We are proud to present our latest crias. They are all Thistledown originals, bred, owned and named after our farm. The offspring from our outside breedings ensure continued genetic diversity in our breeding program. Take a look at our Coming Soon! page, to see the crias we are looking forward to meeting soon!

Thistledown Fergus Interceptor
	Fergus was born on April 29, 2011, the same date as the Royal Wedding, so he adopted one of the titles granted to Prince William that day! We selected his white dam, Chiffon, for her incredibly soft-handled, long-stapled, uniform, fine fiber, and for her potential to produce color when bred to color. This daughter of Sunset Hills Farm Andean Gold is a granddaughter of the magnificent 5Peruvian Santana and PPPeruvian Augusto. Fergus also boasts PPeruvian Victor in his dam's line, who had incomparable handle to his fleece, which is exactly what we aim for in our breeding program. Fergus' sire, Interceptor, is a 3X Champion true black son of Dark Shaddow, with Accoyo Camillio in his heritage. We were shooting for black with Fergus, but will happily take medium brown / recessive black from a Champion black sire, and a white dam with exceptional fiber qualities! Fergus has incredibly soft-handled, uniform, crimpy, bundling fleece already, and hopes to make his show ring debut in December 2011.  Awards: Fergus placed second in his first full fleece halter class at the Level IV VAOBA show in December 2011, at just 7 months old. Very proud of him - he handled himself really well for his age!

Thistledown Orbus Nikos
	Born June 3, 2011, this dark brown son of our 3X Champion dark silver grey male, PV Nikos, has dense, fine, crimpy fiber, and feels just like a plush toy. Orbus is Latin for orphan, which is sadly what this little guy became when he was a few months old, after his mother was involved in a freak accident, and died several days later, despite our best efforts. Holly Hawk was a halter Champion out of two Champions, an excellent producer of blacks and greys, who never lost a pregnancy or failed to rebreed, and produced copious amounts of milk for her crias. She will always be remembered as our strong-willed, proud and dignified herd matriarch, who wasn't above standing for a neck scratch, or playfully nipping you when you weren't looking and then acting the innocent! Fortunately for Orbus, he gained a brother in Fergus, and a substitute dam in Chiffon, plus a couple of our other girls, including Kerensa,  who will occasionally look the other way and stand for him to nurse. Have to love that herd dynamic. NFS

 

Thistledown Denzell Cairngorm
	Kerensa's 15lb jet black, Ben MacDhui son arrived on December 22nd. His fiber feels like velvet, and already exhibits the buttery-soft hand and tight, ringlet curls of his blue ribbon-winning black dam, Kerensa. His dam is a daughter of Patagonia's Compadre and his Champion silver grey sire is a son of Request the Best. Denzell appears to be a non-tipping black with no white spotting. Even though he is a month younger than his peers, he is quickly coming up to speed in the pasture, and we are excited to see how he will develop.   Sold!

Thistledown Lady / Knightrider Son
	Lady's 17lb black Knightrider son arrived on November 14th and was up and nursing within the hour. He exhibits a particularly dense, soft-handled, crimpy fleece and does not appear to have any white spots. The weather is so mild, and he was so strong and healthy, he went right out in the field to stretch his legs with all the dams and babes within a couple of hours of his birth. This photo is of Lady as a cria, as we don't have a good shot of her 2010 son, but he is the image of his dam! Sold!

Thistledown Conan Knightrider
	Iona's second true black Knightrider son arrived on the morning of November 3rd, a few minutes before Nola's pinto daughter. His head and chest were out while her head and legs were presenting! He is a beautiful non-fading, non-tipping true black 20lb male, with fine. soft-handled, crimpy fiber - double "Trouble"! This little guy is as strong as an ox and has a wonderful, proud presence and "look-at-me" attitude. He is the first cria everyone picks out in the herd and has already begun his "socialization" training with "Uncle Meri" at festivals and farmers markets! Available for sale.

Thistledown Pippa Nikos
	Meliora's first cria, "Pip-Squeak" arrived early on Halloween morning and was on her feet and dry before 8.00 a.m. Out of the award-winning black daughter of our Champion grey herdsire, Ben MacDhui, and sired by our 3X Champion dark silver grey herdsire, PV Nikos, this young lady has a remarkable heritage and tremendous potential. Her dam has a very dense, crimpy, uniform black fleece, while her sire, Nikos, has an extremely fine, uniform, crimpy, dark grey fleece, which has retained fineness over time. The first grandchild of MacDhui born on our farm in the 10 years we have owned him (all his other daughters sold long before we had the opportunity to breed them!), her maternal grand dam, Holly, is also a halter Champion, out of two Champions. So far, Pippa exhibits crimp, soft handle, density and uniformity in her dark grey fleece and has the most beautiful head and excellent fiber coverage. We look forward to watching her mature and expect her to be in our 2011 showstring. NFS

Thistledown Duncan Nikos
	Blush's beautiful solid copper-brown son surprised us by arriving late in the afternoon on October 28, 2010. He is healthy and strong and has fiber with a handle like plush velvet. At 6 months he is clearly exhibiting his dam's density, crimp, fineness and hand and his sire's fineness, uniformity and gorgeous head, so could have significant herdsire potential. Definitely one to watch and a strong contender for our 2011 show string! NFS

Thistledown Meghan Nikos
	Iris's healthy fawn / indefinite light daughter arrived on October 21, 2010, and she is beautiful. She seems to have her dam's signature silky-soft handle, combined with her dark silver grey 3X Champion sire's fineness, plus uniformity and crimp from both parents. She is going to have a gorgeous head too, just like her full brother, Tristan. She might be turning light rose grey on her neck and legs and is a really unusual color. Meghan was named during our 4th annual farm Open House, which is held over the first weekend of November every year. The Goochland girl scout Daisies, Brownies and Juniors who held their meeting at our farm on Sunday 7, November voted on Meghan's name, and then had their picture taken together! Available for sale.
Learn more about Meghan

Thistledown Isla Nikos
	A half-sister to our Champion grey female, Heather, this little medium silver grey monster tipped the scales at 21lbs when she arrived on May 30, 2010. Her multiple award-winning dark silver grey dam, Ishbel, is very smart and loaded with personality, making her one of our favorite females. Isla appears to have inherited her dam's extreme coverage and staple length, plus really beautiful fine, soft-handled, crimpy silver grey fiber. This little lady's sire is Nikos, our 3X Champion dark silver grey herdsire who is maintaining fineness over time. This breeding is a winning combination, and a repeat of the breeding which produced the award-winning dark silver grey male, Prince Arian. We are so pleased with their beautiful grey offspring that Ish was bred back to Nikos for her next cria.  Awards: Isla placed third in her first full fleece halter class when she was 18 months old, at the 2011 Level IV VAOBA show. Should have showed her when she was younger, as she was not well-behaved in the ring, but Isla looked like a million dollars, prancing with her ears and tail up! Judge commented on her extreme staple length and excellent confirmation, body capacity and coverage.
Learn more about Isla

Thistledown Cari Cairngorm
	This 18.5lb bundle of energy arrived on May 15, 2010. The daughter of our Champion silver grey male, Ben MacDhui, she is strong and playful and can be found tearing up the pasture every morning and evening. With solid, square, typey conformation, very bright, soft-handled fiber with great coverage, grey genetics and a winning personality, this little lady is a lot of fun to own. Her beautiful beige Peruvian dam, Bronwen is an Accoyo Yupanqui daughter who produced a solid black female, Nerys, from this same breeding two years ago. This little lady is probably a white-spotted white, with great potential to produce quality colored offspring, and some blue in her eyes, so we would recommend breeding her with solid dark males when she is of age. She inherits her good-natured, friendly temperament from both of her parents - MacDhui is a remarkably sweet-natured, intelligent herdsire, and her dam was raised here and has been shown in performance and costume classes by our children.  Sold!
Learn more about Cari