A Word about Accoyo Alpacas!

Lindy and Paul with Don Julio Barreda at the Accoyo Ranch, November 2000

Accoyo... schmoyo... that's what some say and what I USED to say... until I visited THE Accoyo Ranch in Macusani, Peru and met Don Julio Barreda in the flesh, saw hundreds of his incredible alpacas, and began to raise huacaya alpacas of Accoyo descent. Hopefully I'll find time to say more about this incredible visit to Accoyo next week.

Here's what I knew about them before that visit in November, 1999. They sold for a lot of money. They were highly touted by some of the more "monied" breeders in the business. I didn't especially like some of their type. Nor did I understand density! When we went to look at Accoyo Augusto at Magical Farms to consider him for breeding, I didn't comprehend what I was seeing and feeling, and instead went away thinking that Augusto had a lot of guard hair (really NOT, it's just that he was soooo dense that his primary follicles were a bit more obvious than on some of the less dense and coarse (mostly unimproved) Chileans that I was accustomed to seeing at that point.

Okay, I'm almost out of time with a plane to catch out to the National Elite Auction. I could write volumes, and others have about Accoyo alpacas. I'll leave you with this simple thought: top selling alpacas of all time.... (not including suris, huacyas only)....

1. Peruvian Accoyo Legacy (sold to Virginia Alpaca Farm, half interest for $750,000 with Crescent Moon Ranch). Broke another record years before at $165,000. Now deceased...

2. Accoyo Royal Fawn- Sold to Maple Brook Farm and Double O Good for $600,000?

3. Accoyo Augusto- Sold to Five Star Alpacas for $220,000?

Accoyo America Auction- always one of the top selling average sales of the year....

The list could go one, get the picture?

Off to AOBA Nationals and World Alpaca Conference!

Today is the big day when we head to the IX Center in Cleveland, Ohio for Nationals! After missing it last year (Salt Lake City is a loooonnng drive), I'm excited to be a part of the action again. We'll be taking one for the auction, Lunar Light, (Lot #49) and five to show in full-fleece.

"Luna" (she got her name for being born on the night of the lunar eclipse, which we saw vividly), is a very special female with one of the nicest pedigrees we've ever offered at auction. Her sire is none other than 6Peruvian Accoyo Elite. Elite is behind some of the industry's best farms top stars! These include Snowmass Quechua and his son Snowmass Matrix (both of whom have been Futurity Herdsires of the Year MULTIPLE times), DDF Rico Suave, The Elite Maximus, and Crescent Moon's Shiftin' Gears, to name just a few!

Luna herself earned a Reserve Color Championship her very first time out, at the Heartland Classic, placing second and reserve behind a Michelangelo daughter! Hmmmm, that tells me that a Michelangelo mating might be just the thing! (Yes, it's included with purchase, or choose from any of our other sires! Sinbad would be a wonderful possibility as well, adding Nautilus, Caligula, Hemingway, and Sunipani to the mix!). Luna's dam is a daughter of THE Accoyo Legacy (now deceased), also a Herdsire of the Year and foundation behind many top animals in the industry! Legacy's Lexi is a gorgeous dark fawn, and was a great mother for Luna, her first cria.

Luna possesses excellent conformation and structure, a darling head, gentle personality, and a super fine fleece with lovely crimp and density. What more could you want? If you won't be able to attend the AOBA Auction of Friday, arrangements can be made for phone bidding. Questions? Call Tim Vincent at (503) 704-9229 to arrange absentee bidding, or feel free to call me at 859-983-8808.

Futurity Bound!

Producing quality breeding stock is undoubtedly a long-term endeavor which requires a lot of perseverance and patience (something I'm often a bit short on). We are proud to offer two of our best 2008 girls, from top bloodlines that we have been cultivating for quite some time! Michelangelo (above) is the sire of both Lot #26, SSF Michelangelo's Peruvian Muffin and Lot #73, SSF Accoyo Shimmer.

Muffin is an exquisite female who has done very well for us in the showring, just like both of her parents (El Nino's Accoyo Michelangelo x Consistency- by Camilio). Her fleece appears more and more dense each time we open it, and we are always stunned by it's brightness and uniformity! She sells with a FREE breeding to ANY of our SSF or Thoroughly Bred Herdsires.

SSF Accoyo Shimmer is also a very special female with an endearing personality to boot! (She is very talkative!) Her fleece shows absolutely no medullation, and is very soft, crimpy and dense. Shimmer's dam is a maternal sister to our Accoyo Maverick- we have always dreamed of combining the Michelangelo and Maverick lines- her she is! Muffin also sells with a complementary breeding.

Both females can be financed, and both are eligible for the Futurity Show. If you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to call during the weekend at 859-983-8808!

We are looking forward to showing our brown champion female, XXXtremely Sweet, SSF Peruvian Jack Black (it'll be the first show for this Cody son), blue ribbon beige Sinbad son SSF Gallantry, and blueribbon dark fawn Sinbad son SSF Jolly Mon! Hope to see you there!

Jitterbugging toward spring!

We are so ready for spring, and excited about attending our first show and auction of the season, the Best of the Midwest Alpaca Show and Sale in Columbus, Ohio on March 14th and 15th. Highlighting our attendance is the offering of one of the best from our 2007 vintage, SSF Peruvian Jitterbug. She is Lot # 37 in the auction which will be held on Saturday evening. Jitterbug is the daughter of El Nino's Accoyo Michelangelo and SSF Peruvian Jericho's Junebug, daughter of MFI Peruvian Jericho. Both of these lines need little introduction, they are two of the most prepotent sire lines in the alpaca industry!

She is already a blue ribbon winner, having taken first at her first show, the Heartland Classic. She is showing readiness for breeding this spring, and she sells with a complementary breeding to any of our hersires, or you can use a Michelangelo breeding on another of your females if you choose!

Please feel free to contact us for any further information about Jitterbug- she is just the type of female that any breeding program would appreciate adding to their herd!

Whirlwind Weekend

I'm glad to be finally home from the Carolina Classic Show and Belleau Wood Farm Auction!!! It was GREAT fun, but tiring and there were some stressful moments. It started with a near-fire in the RV the night before we left, and ended with a near-breakdown just outside of Asheville, NC that got us home in one piece but much later than anticipated (see my other blog for details!)

All in all, I was pleased and grateful for the outcome of the weekend- all of our animals sold well and the show went super, too! The auction was festive, and despite the uncertainty of selling animals, I was able to party and have a good time with friends.

SSF Peruvian Pink Pansy sold to our great friends, Mary Beth and Jim Anderson of Alpacas at Booker's Corner in Paris, Kentucky- THANKS and congratulations!

SSF Accoyo Michael AND Eyecatcher and Eye Candy sold to Ron and Cathy Downs of Twisted Lock Alpacas in Shadow Hills, California- THANK YOU so very much!

Although the show was fairly small, competition was stiff and all of our classes were of pretty good size. Runalong took a 1st in the light fawn juvenile females, Gallantry took 1st of 10 in beige juvenile males. Muffin was 2nd in white juvenile females, and Optimist took 3rd in a large white yearling male class! (4 animals, 2 firsts, 1 second and 1 third) Be sure to check back soon for the photos of Gallantry doing tricks!

We had a beautiful white male cria born from Zippy while we were gone, with just a few left for the season. We'll be ready to hunker down for rougher weather and to enjoy the holidays. Tomorrow, I'll write in more detail about our breakdown and give some tips for travelling with the pacas.

Consignments to Belleau Wood Auction!

Did you see the alpacas on the CBS Evening News last night? How very cool that alpacas (thanks to AOBA) were featured as one of the alternative investments to which many have turned! I know that we have thoroughly enjoyed our alpaca way of life. There are some excellent tax benefits to be gained by investing in 2008 as well, through the Section 179 Deduction.

This weekend we'll be travelling to Charlotte, North Carolina for the Belleau Wood Auction and Carolina Classic Show. We are featuring three top entries in the auction.

SSF Peruvian Pink Pansy (seen above) is a fawn-roan daughter of the incomparable El Nino's Accoyo Michelangelo! Her dam is our rose-grey Peruvian Savannah. She has incredible fleece length and is fine and dense. Pansy has excellent breed type with great coverage. She is a full sister to SSF Michelangelo's Cupid, a gorgeous and unique grey that we co-own with Tres Amigos Ranch in Colorado. Like Cupid, she has an extremely friendly and curious disposition, as most Michelangelo offspring do! She should be ready to breed by late spring or early summer, and she sells with a free breeding to any of our unrelated sires! Show her and then breed her, you can't go wrong!

SSF Accoyo Michael is an elite-fleeced white, also sired by Michelangelo. His dam is our foundation female, SSF Accoyo Bella Vida (an Avenger daughter). Judge Kevin O'Leary commented on Michael's extreme potential, and he does appear to be getting better and better! His full brother, SSF Accoyo Optimist, always places at the top of his class, and his follicle density was tested at a remarkable 95 follicles sq. mm with an S/P ratio of 15 to 1! I can think of no better way to add full Accoyo genetics to your herd than through the genetics of Michael (he has Michaelangelo, El Nino, Caligula, Avenger, and Royal Fawn in his background)! There may be some bargains at this auction, so position yourself to take advantage and add these SSF Accoyo genetics to your herd!

SSF Eyecatcher and SSF Eye Candy make up a 3-in-one package that includes Eyecatcher herself, her young FEMALE cria by 419 Peruvian Accoyo Maverick, AND a complimentary breed back to ANY of our sires! We will be happy to transport Eyecatcher back home for the buyer and breed her for you. Eyecatcher, a daughter of our black herdsire Ndume, is shown here below with her 2007 black male cria. Eyecatcher's new cria at side (shown below, DOB 11/17/08) is Eye Candy. She looks like definite show material- she is heavy-boned and typey, with excellent fleece character already evident.As always, we are offering financing and our full farm guarantees! If you can't be at the auction, please contact Erin McCarthy with Belleau Wood for arrangements to bid by phone or by proxy. Let us know if you have any questions!

Calendar of Fun Events!

November 27- Happy Thanksgiving!
November 29-30- Farm and Shop Open to Visitors by Appointment- We have great gift items including alpaca socks, felted soaps, luxury yarns in natural and hand-dyed colors, sweaters, blankets, and TEDDY BEARS! Check out our beautiful alpaca items from Red Maple Sportswear! Dec. 4-6- Carolina Classic Show and Belleau Wood Auction in Charlotte, North Carolina- contact us for information. We have 3 beautiful lots consigned, and will have others available at the show!

Dec. 13- Farm and Shop Open from 10-4, Christmas Open House with gift items for sale, crias on display, demonstrations, refreshments- all FREE!

Dec. 20-21- Farm and Shop Open to Visitors by Appointment

Dec. 25- Merry Christmas!

Merchandise from Seldom Scene Farm is available here in our shop (please call first), at Truly Bluegrass in Versailles, and at http://www.alpacalindy.etsy.com/