Continued on page 42

Statistics:Foaled 5/22/197830.5 inchesBred by Ralph Lawson, West Lafayette, INSold to Lowell Boone 6/18/1979Sold to Ed & Marianne Eberth 8/1/1983

We were pleasantly surprised when fate predes-tined that Little King Farm was drawn as thefront cover for the June/July issue of Miniature

Horse World. Knowing that Boones Little Buckeroo wouldsoon be celebrating his birthday, it seemed like a perfectmatch. We contacted Little King Farm and with thepromise of a beautiful cover photo, we started the daunt-ing task of writing about this extraordinary stallion.

How do you go about introducing such a significanthorse? There are 5431 foals share the Buckeroo name inthe AMHA database. Amazing, isn’t it that one little stal-lion could make such a dramatic influence on breeders ofMiniature horses worldwide. We went to the source of allthings AMHA, Barbara Ashby, who graciously shared hermost private moments with the great little horse from thefirst time she saw him as a five year old to her recent visitwith him just months before his thirty-second birthday.These two icons of the breed would most certainly agreeit’s been a wild ride. And Barbara is the first to agree whatan astounding impact and effect Buckeroo has made toMiniature horse breed. Phenomenal doesn’t begin todescribe it.

We were also extremely happy to receive the followingstory from Robin (Eberth) Mingione. Who to betterdescribe what this little horse has meant to the Miniaturebreed than one of the Little King family members, whohas seen her life transformed and shaped around thiscompelling stallion. The Eberth family has been a part ofthe AMHA as long as it has been in existence; Ed andMarianne Eberth were awarded the Lifetime AchievementA Award in 2009.

Boones LittleBuckeroo

40 Miniature Horse World June/July 2010

Photo by Stuart Vesty

42 Miniature Horse World June/July 2010

LEGENDScontinued 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 theMiniature Horse has done for me and my family.Looking back to the earliest of my memories they havealways been a part of my life. The Miniature horse hastaught me something I do not think I could have gainedin any other industry in the world….loyalty. I have metmany professionals in a variety of fields that becomeaddicts in their own offices inside some huge concretebuilding in the middle of a chaotic city. Many of thesepeople claim they are loyal to their jobs and theiremployers and their careers, but it is a different kind ofloyalty from what I know. There is a difference betweenloyalty and dedication to a job and the loyalty and pas-sion that drives you to get up in the morning to go to thebarn. It is a commitment that only a true horse personcan relate to and understand.

I was raised by two loving parents, Marianne and Ed,with three other siblings. John, Heather and Brian andI grew up in the middle of small town USA. The oppor-tunities for kids were only what one made for themselvesin school and in sports. However my mother foresaw anopportunity that she knew would encourage us to learnabout life, death and everything in between from loveand responsibility to timeliness and eventually theaspects of doing business. My mother grew up living ata hatchery and feed mill and had grandparents with aherd of Shetland ponies. She didn’t play with dolls orother “girly” things. It was plastic horses and miniaturefarms that occupied her time and creativity. Her bestdays were when she could go to her grandparents andbring the mares into the barn and pick her favorite

mare “Lady May” to ride around. Although it wasn’toften that she visited her grandparents, they planted aseed in her that would grow and consume all of herchildhood thoughts. She dreamt of owning her ownhorse farm. As soon as the opportunity came for her tohave a farm of her own to raise her children, Marianneand Ed made plans for the future business; the plans shebegan making in her room with her toy horses yearsbefore. It wasn’t until 1979 that Marianne with Ed andthree children moved from the city and establishedLittle King Farm in Madison, Indiana.

Shortly after the move the couple remodeled the oldcattle barn into a horse barn; new fences were put in,and Brian, the fourth child, came into the picture in1981. About that same time the number of animals onthe farm rapidly began to increase. It started with twoponies, a Morgan, a Walking Horse, goats, sheep, chick-ens and one Miniature named Peanut. Back then, therewere only 13 registered Miniature horse breeders in theUnited States. Marianne came across some informationon the Komoko Ranch in Florida. She inquired andtalked Ed into going to the first Komoko ProductionSale. They purchased several mares and stallions from

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June/July 2010 Miniature Horse World 43

Bob Bridges and brought themhome to start a breeding program.They had already purchased somehorses from Bob and Dorothy Stoutin Rushville, Indiana. Mariannethought she had a plan for herprogram until one day she met avery special man and an unmistak-able horse.

It was at one of the first IMHRNational Shows in Murray, Kentuckywhen an older man with a great bigcheery smile walked in the ring witha stunning two yr old buckskin stal-lion beaming with presence unlikeany other horse she had ever seen.This man was Lowell Boone and thehorse was Boones Little Buckeroo. Itwas as if the stars and the moonwere all aligned and it was meant tobe. Little did she know at thatmoment, that man and that horsewould forever change her life andthe life of her family and take themthru a journey of life, love, excite-ment and adventure!

Many people have heard the story ofhow Lowell offered Buckeroo toMarianne and Ed. In a desperatemoment of uncertainty with a pend-ing quadruple bypass heart surgeryscheduled for August 2, Lowell senta letter to my parents dated July 21,1983. Looking back, that letter waslike getting a letter from thePresident to me; it forever changedmy life and I was all of six years old.Lowell was scared of not coming outof surgery healthy and wanted to becertain his wife Marie would betaken care of financially. The letterconsisted of some small talk andoffered a yearling buckskin colt byBuckeroo for $25,000. That colt wasBoones Little Buckeroo 2nd. Thenthe letter continued on to say:“Maybe you want to go all the way to thetop? You probably have the nicest herd ofmares in the country. I don’t know howmany little ones you would have to sell toget $100,000. Would that many maresand Buckeroo make you the most money?He has been shown five times and wonGrand Champion five times.” At theend of the letter, Lowell said “If inter-ested let me know by August first.”

From the perception of a six yearold, Mom and Dad had a big talk

and went to the local bank. The bankagreed to loan $100,000 to purchasea 30.5 inch, five year old stallion ascollateral for the note. Needless tosay, rumors were flying in this smalllittle town USA. What in the worlddoes a $100,000 mini pony look likeanyway? After that day, Buckeroobecame the most famous and highestselling Miniature horse in the indus-try at that time. The fact that a manthought his horse was worth thatmuch and then to think that therewas a buyer for a horse at that pricewas just unfathomable for most. ForMom, there was never ever anydoubt in her mind what his worthwas to her, the family and the farm.However, she did have many sleep-less nights wondering if she was goingto be able to prove to everyone elsethat he was worth his price and valueto the industry. Looking back, thatwas the easy part, for Buckeroo hasgiven far more than ever was expect-ed of him. He paid the initial$100,000 investment off with his first

year of foals and every year since,over and over again.

Buckeroo is the reason why LittleKing Farm and my family is what it istoday. He has touched our lives in away that is so hard to explain and notjust our lives but so many other peo-ple all over the World. My family hasbeen the direct recipients of his

Photo by Stuart VestyPhoto by Stuart Vesty

44 Miniature Horse World June/July 2010

amazing life and abilities. Buckeroo’slegend isn’t just about his threeWorld Grand Champion Stalliontitles (Editor’s Note: Buckeroo wontwo of these titles with IMHR andone with AMHA) or his four WorldChampion Get of Sire titles or hisnumber of progeny or the numerousget and grand get titles and accom-plishments all over the World inHalter and Performance. His legacyis about his uncanny ability to repro-duce his likeness, time and timeagain, generation after generation. Itis his genetic prepotency to pass onhis unmistakable presence, hismotion, his attitude, the tossing ofhis mane in a manner that every foalcarries, the pawing of his hoof whenhe wants something that every foaldoes, his chin, oh his chin, once yousee it you know – you know it is aBuckeroo. People from all over theworld come here to the farm andstroll through the 300 acres and 400horses that are managed, bred andsold here and every time, the firsthorse asked about in each field is aBuckeroo son or daughter. They sim-ply stand out in a crowd. This iswhere he shines, producing andstamping his offspring with his finestqualities. In the Miniature horseindustry this is just not too far shortof miraculous. There is no way todescribe this ability, sense of legacyand continuation of life.

There isn’t any otherone stallion in theMiniature horse indus-try that can be foundin the pedigrees of asmany WorldChampion titled hors-es as Buckeroo. He isthe sire or grandsire ofNINE World GrandChampion SeniorStallions since 1991.

Little KingsDeboniareLittle Kings BuckEchoIma Boones Little

Buckeroo TooWinner Circle AdonisAlvadars Double DestinyLittle King

Buckeroo BaccarraBlue Ribbons

Mr. BodaciousJSW Redis Imperial Showkayce ERLZeus Lightning Bolt

Buckeroo is the grandsire of theonly three time consecutive AMHAWorld Supreme Champion HalterHorse, Liberty’s Miss Kentucky.Buckeroo has grandsons that arewinning the World Champion Get ofSire titles now. In 2008 at the AMHAWorld Championship Show, therewere 169 classes and 99 of the World

Grands and Reserve Grands andChampions were won by horses withBuckeroo in their pedigree! Quitethe feat for a horse that turned 30years old that year!

We have many people to thank forthe show ring accomplishmentsBuckeroo bloodline horses havebeen honored to win. So many peo-ple from all over the world areresponsible for his greatness and hissignificance in this industry. Fromthe very beginning there was ofcourse Lowell and Marie Boone whoknew the day he was born he was spe-cial and had a purpose for theMiniature horse industry. Thesehorses would no longer be called“midget ponies” because of them.Then there was Phoebe Kerby whoworked for the farm and went withMom to pick Buckeroo up from theBoone’s farm in Illinois. For 15 yearsshe was an integral part of the farmand family and continues her ownsuccessful training business to thisday with a few Buckeroos in herbarn. There are so many people whohave made a difference in our lives.Barbara Ashby, the Queen Bee atAMHA for more years than she wantsto mention had one wish – “To comesee Buckeroo in person just one moretime!” She came to the farm for thefirst time February 2010 and got tolead Buckeroo around and standhim up just as Lowell would and thewhole time she was saying “Look hereLowell! I got him, I told you I would!”

June/July 2010 Miniature Horse World 45

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 withBuckeroo, Robin with Little Kings Psyched Up Buck- Buckeroo son, John with Alvadars Double Destiny- Buckeroo grand-son

Photo by Stuart Vesty

Winners Circle Ranch and the BJ and Raymond Kaliskiwere the first people to buy a Buckeroo foal from us. It

was Little Kings Miss Buckeroo at the 1985 National Showafter she won her class. When Winners Circle closed theirbarn door for the last time they retired both Boones LittleBuckeroo 2nd and Miss Buckeroo to our care here at LittleKing Farm. It was a day for reuniting of old friends. The lasttime Buckeroo saw the others was in 1986 at the LexingtonHorse Park. The moment they saw each other again theyknew each other and of course mom and I cried. It was likeBJ, Raymond, Lowell, Marie and Mom were all talking to eachother after 20 years of being apart. In April 2010, Little KingsMiss Buckeroo foaled a beautiful buckskin filly with the lookof her dam and the eyes of her grandfather. She is twenty-fiveyears old this year.

Some of the other early clients of Buckeroo were Julie McDougalwho owned and showed Little Kings Debonaire to his WorldChampion halter and driving titles. Cammie Cavanugh ofWestwind Farm purchased Little Kings Buck Off and Little KingsBuckeroo Bonsai and continued to breed and produce manyWorld Champions. Lorne and Linda Major from Canada boughtthe first Buckeroo son to go outside of the USA - Little KingsBionic Buckeroo. Shortly after that, the Koizumi Group fromJapan came to the farm and purchased thirteen horses includ-ing a son and daughter of Buckeroo. Just over twenty yearslater, Mr. Mitshuashi and the Koizumi Group returned and pur-

chased yet another nine horses including another Buckeroo sonand daughter for their parks in Japan.

Others who have made an impact in the industry and our lives areJane Macon of Alamo Miniatures, with her feathered hat and col-ored boots running to find John with that beautiful bay stallion in1989; Little King Locomotion. Jane has continued for over twentyyears to be a supporter of the Miniature horses and Buckeroo. Sheowns numerous sons and daughters of Buckeroo. With Jane cameRay Zoercher of Windflight. From day one, Ray has been a signifi-cant supporter, trainer, breeder and friend of both Little King andBuckeroo. He has won many, many titles with Buckeroo horses andhas introduced us to many new friends and clients along the waysuch as Martha Hickham of ERL Miniatures who owns the Buckerooson Little Kings Techno Buck. Then there is Mike and TerryHlavatovic of Alliance Miniatures and Mr. Jim Payne of Liberty Farm;the breeder of Libertys Miss Kentucky. They together co-own manyWorld Champion Buckeroo get and grandget. Wade Burns of LuckyFour Farm owns Little Kings Black Velvet who is one of the leadingfuturity stallions in the industry. Toni Reece of Reece FamilyMiniatures with her daughter Danielle Hill have been wonderfulsupporters of the Buckeroo bloodlines and have shown many WorldChampion Buckeroo titled horses. Ray and Martha Ross have beensyndicate members and long time breeders of Miniature horseswith the Buckeroo line in their program. Bill Humphries of VermilyeaFarm owns and breeds several Buckeroo line horses. Tuffy Actonfrom Freedom Hill Farm has stood Buckeroo sons and grandsons

46 Miniature Horse World June/July 2010

JUMP HEADcontinued from page??

On the 22nd of May 2010, Buckeroo willcelebrate his thirty-second birthday. Wehave five new Buckeroo foals alreadystamped with his look running, aroundthe pastures. Marianne said just the otherday: “I just can’t say enough about Buckerooand his foals. Every time I look at Buckeroo Ifeel the same chill, emotions and excitement asI did the first time I saw him. My children haveand are traveling the world because of what hehas done for them. He is mydream come true. He has ful-filled my childhood wish. Ican’t ask for anything more ofhim.”

Buckeroo hasn’t just ful-filled my Mom’s dreams

and hopes for her family. He continues to make her chil-dren’s and grandchildren’s dreams come true even beforethey know it. He has encouraged and guided all three gener-ations to respect, be loyal, take responsibility, see things thruwith dedication, and taught them love, life and death, sacri-fice and thrill; and to believe that dreams can come true. Ican not thank Mom enough for what she foresaw over thirtyyears ago. Her wish, her dream was right in front of her andshe grabbed a hold of it, wrapped her arms around it, nur-tured and protected it. And all of that time, energy, love, andsacrifice has paid off tenfold. Her relationship with Buckeroois a true testament to the meaning of loyalty. She has not onlytaught her children the meaning of it, but she has shown somany others in this industry what it takes to see a dream cometo fruition. The legend of a little girl’s dream does live on,generation after generation on farms all over the world!

for over twenty years now and continuesto show their get to World Champion titlesyear after year. Mike Rosauer also one ofthe top trainers in the industry has wonmany world titles with Buckeroo line hors-es. Casey Campbell and Mike McCabehave won multiple World ChampionPerformance titles with Buckeroo horses.Don and Suzanne Rogers of Rogers HSRand Camille Hoffmann of Cherry OrchardHill are two of the most predominatebreeders and supporters of Buckeroo andhis get and grandget in today’s market.The Rogers have centered their WestCoast Breeding Program with primarilyBuckeroo get and grandget with a focuson the best of the best halter and perfor-mance horses in the World. And last but ofcourse not least, John and Melinda Eberthof Arion Management. Although John is

not here on the farm every day, his life stillrevolves around the horse and his childhoodupbringing. He not only is one of the toptrainers and breeders in the industry, he is awell respected AMHA judge traveling theworld.

All of these people are just a few of thebreeders, trainers, and supporters ofBuckeroo. There is an entire world ofBuckeroo fans! Nathalie Marmuse ofFrance; Claudia Seers and Dean Pallatt ofEngland; Angela and Jacqueline Pons ofSpain; Vincente Fernandez of Mexico;Maggie McLeod of New Zealand; LaraineMcKenzie and Sharon Crawford ofAustralia; are all owners of Buckeroo sonsand daughters. Also in Europe, someBuckeroo breeders have gathered togetherand formed a website just for sons and

daughters of Buckeroo in their region-Jennifer Hasslinger, Ann Joy, Ben andCarla van de Wetering, Loraine Webb,Jorge Kuisl, and Maryline Tournier are allowners and members ofwww.Buckeroo.eu. Many of these peoplehave traveled across continents just tosee Buckeroo, touch him and look atwhat he has produced with their owneyes. He is a living legend. He is a dream,a dream for so many people around theworld that share the love and passion ofbreeding and showing the Miniaturehorse. And as if that isn’t enough, askany one person that has had their handson Buckeroo if the $100,000 horse hasproven his worth and every one of themwill say YES!

June/July 2010 Miniature Horse World 47

My Bucket Listfrom Barbara Ashby

After seeing the movie “Bucket List” where two fellows made alist of places they would like to go before they “kicked the buck-

et.” I sat down to make a list of horsesI would like to see once last time. Nearlyall of them are already in that pasture inthe sky, but my two favorites were stillalive. Flying W Farms Moonlight Baywas the most amazing driving horse Ihad ever seen and you cannot even putinto words what Boones Little Buckeroohas meant to the Miniature horse indus-try. I got to see Moonlight Bay when Iwent to the World Show in 2008 but itjust didn’t seem like I was going to getto Indiana.

I am 72 years of age now and old man arthritis has taken its toll onmy mobility so I wouldn’t dare set off on a journey by myself. Mygood friends Dave and Jill Miller kept telling me they would take meto Indiana and then the AMHA moved the Annual Meeting toLouisville, Kentucky in February of 2010.My prayers were answered.

We flew to Louisville early and arrived to ice, sleet and snow andsome of the roads to Madison were even closed. There was noway I was going to be stopped when I was this close, so we rent-ed 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 HorseRegistry (IMHR), so we didn’t see him on the AMHA circuit and Ihad also seen photos of him and he took your breath away. Backin the early 80’s most of the stallions were of the stock type andthose 30 and under were extremely stocky. Buckeroo was themost elegant, refined horse I had ever seen.

In 1983, I heard he was coming to the AMHA National Show heldat the State Fair of Texas on October 15-16. I could hardly wait.Lowell Boone had some serious heart problems in 1983 whichrequired surgery. He made the decision to cut the size of his herdand sold Buckeroo to Ed and Marianne Eberth of Little King Farm.The Eberth’s had built an exceptional group of Miniatures andwere a dominant force in the show ring beginning in 1982.However, in my opinion the breeding program they developed withBuckeroo is their greatest contribution to the Miniature horsebreed and cannot be overestimated. We had several breeders atthat time who had the monetary means to advertise and promotehim, but they didn’t have Marianne Eberth. And right there is thesecret to what happened over the years.

I rushed over to his stall at the 1983 National Show to see him forthe first time and to be quite honest with you I was a little disap-pointed. He was not a happy camper and was standing there withhis ears back, looking genuinely fed up with the entire situation. Inthe 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 amoment and then I heard a man’s voice shouting a greeting to some-one. Those ears went up, that neck arched, and I turned around tosee what caught his attention. I could see Lowell in the distance notyet in Buckeroo’s sight. As he walked up to the stall, I turned back

and saw the absolute love and joy in that lit-tle horse’s face and literally had to go to therestroom in tears.

Buckeroo never lost class, except the timewhen Ed was showing him in a color class(sorry Ed, but you know it is the truth) andwe were all afraid he wouldn’t win.However, the judges were looking for colorand not showmanship, so he won. Nearlyeveryone expected him to win NationalGrand Champion Senior Stallion but afterthe color class we all kidded Ed to please letsomeone else show him.

We had no idea Lowell would even attend the show, much less bephysically able to participate. But he did and when he took him infor National Grand, Buckeroo planted those feet, looked at thejudge as if to say, “Here I Am!” and it was a done deal.

The big difference between IMHR and AMHA at that time wasIMHR showed the horses stretched and we showed them square.Everyone was waiting to see what would happen when Buckeroocame to the AMHA show. I kidded Lowell that he better not stretchhim. Then when we found out Ed would be showing him I gave Edthe 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’twait to see him. After hugging Marianne and Robin they took meto his stall which is right outside the office in the barn and I was sopleased I started crying. Since Buckeroo is so refined anyway andwe have three 30-year-olds on our farm and I know how hard it isto keep weight on them, I thought he would just be skin and bones.He looked WONDERFUL. They keep special food in front of him allthe time and he is doing great. Robin went in his stall, put a halteron him and then brought him out and handed me the lead line. Icannot put into words the emotions flooding through me at thattime. I hugged him; I kissed him, and blubbered all over him.

As we drove back to Louisville, I shared with Dave and Jill my lastconversation with Lowell. It was just a few weeks before hisdeath when he called me and said, “Well, I’m getting ready tocheck out.” I told him that I had a horse show planned for AMHA’s75th Anniversary. I was going to let Vern show Orion, Wade showRebel, Sami show Banana, Sandy show Egyptian King, Mr.Norman show Rowdy, Jackie show Boogerman, Mr. Bond showJocko, and then he interrupted me and said, “You aren’t going tolet Ed show Buckeroo are you.” I replied, “Well, Lowell, both youand Ed showed Buckeroo down here on earth and I kind of want-ed you to let me show him at the big show in the sky.” There wasa pause and then he said, “OK, Barbara, but you have to show himSTRETCHED.