Monday, December 19, 2011

Introducing ~ ATA Peruvian Lady Bing

we are very excited to announce that she is the newest member to our herd!!!





Her face (I love the brown tipping by her nose):



Our story in acquiring Lady Bing goes back to this summer. First, as my regular readers know, we lost several cria this year. It was a rough summer for us. We had high hopes for an incredible show string, to have only 1 of our 2011 cria survive. While we do have some incredible yearling to take to shows (Challenger, Gabriel, Twilight, and Rose), we only have 2 juvis ~ Our Peruvian Thunder, and Dutch Harbor (who we purchased a few months back). While that is 6 alpacas, J would prefer 9.

A couple months back we were visiting a friend's farm. We were in one pen looking at an animal when Emma got my attention and pointed out a baby in the neighboring pen. Emma was smitten. I agreed, that baby was adorable. But with fiber animals, just because they are cute doesn't mean their fiber has what it takes. J and I are at a point we are looking for a specific fiber type. We are building on our breeding program with specific goals in mind. Later on we were in the pen with this adorable little girl, we grabbed her and opened up her fiber. It was as if light came down from heaven! She is bright and shiny with a very nice consistent crimp. And while she looks light fawn on the outside, way down by her skin she is light brown. It's as if her fiber has been frosted in a lighter color. Beautiful!!!!

We didn't go to this farm with the intent on buying anything. We came for other business. We didn't even approach the topic of purchasing the girl, but we sure did stand in awe of her. Then on the ride home J mentioned that beautiful girl. We both agreed she embodies what our breeding program is all about. She is exactly what we want.

Buying an alpaca is usually a significant expense and I often freeze a bit when money is brought up. So I sort of shut down. J proceeded to come up with a plan to purchase this girl. This is why we such a good team: he makes the plan, and I come up with all the possible pitfalls (he helps us move forward, and I make sure we are making good choices). In the end we make things happen.

While mulling over all the details, J came up with the perfect name for her. Her sire is 2002 Peruvian Lord Stanley, so, in keeping with the hockey theme, J thought Lady Bing was perfect. I love it!

On Sunday we officially purchased this girl. She is just barely six months old and not yet weaned, so we will bring her to our farm in a few weeks. I can't wait!!

2 comments:

Kathryn Ray said...

Congratulations on your new girl. She's very pretty. :-)

Lou Harmon said...

Aw, she is pretty.

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