man and an unmistakable horse.
It was at one of the first IMHR
National Shows in Murray, Kentucky
when an older man with a great big
cheery smile walked in the ring with
a stunning two yr old buckskin stallion beaming with presence unlike
any other horse she had ever seen.
This man was Lowell Boone and the
horse was Boones Little Buckeroo. It
was as if the stars and the moon
were all aligned and it was meant to
be. Little did she know at that
moment, that man and that horse
would forever change her life and
the life of her family and take them
thru a journey of life, love, excitement and adventure!
Many people have heard the story of
how Lowell offered Buckeroo to
Marianne and Ed. In a desperate
moment of uncertainty with a pending quadruple bypass heart surgery
scheduled for August 2, Lowell sent
a letter to my parents dated July 21,
1983. Looking back, that letter was
like getting a letter from the
President to me; it forever changed
my life and I was all of six years old.
Lowell was scared of not coming out
of surgery healthy and wanted to be
certain his wife Marie would be
taken care of financially. The letter
consisted of some small talk and
offered a yearling buckskin colt by
Buckeroo for $25,000. That colt was
Boones Little Buckeroo 2nd. Then
the letter continued on to say:
“Maybe you want to go all the way to the
top? You probably have the nicest herd of
mares in the country. I don’t know how
many little ones you would have to sell to
get $100,000. Would that many mares
and Buckeroo make you the most money?
He has been shown five times and won
Grand Champion five times.” At the
end of the letter, Lowell said “If interested let me know by August first.”
From the perception of a six year
old, Mom and Dad had a big talk
Photo by Stuart Vesty
and went to the local bank. The bank
agreed to loan $100,000 to purchase
a 30.5 inch, five year old stallion as
collateral for the note. Needless to
say, rumors were flying in this small
little town USA. What in the world
does a $100,000 mini pony look like
anyway? After that day, Buckeroo
became the most famous and highest
selling Miniature horse in the industry at that time. The fact that a man
thought his horse was worth that
much and then to think that there
was a buyer for a horse at that price
was just unfathomable for most. For
Mom, there was never ever any
doubt in her mind what his worth
was to her, the family and the farm.
However, she did have many sleepless nights wondering if she was going
to be able to prove to everyone else
that he was worth his price and value
to the industry. Looking back, that
was the easy part, for Buckeroo has
given far more than ever was expected of him. He paid the initial
$100,000 investment off with his first
Photo by Stuart Vesty
year of foals and every year since,
over and over again.
Buckeroo is the reason why Little
King Farm and my family is what it is
today. He has touched our lives in a
way that is so hard to explain and not
just our lives but so many other people all over the World. My family has
been the direct recipients of his
June/July 2010
Miniature Horse World 43
amazing life and abilities. Buckeroo’s
legend isn’t just about his three
World Grand Champion Stallion
titles (Editor’s Note: Buckeroo won
two of these titles with IMHR and
one with AMHA) or his four World
Champion Get of Sire titles or his
number of progeny or the numerous
get and grand get titles and accomplishments all over the World in
Halter and Performance. His legacy
is about his uncanny ability to reproduce his likeness, time and time
again, generation after generation. It
is his genetic prepotency to pass on
his unmistakable presence, his
motion, his attitude, the tossing of
his mane in a manner that every foal
carries, the pawing of his hoof when
he wants something that every foal
does, his chin, oh his chin, once you
see it you know – you know it is a
Buckeroo. People from all over the
world come here to the farm and
stroll through the 300 acres and 400
horses that are managed, bred and
sold here and every time, the first
horse asked about in each field is a
Buckeroo son or daughter. They simply stand out in a crowd. This is
where he shines, producing and
stamping his offspring with his finest
qualities. In the Miniature horse
industry this is just not too far short
of miraculous. There is no way to
describe this ability, sense of legacy
and continuation of life.
44 Miniature Horse World
June/July 2010
There isn’t any other
one stallion in the
Miniature horse industry that can be found
in the pedigrees of as
many
World
Champion titled horses as Buckeroo. He is
the sire or grandsire of
NINE World Grand
Champion
Senior
Stallions since 1991.
Little Kings
Deboniare
Little Kings Buck
Echo
Ima Boones Little
Buckeroo Too
Winner Circle Adonis
Alvadars Double Destiny
Little King
Buckeroo Baccarra
Blue Ribbons
Mr. Bodacious
JSW Redis Imperial Showkayce ERL
Zeus Lightning Bolt
Buckeroo is the grandsire of the
only three time consecutive AMHA
World Supreme Champion Halter
Horse, Liberty’s Miss Kentucky.
Buckeroo has grandsons that are
winning the World Champion Get of
Sire titles now. In 2008 at the AMHA
World Championship Show, there
were 169 classes and 99 of the World
Grands and Reserve Grands and
Champions were won by horses with
Buckeroo in their pedigree! Quite
the feat for a horse that turned 30
years old that year!
We have many people to thank for
the show ring accomplishments
Buckeroo bloodline horses have
been honored to win. So many people from all over the world are
responsible for his greatness and his
significance in this industry. From
the very beginning there was of
course Lowell and Marie Boone who
knew the day he was born he was special and had a purpose for the
Miniature horse industry. These
horses would no longer be called
“midget ponies” because of them.
Then there was Phoebe Kerby who
worked for the farm and went with
Mom to pick Buckeroo up from the
Boone’s farm in Illinois. For 15 years
she was an integral part of the farm
and family and continues her own
successful training business to this
day with a few Buckeroos in her
barn. There are so many people who
have made a difference in our lives.
Barbara Ashby, the Queen Bee at
AMHA for more years than she wants
to mention had one wish – “To come
see Buckeroo in person just one more
time!” She came to the farm for the
first time February 2010 and got to
lead Buckeroo around and stand
him up just as Lowell would and the
whole time she was saying “Look here
Lowell! I got him, I told you I would!”
Photo by Stuart Vesty
World Champion Stallions!
From left to right: Brian with Little King Buck Echo- Buckeroo son, Heather with Ima Boones Little Buckeroo Too- Buckeroo grand-son, Marianne with
Buckeroo, Robin with Little Kings Psyched Up Buck- Buckeroo son, John with Alvadars Double Destiny- Buckeroo grand-son
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chased yet another nine horses including another Buckeroo son
and daughter for their parks in Japan.
Some of the other early clients of Buckeroo were Julie McDougal
who owned and showed Little Kings Debonaire to his World
Champion halter and driving titles. Cammie Cavanugh of
Westwind Farm purchased Little Kings Buck Off and Little Kings
Buckeroo Bonsai and continued to breed and produce many
World Champions. Lorne and Linda Major from Canada bought
the first Buckeroo son to go outside of the USA - Little Kings
Bionic Buckeroo. Shortly after that, the Koizumi Group from
Japan came to the farm and purchased thirteen horses including a son and daughter of Buckeroo. Just over twenty years
later, Mr. Mitshuashi and the Koizumi Group returned and pur-
Others who have made an impact in the industry and our lives are
Jane Macon of Alamo Miniatures, with her feathered hat and colored boots running to find John with that beautiful bay stallion in
1989; Little King Locomotion. Jane has continued for over twenty
years to be a supporter of the Miniature horses and Buckeroo. She
owns numerous sons and daughters of Buckeroo. With Jane came
Ray Zoercher of Windflight. From day one, Ray has been a significant supporter, trainer, breeder and friend of both Little King and
Buckeroo. He has won many, many titles with Buckeroo horses and
has introduced us to many new friends and clients along the way
such as Martha Hickham of ERL Miniatures who owns the Buckeroo
son Little Kings Techno Buck. Then there is Mike and Terry
Hlavatovic of Alliance Miniatures and Mr. Jim Payne of Liberty Farm;
the breeder of Libertys Miss Kentucky. They together co-own many
World Champion Buckeroo get and grandget. Wade Burns of Lucky
Four Farm owns Little Kings Black Velvet who is one of the leading
futurity stallions in the industry. Toni Reece of Reece Family
Miniatures with her daughter Danielle Hill have been wonderful
supporters of the Buckeroo bloodlines and have shown many World
Champion Buckeroo titled horses. Ray and Martha Ross have been
syndicate members and long time breeders of Miniature horses
with the Buckeroo line in their program. Bill Humphries of Vermilyea
Farm owns and breeds several Buckeroo line horses. Tuffy Acton
from Freedom Hill Farm has stood Buckeroo sons and grandsons
inners Circle Ranch and the BJ and Raymond Kaliski
were the first people to buy a Buckeroo foal from us. It
was Little Kings Miss Buckeroo at the 1985 National Show
after she won her class. When Winners Circle closed their
barn door for the last time they retired both Boones Little
Buckeroo 2nd and Miss Buckeroo to our care here at Little
King Farm. It was a day for reuniting of old friends. The last
time Buckeroo saw the others was in 1986 at the Lexington
Horse Park. The moment they saw each other again they
knew each other and of course mom and I cried. It was like
BJ, Raymond, Lowell, Marie and Mom were all talking to each
other after 20 years of being apart. In April 2010, Little Kings
Miss Buckeroo foaled a beautiful buckskin filly with the look
of her dam and the eyes of her grandfather. She is twenty-five
years old this year.
June/July 2010
Miniature Horse World 45
JUMP HEAD
continued
from years
page??
for over twenty
now and continues
to show their get to World Champion titles
year after year. Mike Rosauer also one of
the top trainers in the industry has won
many world titles with Buckeroo line horses. Casey Campbell and Mike McCabe
have won multiple World Champion
Performance titles with Buckeroo horses.
Don and Suzanne Rogers of Rogers HSR
and Camille Hoffmann of Cherry Orchard
Hill are two of the most predominate
breeders and supporters of Buckeroo and
his get and grandget in today’s market.
The Rogers have centered their West
Coast Breeding Program with primarily
Buckeroo get and grandget with a focus
on the best of the best halter and performance horses in the World. And last but of
course not least, John and Melinda Eberth
of Arion Management. Although John is
not here on the farm every day, his life still
revolves around the horse and his childhood
upbringing. He not only is one of the top
trainers and breeders in the industry, he is a
well respected AMHA judge traveling the
world.
All of these people are just a few of the
breeders, trainers, and supporters of
Buckeroo. There is an entire world of
Buckeroo fans! Nathalie Marmuse of
France; Claudia Seers and Dean Pallatt of
England; Angela and Jacqueline Pons of
Spain; Vincente Fernandez of Mexico;
Maggie McLeod of New Zealand; Laraine
McKenzie and Sharon Crawford of
Australia; are all owners of Buckeroo sons
and daughters. Also in Europe, some
Buckeroo breeders have gathered together
and formed a website just for sons and
On the 22nd of May 2010, Buckeroo will
celebrate his thirty-second birthday. We
have five new Buckeroo foals already
stamped with his look running, around
the pastures. Marianne said just the other
day: “I just can’t say enough about Buckeroo
and his foals. Every time I look at Buckeroo I
feel the same chill, emotions and excitement as
I did the first time I saw him. My children have
and are traveling the world because of what he
has done for them. He is my
dream come true. He has fulfilled my childhood wish. I
can’t ask for anything more of
him.”
Buckeroo hasn’t just fulfilled my Mom’s dreams
and hopes for her family. He continues to make her children’s and grandchildren’s dreams come true even before
they know it. He has encouraged and guided all three generations to respect, be loyal, take responsibility, see things thru
with dedication, and taught them love, life and death, sacrifice and thrill; and to believe that dreams can come true. I
can not thank Mom enough for what she foresaw over thirty
years ago. Her wish, her dream was right in front of her and
she grabbed a hold of it, wrapped her arms around it, nurtured and protected it. And all of that time, energy, love, and
sacrifice has paid off tenfold. Her relationship with Buckeroo
is a true testament to the meaning of loyalty. She has not only
taught her children the meaning of it, but she has shown so
many others in this industry what it takes to see a dream come
to fruition. The legend of a little girl’s dream does live on,
generation after generation on farms all over the world!
46 Miniature Horse World
June/July 2010
daughters of Buckeroo in their regionJennifer Hasslinger, Ann Joy, Ben and
Carla van de Wetering, Loraine Webb,
Jorge Kuisl, and Maryline Tournier are all
owners
and
members
of
www.Buckeroo.eu. Many of these people
have traveled across continents just to
see Buckeroo, touch him and look at
what he has produced with their own
eyes. He is a living legend. He is a dream,
a dream for so many people around the
world that share the love and passion of
breeding and showing the Miniature
horse. And as if that isn’t enough, ask
any one person that has had their hands
on Buckeroo if the $100,000 horse has
proven his worth and every one of them
will say YES!
My Bucket List
from Barbara Ashby
fter seeing the movie “Bucket List” where two fellows made a
list of places they would like to go before they “kicked the bucket.” I sat down to make a list of horses
I would like to see once last time. Nearly
all of them are already in that pasture in
the sky, but my two favorites were still
alive. Flying W Farms Moonlight Bay
was the most amazing driving horse I
had ever seen and you cannot even put
into words what Boones Little Buckeroo
has meant to the Miniature horse industry. I got to see Moonlight Bay when I
went to the World Show in 2008 but it
just didn’t seem like I was going to get
to Indiana.
A
I am 72 years of age now and old man arthritis has taken its toll on
my mobility so I wouldn’t dare set off on a journey by myself. My
good friends Dave and Jill Miller kept telling me they would take me
to Indiana and then the AMHA moved the Annual Meeting to
Louisville, Kentucky in February of 2010. My prayers were answered.
We flew to Louisville early and arrived to ice, sleet and snow and
some of the roads to Madison were even closed. There was no
way I was going to be stopped when I was this close, so we rented a SUV and took off.
All the way I reminisced about the first time I saw Buckeroo.
Lowell Boone was really active in the International Miniature Horse
Registry (IMHR), so we didn’t see him on the AMHA circuit and I
had also seen photos of him and he took your breath away. Back
in the early 80’s most of the stallions were of the stock type and
those 30 and under were extremely stocky. Buckeroo was the
most elegant, refined horse I had ever seen.
In 1983, I heard he was coming to the AMHA National Show held
at the State Fair of Texas on October 15-16. I could hardly wait.
Lowell Boone had some serious heart problems in 1983 which
required surgery. He made the decision to cut the size of his herd
and sold Buckeroo to Ed and Marianne Eberth of Little King Farm.
The Eberth’s had built an exceptional group of Miniatures and
were a dominant force in the show ring beginning in 1982.
However, in my opinion the breeding program they developed with
Buckeroo is their greatest contribution to the Miniature horse
breed and cannot be overestimated. We had several breeders at
that time who had the monetary means to advertise and promote
him, but they didn’t have Marianne Eberth. And right there is the
secret to what happened over the years.
I rushed over to his stall at the 1983 National Show to see him for
the first time and to be quite honest with you I was a little disappointed. He was not a happy camper and was standing there with
his ears back, looking genuinely fed up with the entire situation. In
the photos of him, all I had ever seen were those ears straight up in
the air and those gorgeous eyes just sparkling. I stood there for a
moment and then I heard a man’s voice shouting a greeting to someone. Those ears went up, that neck arched, and I turned around to
see what caught his attention. I could see Lowell in the distance not
yet in Buckeroo’s sight. As he walked up to the stall, I turned back
and saw the absolute love and joy in that little horse’s face and literally had to go to the
restroom in tears.
Buckeroo never lost class, except the time
when Ed was showing him in a color class
(sorry Ed, but you know it is the truth) and
we were all afraid he wouldn’t win.
However, the judges were looking for color
and not showmanship, so he won. Nearly
everyone expected him to win National
Grand Champion Senior Stallion but after
the color class we all kidded Ed to please let
someone else show him.
We had no idea Lowell would even attend the show, much less be
physically able to participate. But he did and when he took him in
for National Grand, Buckeroo planted those feet, looked at the
judge as if to say, “Here I Am!” and it was a done deal.
The big difference between IMHR and AMHA at that time was
IMHR showed the horses stretched and we showed them square.
Everyone was waiting to see what would happen when Buckeroo
came to the AMHA show. I kidded Lowell that he better not stretch
him. Then when we found out Ed would be showing him I gave Ed
the same lecture. He didn’t stretch like he did at the IMHR shows,
but he didn’t have to.....he was exquisite.
But enough of the reminiscing. Upon arriving in Madison I couldn’t
wait to see him. After hugging Marianne and Robin they took me
to his stall which is right outside the office in the barn and I was so
pleased I started crying. Since Buckeroo is so refined anyway and
we have three 30-year-olds on our farm and I know how hard it is
to keep weight on them, I thought he would just be skin and bones.
He looked WONDERFUL. They keep special food in front of him all
the time and he is doing great. Robin went in his stall, put a halter
on him and then brought him out and handed me the lead line. I
cannot put into words the emotions flooding through me at that
time. I hugged him; I kissed him, and blubbered all over him.
As we drove back to Louisville, I shared with Dave and Jill my last
conversation with Lowell. It was just a few weeks before his
death when he called me and said, “Well, I’m getting ready to
check out.” I told him that I had a horse show planned for AMHA’s
75th Anniversary. I was going to let Vern show Orion, Wade show
Rebel, Sami show Banana, Sandy show Egyptian King, Mr.
Norman show Rowdy, Jackie show Boogerman, Mr. Bond show
Jocko, and then he interrupted me and said, “You aren’t going to
let Ed show Buckeroo are you.” I replied, “Well, Lowell, both you
and Ed showed Buckeroo down here on earth and I kind of wanted you to let me show him at the big show in the sky.” There was
a pause and then he said, “OK, Barbara, but you have to show him
STRETCHED.
June/July 2010
Miniature Horse World 47