Johnstons Vanilla

FEATURE
A Buckeroo Beginning
As remembered by Robin Eberth
hen the poll of legendary AMHA horses was
taken, two famous mares jumped to the top
of the list. The decision was made to feature
both these great broodmares as each has given the
Miniature industry a great foundation to build on.
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Johnstons Vanilla
You may not be familiar with her name, as it was her son
that made her famous. But Johnstons Vanilla became a legend with the birth of her first foal, Boones Little Buckeroo.
Her story formally began when she was purchased by
Lowell Boone in 1978. She was a refined, leggy, three year
old Palomino mare with a thin blaze down her face. Vanilla
was bred by Lloyd & Zola Johnston of Pittsboro, Indiana.
Lowell bought the mare in foal to Popular Lanes Sampson
from Ralph C. Lawson. Although he liked the mare, he
probably had no idea the foal Vanilla carried would someday
affect the entire course of the Miniature breed.
Johnstons Vanilla pushed the maximum height at 34 inches
and though her conformation is the epitome of what we look
52 Miniature Horse World
April/May 2007
Little Kings Buckeroo Vanilla Kiss
is the image of her granddam,
Johnstons Vanilla.
Komokos Teenie Jeanie photo
taken as a Three Year Old
Great Things
Come in “Teenie”
Packages
for in a broodmare today, at that
time her conformation was not the
general look of a Miniature Horse.
She passed on her refinement and
leggy looks to her offspring thru her
sire’s pedigree. Johnstons Vanilla’s
sire was Gold Melody Boy, who was
known for his balance, proportion
and great movement.
When Boones Little Buckeroo was
born Lowell knew he literally had a
“gold mine”.
Although Vanilla continued to produce other foals, there were no full
siblings to Buckeroo. She produced
11 foals and over 311 grand get.
Twenty of those offspring have been
titled AMHA National or Reserve
National Champions.
As Vanilla aged, she began to have
some health issues. After the birth of
one of her last foals she foundered
severely and eventually became
blind. Lowell gave her to John
Eberth, of Arion Management, as he
could better care for her special
needs at his farm in Kentucky. John
and Melinda gave Vanilla the run of
their farm. She spent her last years
roaming freely, enjoying the attention she deserved as being one of
AMHA’s most famous broodmares.
She was put to rest at the Little King
Farm Memorial.
Many of the Johnstons Vanilla
daughters and granddaughters are
still producing at Little King Farm
and other breeding programs today.
In 2006, one such double bred
Buckeroo filly was born, who is identical to Vanilla in coloring and conformation. She is aptly named Little
Kings Buckeroo Vanilla Kiss after her
famous granddam.
omokos Teenie Jeanie was
another of the top picks in
our Legendary Mare category. She was bred by Joel & Alma
Bridges of Komoko Ranch. A small
mare in stature, she measured 28 ½
inches at maturity, a solid bay with no
markings. In 1984, Teenie Jeanie had
already produced three foals for the
Bridges prior to winning her
National title. Amazingly at age 10
when most broodmares have finished
their show careers, Teenie Jeanie was
named National Grand Champion
Aged Mare. Quite an accomplishment as most mares at that would
have “lost their figure” after having
several foals! Her produce record
also speaks for itself as she consistently produced small, refined and correct show offspring year after year.
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Her first foal was Komokos Little King
Supreme who was purchased by Ed &
Marianne Eberth in 1984. The
Eberth’s liked King Supreme so well
they purchased both Komokos Teenie
Jeanie and her son- Komokos Bay
Rum. He was named Reserve National
Grand Champion in 1984- the same
year Teenie Jeanie won her title.
Jeanie was bred to Boones Little
Buckeroo in 1989 and produced
Little Kings Buck Echo who was a
Reserve National Grand Champion
Junior Stallion, a National Grand
Champion Senior Stallion and a
National Champion Producer.
Perhaps Teenie Jeanie’s crowning
achievement took place in 1992 when
her offspring won Produce of Dam at
the National show. They repeated the
win again in 1993 and took Reserve in
1994. Those same years both her get,
Buck Echo and Dejavu, won the Get
of Sire class with Boones Little
Buckeroo as the listed sire.
To say Teenie Jeanie was a prolific
producer is quite an understatement.
She consistently out-produced herself as well as complimented all the
great stallions she was bred to.
Teenie Jeanie produced 9 foals 4 of
which were National Grand or
Reserve Grand Champions. There
are 425 Teenie Jeanie grandget and
10 of them have been titled National
or Reserve National Champions.
In 2005 Komokos Teenie Jeanie
passed away at age 29 and was buried
in the Little King Memorial next to
her son, Komokos Little King
Supreme and several other famous
horses of the industry.
Teenie Jeanie was bred again to
Buckeroo in 1991 and produced her
first filly, Little Kings Buckeroo Dejavu.
Dejavu was Reserve National Grand
Champion Junior Mare and achieved
several Top Ten placings as well as
being a Top Ten producer herself.
Komokos Teenie Jeanie in 1984
in foal with Little Kings Bay Boss
April/May 2007
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