PEDIGREE POWER – How We Got Here
by Sally Rucker
Presented in February 2007 at the ILR Lamaribbean Conference
This Conference is primarily
focusing on the future of the “llama industry.”
My job is to give a brief overview of the past and to demonstrate the
value of knowing the history and pedigrees of our industry, especially when
making breeding decisions and making long-range industry plans. Our industry has made incredible progress with
selective breeding over our very short time breeding, about 30 years and
approximately 10 generations at the outside.
As a livestock industry we are in our infancy, but according to many
breeders both here and in
Slide 1. This is a picture of my first llama, Stage Stop Grisabella (although I was not the breeder we were allowed to use our herd identifiers on animals we bought at that time. This is no longer permitted). I bought Grisabella from Eva Domati in 1987. I started working with llamas in 1985 with Charlie Lockhart and Eva Domati as mentors. In retrospect, Grisabella exhibits some guanaco traits often found in animals found in animal sideshows, zoos and circus stock at the time. Guanacos and llamas were often housed together in those situations. I bred her up through the years and produced some very respectable cria from her offspring.
Slide 2. Stage Stop Will O The Wisp. This is a Gisabella granddaughter. Two generations made quite a difference.
We are beginning to see distinct types/breeds/divisions/focus groups, etc. emerging. Some divisions are developing based on fiber.
Slide 3. Classic: These are animals with distinct
guard hair and short staple length. FFF Gypsy.Com owned by
Debbie Shellabarger
Slide 4. Silkies: These animals have a longer staple
length and reduced number of crimps per inch.
They also exhibit higher luster than traditional woolies. Picture of Nisha Carlos Mendoza’s ALSA National
Grand Champion and Snow Me Owned by Lew and Jennifer McGinnis
Slide 5. Traditional llamas: This fiber has a large number of crimps per inch and is often prized by knitters. TLC - The Traditional Llama Coalition
Slide 6 Suris:
The Suri Llama Association This fiber has no or a minimal number of
crimps per inch (very straight fiber) but it can exhibit a spiraling which is
superimposed on the lock structure.
Other divisions that are developing relate to size. The miniature llama breeders define minis as being less than 38 inches at the withers. Wes Holmquist likes to describe superior packing stock as being over 45” at the withers.
In the future there may be breeders who differentiate by color patterns such as appaloosa, paint, or tuxedo.
You can use pedigree research to aid in finding suitable llamas to use in your breeding program, which phenotypically exhibit traits you are seeking. You can see if they are consistent producers of those traits by examining their offspring and ancestors. It is important that we don’t bottle neck our animals genetically and that we take advantage of foundation animals that may have traits, which some of the trendier animals possess and which can be bred advantageously with the newer animals.
Personalities as well as llamas are so important to our history that trying to organize all of the threads into a coherent picture was daunting. It is kind of like herding cats. I chose to go loosely chronologically, but please allow me to digress to make a point or follow llama-type development.
Llamas have existed in the
Slide 7. Here is a picture of the Hearst Herd at his San Simeon Estate.
He had two llamas in 1928 and by 1931
he was up to 12. In the 30s an outbreak of FMD in
Slide 8. These pictures of the Hearst herd were taken in 1942 by the local historical society.
Slide 9. Roland Lindeman
added to his herd by buying the best zoo stock he could find. He selected for banana ears, good legs and
fine fiber. He often closely bred his
herd, but with a breeder’s eye for quality.
Kay Patterson called him the “king of llamas.” He had two farms, one in
The next few slides will show some of the foundation animals the Pattersons bought from Catskill.
Slide 10. Fluffy. She was a very heavy llama (500 lbs.) and is
the Dam to Dr. Doolittle. Her offspring
became the Patterson’s famous fluffy line:
Fluffy II,
Slide 11. Dr. Doolittle. He was born on the Patterson Ranch in 1975. He weighed 500 lbs. and was never really halter broken. He was known to be a bit of a handful. He was really a dilute appaloosa with gray spots visible when shorn, which was done only once to my knowledge. His offspring were among the most prized in the late 70s and early 80s and he was the catalyst for the “wooly llama” phenomenon in the industry.
Slide 12. Here is a photograph of the Patterson herd prior
to 1975 and the addition of wooly llamas.
Note that most of them look like Classic types. They began buying llamas in the late 50s.
I sought out and owned three Doolittle daughters and two grandsons who were very significant producers in my herd. I’m going to show slides of foundation animals as they come up, so that you can see some of the animals that may show up in your pedigrees. If you need copies I will be glad to email them to you. Niki Kuklenski also collects numerous photographs of foundation animals. The following were my Doolittle daughters:
Slide 13. Marakay, an Estee Lauder daughter. I used her son Kodiak for a stud for years.
Slide 14. Estee Lauder, Marakay’s dam was another Catskill foundation female.
Slide 15. Hast’s Snow Bird out of Snow White was
another Doolittle daughter in my herd.
Slide 16. Princess Caroline out of Grace Kelly of M and
M was another Doolittle daughter I owned.
Slide 17. Garp was Princess
Caroline’s son by a Poncho Via son, Sun Valley Geronimo. He was one of my first
and favorite studs.
Some of Dr. Doolittle’s other significant offspring include the following industry foundation animals: Villa D’Este, Eclipse (I will show pictures later), Professor, Leon, Kuhura Uya Auki (Howard Kerstetter’s), Inca Gold, Moonstone, Mr. McGoo (Kathy McKinney), Verbatim (Jorgensen), Prince Ranier, Barnett Jack Daniels and
Slide 18. Snow Queen II out of Snow White,
Slide 19. MGF Criss Cross was a significant herdsire
for Jerry Mc Roberts out of Christy Love,
Slide 20. Debonair,
Slide 21. Doofus,
Slide 22. Mabel.
Etc. etc. You get the point and the importance of Doolittle to fiber development in the industry. He sired 157 females, 145 males, 8 geldings.
Slide 23. Another important stud from Catskill was
Errol Flynn. He was medium height. He
was a significant influence on Richard Freeman’s herd as well. Pattersons leased him to the Freeman’s in
1987 and sold him to them in 1989.
Significant offspring from Errol Flynn include: Karlsbad, Grits, Maestro, Premium, Fluffy Again, LW Miss Pansy, Chocolate Chip.
Slide 24. Essex, an Errol Flynn son,
Slide 25. Equinox (note the S curve of the necks in Errol Flynn offspring),
Slide 26. Booker T (Heather Bamford lists him as one of
the most significant fiber lock structure-producing studs ever.),
Slide 27.
Slide 28. Jet Fuel,
Slide 29. Chicken Feathers (who sired 143 females, 111 males and 10 geldings).
Slide 30. The final Catskill stud of note was Chief
Sitting Bull. He tore his ear in a male
fight, but the damage was only cosmetic in nature. He was medium in height with very heavy bone.
Was born in 1975 and died in 1996 from jaw cancer. He sired 162 females, 131 males, and 69
geldings.
Slide 31. He arrived in utero
to Senta Berger.
Senta Berger was given to Sharon Herriges Smith of Cameo Llamas, who later became partners
with Iris Christ and sold Heather Bamford her first llamas. She took care of compromised crias for many
people in
Significant offspring from Sitting Bull include Lopez (one of the top money making llamas of all time), Loma Linda, Polachinka, Preserves, Loverly, Graham Cracker Smacker, Mimi, Emrich’s Alpha, Sampson, Tonkatsu, Beula Williams, The Poet, Doc Holiday, Winchester,
Slide 32. Slivovitz (the father of Irisidess - owned by Iris Christ),
Slide 33.
Slide 34. Wheel of Fortune,
Slide 35. Huckleberry Finn (Beulah William’s great stud), and
Slide 36. Pavarotti, who had a great disposition which was highly heritable.
The Pattersons
selected their early herd based on a certain look. They avoided the guanaco crosses often found
at exotic sales and zoos. They traveled
extensively looking for animals to buy, including a trip to
They bought many animals form
Harold Via in
His number one stud was:
Slide 37. Harold.
Harold for Otter Creek Llamas and had
them breed him to many of their females for some
fantastic results. He was a total outcross.
Slide 38. Harold Via also owned Via’s
Romeo whose daughters crossed with Lopez made some of the top crosses in the
industry.
Slide 39. In 1974 Patterson’s purchased Poncho Via and 9 females from Harold Via.
He was their first major herdsire who was an outcross to the
Catskill stock. He was shown at the
first national show for llamas – The Spring Arabian Horse Show in
Poncho Via’s offspring
include: Annabel Lee, Ilka Legend,
Ingala,
Slide 40. Buffy PL,
Slide 41. Sun Valley Geronimo (one of my first
herdsires and the father of Garp pictured earlier),
Slide 42. Linda Little Trees,
Slide 43. Annabel Lee, and
Slide 45. Zorro, who was his most famous son and
another producer of fabulous, high luster, locked fiber.
Zorro offspring of note are: Angel Food, Cyclone, Hiebert Margot, Dynaflo, LW Lorraine, Silver Chime, Sue City Sioux plus the following.
Slide 46. A very visible syndicate bought Catman, a
Zorro son, for 175,000 at the first Celebrity Sale. Steve Rolfing bred him.
Slide 47. and Panache.
Slide 49. Another Errol Flynn Son with very fine, single coat, locked fiber was Pagliachi.
Pagliachi was the sire of:
Slide 50. Hula Star out of Hula Hoop, the dam of Five Starr and Imastarr,
Slide 51. Hula Hoop,
Slide 52. Crown Jewel, who
was a Pagliachi son.
Slide 53. This is Bauernheim’s Chickenheart out of Chicken Feathers.
Slide 54. Chicken Feathers was the dam of Chickenheart.
Another source for llamas in the
early days was Jerry Berman who also owned and sold birds on the west coast and
east coast. He owned the dams of some
very famous Sitting Bull offspring and sold llamas to the Pattersons
and
Slide 55. One of the most famous Berman females
was Fortune Cookie, the dam of Fortunato.
Slide 56. Fortunato was one
of Sitting Bull’s most famous sons. He
always lends solid conformation when he is in the pedigree.
Slide 57. Jerry Berman sold Lolita Gabor to the Pattersons. She was Lopez’s dam.
Slide 58. Lopez was Sitting Bull’s most famous
son. Was bred by the Pattersons and sold
to
By 1975 Pattersons had the largest llama herd in
Slide 59. Dick wrote an article for Sports Illustrated
entitled “What a Llovely Beast Is A
Llama.”
It was one of the most influential sale’s tools in the 70s. Dick was quoted as saying, “Out of all the 4,000 species of mammals in the entire world, which animal do you think gives you the greatest return on your investment? The answer of course is white mice for research. The second is the rhesus monkey, also for research. And the third is the llama. But who wants to raise white mice? The rhesus monkey is a rough, dirty animal. But llamas, they are different. They’re clean and they’re odor free. They’re lovable. Everybody who sees them automatically loves them.” What a sale’s pitch.
He also wrote several articles in Sunset Magazine.
In 1975 Beula Williams bought her first llamas. Some of her most famous llamas were: Huckleberry Finn - already pictured, Mabel, the Doolittle daughter - already pictured,
Slide 60. Rafinne (Remedios X Federico),
Slide 61. Kasmir (Katia X Harold),
Slide 62. Escapade (a Pagliachi son),
Slide 63. Oko Castizo, a Bolivian
import and arguably their most
significant herd sire.
Sally and Paul Taylor bought their first llamas from Jerry Berman in 1975. They became founders of the first registry and the ILA (International Llama Association).
Slide 64. Fiduciary was their most influential herd sire and holds many records to this day. He holds the record for most amount of money earned from the sale of crias and top selling female cria. He has the most registered offspring of any study in the Registry.
Slide 65. Fiduciary cria are very consistent - a 1988 ad:
Slide 66. Mirabelle, a Fiduciary daughter brought $170,000 at
Celebrity.
Slide 67. CEO was another famous Fiduciary offspring.
Slide 68. Tiffany was Fiduciary’s dam and produced 4
females, 1 male, and 1 gelding. All were
great animals.
Pattersons were selling llamas for $1500 a pair with a waiting list. Zoos were charging $200 to $600, but would rarely sell to private individuals.
In 1977 Stephen Biggs, Eric Hoffman, Fred Bauer, Wally White, Erma Hast, Stan Ebel and Jamie Sharp bought llamas.
Stephen Biggs, one of the first presidents of ILA had:
Slide 69. Hondo Llama, who he later sold to the Eriksons.
Stephen was interested in packing and had the
second professional packing business after Mamas Llamas owned by the Del Portos. He hooked Bobra Goldsmith
on llamas. She would go to visit her father’s ranch in
Bobra went to an exotic dealer in
Slide 70. Handsome. One of the
llamas from the first three became her main herd sire and the basis of her logo
Stan Ebel was one of the first to breed, pack and lease llamas for a living. He now sells products made from llama wool as a sideline.
Slide 71. Balboa, Stan Ebel’s
stud, has sired some of the best packers and halter animals in the
Slide 72. Wally
White’s most famous llama was Picasso and he was one of the first finished
halter and performance champions. He was
out of
Commander Deacon read about llamas in Sports Illustrated and was a fitness enthusiast. He brought home ten pairs of llamas from Pattersons. Paydirt, Dagwood Bumstead, and Winston Churchill, and
Slide 73. Paydirt Orion Dagwood were among them.
Commander Deacon hired Dan Shoenthal who did copious amounts of research on nutrition and llama care. Dan was a true devotee to llamas. He also did research on normal blood levels for llamas. He brought up the first ideas about breeds and llama types based on wool. He described the five types as follows and some people have adopted those terms:
Slide 74. Ccara is a work breed with a two-coated fleece, short staple length, and minimal wool below the knees. They have 15% or more guard hair. A good example is Bask, who has obvious guard hair. Today most classics would fall in this category.
Slide 75. Curacas
have 3-10% guard hair, shedding neck wool, slight wavy crimp. No wool below knees. A good example is
Commander Cody, one of my first herd sires out of one of Sally Taylor's
favorite dams, Huari. He is a maternal ½
brother to Mary Beth Hartsough McCormick’s Gandy Dancer.
Slide 76. Gandy
Dancer is an example of a Tapada. This was
the most popular “new” breed in the early days of breeding woolies. They have 1% or less guard hair and lots of
face and leg wool. Brushing will give
the wool an almost straight look, but under a microscope the wave is very
apparent. Pantaloons became a popular
term to describe the leg wool of this type llama.
Slide 77. Federico (Lopez son) was another Tapada who was bred by
Slide 78. Professor (Doolittle son) is another Tapada. He was sold to Mark Brant by Park Duffe.
Slide 79. Barnett’s Jack Daniels (Doolittle Son) is another Tapada.
Slide 80. John L.
Lewis, another Tapada, is one of Heather Bamford’s favorite studs of all time. She notes the elegant
S shaped neck to back curve, which he threw consistently. He is a Doolittle
son.
Slide 81. Lanudas have 1% guard hair, with very curly wool. Tight curls on the face and legs identify this
type. The curl of the wool gives the final product lots of body and is prized
by spinners. Example: Booker T.
Slide 82. Mt Shasta, Stephen Biggs stud (The Professor X Spot), is a Lanuda.
Slide 83. The last
type defined by Shoental is the Lanuta
which has less than 1% guard hair and it’s fleece is
very straight with no curl. It is a suri type, silky to the touch, with an exposed
backbone. We often call these silky
today. Pagliachi and some of his
offspring exhibit this type. Example: Escondida.
Dan Shoenthal did not really come out with this until1987, but it seems useful to discuss it while he is on our radar. Julio Sumar disagrees with this concept of wool-type breeds and feels that there are only two types/breeds of llamas: ccara and the woolies. He believes that by brushing we have destroyed the lock structures and that many of the divisions are artificial and not true breeds. Now that we are differentiating llamas by fiber type it seems that Shoenthal’s divisions may be useful. This can be food for discussion and thought in the later panels.
When woolies became the economic driving force in the industry those who valued ccara type animals and who were interested in pack animals veered off from the “industry.” They tended to have more measurable functions and attributes that they valued more than wool: stamina (ability to carry heavy loads over time), tractable disposition, endurance, strength and the ability to move out.
I asked Jim Krowka, who is heading the ILR classic focus group, for the names of some animals that he considered influential, foundation classic llamas. Many of these came from zoo stock rather than Catskill/Patterson stock. Here are many of the ones he suggested:
Slide 84. Orly (unk X Gladys), who was the sire of Cuzco SL, Flopsy PL, Moonbeam PL, Carousels Rip Van Winkle, La Paz, Kahura Uyu Pisco, Zuni, Hopi,
Slide 85. Bask (unk X unk), who was owned by Jo Goodnight and was the father of
Snow Breeze (Janette Priebe’s main herd sire),
Slide
86. Teddy (unk x unk), who was the sire
of Franklin (Fiduciary’s sire), T. J. and Silver Magic and was owned by Paul
Taylor,
Slide 87. Southwest Sam (unk
X unk), owned by Margaret Smith of
Slide 88. Hyder Llamas Apple Jack, one of best performance/halter llamas ever. John Mallon and Richard Patterson owned his sire Mark Spitz (I don’t have a picture). His dam is Azalia and he is a paternal ½ brother to Doc Holiday and Cinnebar - owned by Lynn and Judy Hyder (now Moser).
Slide 89. There is
also Rocky Mountain Spook (unk X unk) owned by Bobra
Smith - 18 females, 26 males,
Slide 90. FFH Senor
Taco (unk X unk) 12 females, 13 males, owned by Dennis Fender of Fender’s Fish
and Llama Farm in
Slide 91. Clancy, who
won the 17-mile Llamathon in
Slide 92. Rocky Mountain Jester (Unk
x Rocky Mtn Dulcinea of
significant offspring include: Rocky Mountain Scout, Rocky
Mountain Shimmer, Rocky Mountain Ninja.
Slide 93. Pepsodent STF
(Bandit X Ultrabrite) owned by Dick Patterson and Gail Kachlich.
Slide 94. Buckeye’s Bubba Smith (unk x unk), who was owned by Eric Nelson from PA.
Slide 95. Rustee (Eagle X Bridger Vista’s Mary), who was
owned by Craig De Moss Meadow Ranch,
Slide 96. Spring Creek Ebenezer (unk x unk) owned by Dave Van Bossuyt
Slide 97. Kahura Uyu Tabernash who Howard Kerstetter sold to Ron Baird.
Important long time classic breeders that I’m aware of are: SW Llama (Margaret Smith), Goodnights, John Mallon, Bobra Goldsmith, Bill Redwood, Stan Ebel, Mary Summers, Reid Langerman, Charlie Hackbarth, Peter Nichols, Ron and Lougene Baird, Roger Miller, Wes Holmquist and Jim Krowka.
At
the same time packers were getting serious about their short wooled llamas some
new breeders were getting serious about breeding for fiber quality. In 1979
Kathy McKinny joined the ranks. Some of her most famous llamas are:
Andromeda, Bobkat’s Heaven Sent, Columbus, Sabado,
Slide 98. Mandy, and
Slide 99. Mr. McGoo (a Doolittle Son).
Sharps bought
llamas after reading an article in the
When Eclipse showed up at the second Lana conference he wowed every body and that is when Jamie and some others got serious about breeding animals with fabulous fiber.
Slide 100. Eclipse. He had it all, structure, size, flash and “to die for”
fiber. His sire was Doolittle and his
dam was the E-line
female, Elka.
Slide 101. Elka. Note the stretch of her frame and the drape of her fiber. She is a classy, well-built female who produced some of the best animals in our industry. Animals with her influence are called E-line.
Her
offspring include: Jonathan Winters,
Salvadore, Suzanne Summers, Eloise,
Ellery Queen, Elta, Equity, Elkie, Elixer,
Slide 102. Equator,
Slide 103. Equanox and
Slide 104. Estokada.
The bar had been raised. Other serious fiber breeders at that time
were: Tom and Liz Merino, Heather Bamford and Neil Josslyn, Maggie and Ron
Schuler, Beula and Jim Williams,
Later in the 80s you can add Hughes, Huff, Moss, Christ and McMillan to that list, etc etc. Speaking of the 80s:
In 1980, the first llama owner’s convention was held. The registration fee was $5 and 150 people attended. It was co-sponsored by Averill Hyder and Cheryl and Bob Dal Porto. The Dal Porto’s were publishing the first newsletter/magazine, “The 3 L Llama.” They owned Mamas Llamas. The primary purpose of the conference was to begin record keeping. The first llama club was also started and it was called the “American Llama Club, Inc.” By 1985, 6 years later, there were two competing registries.
Jerry Mc Roberts began raising exotics in 1972 and he started in llamas in 1980. I asked him who his all time favorite studs over the years were. He said:
Slide 105. Doofus (already pictured), Peter Ustinov (already pictured), Macho’s Ace, Range Rover, Richochet, Argentine Don Zunca, Argentine Paco and of course all of his new ones. I guess it’s hard to choose when you have had so many great males.
Macho’s Ace Range Rover Richochet Don Zunca Paco
Jerry’s first animals came from the Albuquerque Zoo and included Fuzzy Face and Lashes. Between 1982 and ‘84 he purchased 50 pairs from Pattersons. He went to the Denver Stock Show and was stalled next to Fred Hartman’s cattle. His llamas were getting ten times the traffic and that got Fred’s attention. Fred was so intrigued that he bought a llama for his grandchild. For a while he bought only white llamas, but then he decided to diversify and promote llamas and the rest is history.
In 1981 Dick and Kay Patterson founded ILA. Two hundred people attended the first ILA conference. At that time the Patterson brochure pretty much set the prices for llamas. They were approximately $4000 for a pair of weanlings and $5000 for a pair of adults.
Slide 106. Andy wrote
the first user-friendly book about llamas, “Speechless Brothers.”
Llama World as the first ILA journal.
Eleven years later the ILA’s bibliography
would include 100 titles.
In
1981, Bobra Goldsmith, Erma Hast and Wally White
founded the Rocky Mountain Llama Association (RMLA). 3L llama featured the first profile of a
Ranch, Steve and
Slide107. Federico was born and was named after
an Italian thoroughbred breeder. His dam Frederika
died prematurely so there won’t be any more like him.
She had great height, balance, a narrow chest and long legs.
He was the nation’s first suri-type llama according to Andy.
It was fortuitous, because in most cases it takes 17 years and
6 generations to generate that look (according to
In 1983, Heather Bamford joined the llama community, buying from Sharon Herriges of Cameo llamas. Her favorite fiber producing foundation animals are:
Slide 108. Encore, an Eclipse son. She went to find an Eclipse son after seeing
Awesome.
Slide 109. Awesome. Doris and Ben Huff’s Eclipse look-alike son
Heather’s favorite female was an Oliver Twist daughter named Courtney.
Slide 110. Narcissus was a Courtney son and he was my
favorite male of all time. He just died peacefully
right before the cruise. A light went out at Stage Stop with his passing. He was the first llama certified by the Delta
Society as a pet Therapy animal.
He doesn’t look bad for 15 years
old when this picture was taken.
Heather said her mentor for fiber was Ken Safley. She particularly liked John L. Lewis and Booker T. She began advertising her suri llama program well before importation. Mark Brant also joined the llama ranks in 1983. By 1996 he had the 3rd largest herd in the country.
The 1981 Llama
Conference was held in
Terry Price tried to buy llamas at that time and sent out 100 letters. The responses basically told him that no one was selling females. It was a seller’s market for sure.
In 1984 3L Llama
ran the 1st color cover and three wooly Patterson
llamas were on the back cover.
Wool was “in.” Irv and Bea Kesling imported the first Chileans without
much fanfare. Then a few months later
Camelids of Delaware (Jurgen Schults, married to
Roland Lindeman’s daughter Kathy, and Tom Hunt made the second importation. There
was much brouhaha in the llama community. There were concerns about a dilution
of the market and possible FMD (that was more of the excuse people were using
to try and stop importation).
Slide 111. Tomollas Justina (Jubiloso’s dam and a Grand Dam to King Crimson),
Slide 112. Remedios,
and Snap Dragon , Viva Camacho’s dam. According to Tom Merino, Snap Dragon and
Ivory Pond’s
Slide 113. Dick and Kay chose Macho Camacho
from this importation to add to their herd.
Slide 114. Ben Huff chose Conception, a reverse appaloosa.
Kathy
Hughes got her Chileans, Don Juan Quixote, Constance, Sr. Wenses, etc. Krons got LeRoy Brown,
Slide 115. Later in 1984
Inca Gold for $35,000 two times the highest price
ever paid for a male (Dr. Doolittle and Inca Legend).
Slide 116. Dick Patterson bought Jackpot for $35,000.
Tom and Liz Marenao Bought from Larry Richards,
Slide 117. Daphne and 4 other females.
Tom
also bought some animals from Leon Leopard in
Slide 118.
Merino’s first herd sire was one of the
first North American suris, Quick Silver.
Total Outcross (parents unknown).
Slide 119. Another one of Tom Merino’s herd sires was Aladdin. He was very narrow and his wool parted in the middle. He was later sold to Jerry McRoberts.
In 1985, ILR was born from two
competing registries and Patterson’s herd book being combined. 3L Llama magazine became Llamas
Magazine. Hartman had his sale in
Grant’s Pass,
In May and June of 1985 Tom Hunt
and Jurgen Schults had a very dangerous trip with their importation from
In
1986 Ben and Doris Huff, Buela Williams, and Jim Faik had the first industry
production sale. It was called the Huff-Williams
Sale of Excellence -
600 people attended from 19 states. Twenty-one buyers paid $660,000 and the
average price was $20,206. Dave Rosenaur
spent $190,000 on five animals. Dave
Rosenaur bought Sachmo II, Miss Lilly, Honeybee, and Sterling Silver.
Slide 120. Pannache went to Nancy and Cutler Umbach.
Slide 121. Mikado
went to Gene and Mary Lou Patterson.
Slide 122. Miss Lilly went to Dave Rosenaur.
Slide 123. Wisteria went to Tom and Liz Marino. Jamie Sharp told me she was one of the
females who made her want to breed llamas.
Slide 124. Honeybee went to Dave Rosenaur.
LW Pansy was bought by Iris Christ, Blush was bought by Sheron Herriges, Chicken Heart was bought by Diane Gibson and Eight By Ten Was bought by Jerry McRoberts.
In 1986 The Taylors
began breeding Fiduciary. I got into llamas in 1986 along with Linda Corruthers
and Randy Cipriano.
The first ALSA halter class guidelines were written in 1986 by
The first Hartman’s Futurity was in 1987 and included the first Herd Dispersal. The Ekerson Dispersal. Another tradition was born, they were back in the llama business in no time flat. The first issue of Llama Life II came out in 1987 and Fred Hartman had his first competition in the Bonita Manion Spring Classic Sale in LA.
Slide 125. Tomollas Dusty Rose,
Slide 126. Kismet,
Slide 127. Tomollas Justina, and
Slide 128. Tomollas Periwinkle (Pavaroti’s
dam),
In
1987 the Schultz/Hunt Bolivians were released from quarantine and were sold on
Slide 129. LW Willie K
Slide 130. LW Kissam
Slide 131. At the Aksarben sale a Lopez son, Loper, sold for $150,000. He was owned and sold by Herb Vogel.
Slide 132. The Ben Huff Dispersal was the must attend event of the year and honored one of the most revered characters in the llama industry. Snapdragon sold for 60,000.
In the Fall
of 1989 was the first Celebrity Sale put on by Tom Simmons and Tim Vincent. Catman sold for $175,000 and Mirabelle, a Fiduciary
daughter sold for $170,000 making the
Hartmans Fall Sale was the best ever. He sold 66 Chileans and grossed $4,306,125.
He was on a definite roll:
1983 $240,000 1987 $2,156,750
1984 $490,000 1988 $3.500,000
1985 $840,000 1889 $5,500,000
1986 $1,501,000
It was estimated by Jack Thomas that there were 32,000
llamas in the
Slide 133 1990 Lopez Star sold at the Celebrity for $100,000 and she was the last $100,000 llama of that era.
Advertising
in 1988 and for several years thereafter began to emphasize country of origin
as a strong selling point.
Slide 134. Hughes’ ad in 1988 for their Chilean herd
Slide 135. Martin’s 1988 Bolivian herd sire ad.
The Spring Hartman’s
Dick Wickum started the Firecracker
Sale in
People began shearing their llama. In 1989, there were three
Spring Sales: Hartmans, Celebrity, and
the Bluegrass Classic in
Slide 136. Viva Camacho. He is a Macho Camacho son out of Snapdragon.
The Hartman Sale left Aksarben for
Slide 137. The Bohrt’s
imported more Bolivians and Fred Hartman sold them in December. Chavito was the Top selling male. He was bought by
Oak Hill, the Freeman’s ranch in
In 1992 Roger Wellborn and Mitch Silver had 6 low budget auctions, The Gold RushSales, in different regions of the country.
Celebrity tried something new and
had a very glamorous sale in a Casino in
In 1989,
Andy and the Bohrt’s decided to import a new type. They were tall, fine wooled, suri types with the finest fleeces ever imported. Only 7% of their fiber was over 30 microns.
People began to concentrate on fiber
and began micron measuring in earnest in the
In1993, Kay Patterson did an
importation of Chilean llamas through
In
1995,
Slide 138. Argentine Kobra
Slide 139. Argentine
They defined the Argentine type as having large
feet covered with bushy fiber, robust bodies,
large bone, dense fiber output and useable
fiber all over the body.
In 1995, the Peruvian importation was
advertised with “Catch theWave.” It was the beginning of an acceleration of a trend
that was slowly being bred for by long time fiber breeders, the Suri Revolution.
Slide 140. Kantu brought in
from
Slide 141. Maximo
Slide 142. Secret Weapon
Slide 143. In 1999, the Miniature Llama Association was
founded. Many people had been developing
the minis for years including Pat Behrens, Bud Page, and Jamie Sharp.
I think I have roughly shown how all of the current ingredients in the llama industry came to be. I would like to take a moment to show how this relates to our current animals and tracking down the right ingredients for your breeding program. You need salt, garlic, meat, carrots, peas, a little wine, etc. to make your stew perfection!
Slide 144. SRLL Make Your Mark Class 1 Futurity
Celebrity Winner in the Silky
Division 2006.
Slide 145. ILR information available on the Website.
Slide 146 ILR cont.
Slide 147 ILR cont.
Let’s take a look at this animal. A true no borders / no boundaries girl as Kay Patterson likes to say.
Slide 148. She has a full Chilean father, LW Pioneer,
who exhibits some of the Argentine characteristics also found in Tomuco Project
animals. He has abundant wool all the way down to the feet and dense fiber.
Slide 149. Amaretto De Temuco. He is known for throwing beautiful dilute cria. So he carries the dilute gene, which produces grays, peaches and taupes.
Slide 150. Her Paternal Grand Dam is an off the boat
Full Chilean named Chilean Lady Pamela.
Looking at this female, the heavy bone exhibited by Make Your Mark is no
surprise.
Another interesting thing to do would be to look at all of her sire’s crias and determine the similarities between Make Your Mark and her paternal ½ siblings. That way you could determine what characteristics she is inheriting from her sire. Now let’s turn to her dam’s lineage, which goes back five generations that we have recorded. There is lots of room for research here.
Slide 151. Her dam is FS Muna’s
Muffy. She has nice ears, definite lock structure,
heavy bone, and appears to have high luster fiber and good size. She is phenotypically pleasing and is very substantial.
Slide 152. Her maternal grandsire or dam’s father is
Menominee. He has very heavy wool
coverage with defined lock structure. He
is inheriting these characteristics from his sire.
Slide 153. Chilean Leroy Brown, who is
known for throwing average size, well-conformed, very silky fibered animals. He throws a suri type lock structure on a
better than average basis. The other
times he throws very silky fiber
Slide 154. Marakay. You saw
her earlier as one of the Doolittle daughters I selected for my herd. This is
Menominee’s dam and the Maternal Great Grand Dam. She is a typical fantastic
Doolittle daughter that has proven herself through the years by producing three
top flight studs with different males.
Slide 155. GLL Macho’s Marakesh. Marakay bred to Macho Camacho produced Hank Kaufman’s multi grand champion stud Marakesh.
Slide 156. Kodiak. Bred to Bandolero. Marakay produced
GLL Kodiak, a herd sire at Stage Stop Llamas until his death.
Slide 157. Dr. Doolittle, Marakay’s sire, was a foundation animal of epic proportions.
Slide 158. Her dam, Estee Lauder, was also a very important foundation female.
Slide 159. Muna Kay is the maternal grand dam of Make your Mark. She is a North American female whose ancestors have not been imported in recent times, since the late 70s. She looks like a very correct, medium-wooled girl with dilute brown coloration. One thing to note is that she is young in this picture and Lopez grand kids often wool out as they get older so she might have much more abundant fiber now.
Slide 160. Chambe is Muna Kay’s sire. This is an example of why you might want to go update your pictures on the ILR website. It looks like this male has just finished going to the bathroom so we cannot evaluate his conformation. He has heavy bone and dense body fiber of medium staple length. This may account for her dam being medium wooled. He appears to be tall, but it would be nice if people would begin to record wither heights so that we can determine that.
Slide 161. Chambe’s sire is Lopez who has sired some of the most excellent studs in our industry. Some characteristics often passed down through the Lopez line are good dispositions, and heavy bone and good size.
Slide 162. Chief Sitting Bull. Lopez’s sire had flashy paint coloration,
heavy bone, and very dense highly crimped fiber He was a foundation sire to our
industry.
Slide 163. Sitting Bull’s dam Senta Berger had the
stretch, large size and presence that is so sought after and hard to define.
Slide 164. Lolita Gabor, Lopez’s dam. It is hard to tell from this picture, but she appears to have a very square frame, nice ears and good wool coverage. Her paint markings make her flashier than many of the females from that time.
Slide 165. Now back to Make your
Mark’s Maternal Grandsire Chambe. His
dam, Lima RO06, is a Teddy Daughter and Teddy is Fiduciary’s grandfather and
also predominant in Crazy Mountain Man and Belladonna’s pedigrees. Once again, this a
bad picture, but she has a flat back, nice ears and substance.
Slide 166. The presence of Teddy in her pedigree should help add some of his traits to the mix. He tended to contribute a square frame and very correct structure as well as presence.
Slide 167. Leah GR03 is Make Your Mark’s maternal great grandmother and her bloodlines are unknown to me. They will be interesting to research. She is a lovely, well-conformed girl and her unknown pedigree may have added just the spice to make this soup a show winner!
Please forgive me for any important events I left out and other truly remarkable foundation animals that I did not have time to mention. I did not include Top Flight one of the top money-producing llamas of all times and he is one of the animals I like to find in my pedigrees. It just did not come up. If my facts are off, know that none of us is getting any younger and I am relying on anecdotes, my memory and all of the research I could find in the allotted time.
Thanks to