Brianna ....... half-accoyo Champion granddaughter of Yupanqui and Felix! 
Brianna is a rare light silver grey half-accoyo daughter of Aussie Rockford, the grey herdsire who placed first at the 2001 AOBA Nationals in both adult male halter and the fleece show - quite an accomplishment! Rockford's fiber is dense, crimpy and fine, with a micron count of 21.1/5.0/23.7/4.4 in his third year. Brianna's dam is a solid black half-accoyo sired by Ppperuvian Yupanqui, and her grandsire on her father's side is the renowned Pperuvian Felix. Brianna is very straight, with a magnificently pretty and typey head. She has extremely dense fleece, which is fine, with a very defined, tight crimp. Brianna is an exceptional female with breathtaking fiber, bred with our full Peruvian black Champion Knightrider in Fall 2008. 

Awards:  Brianna's yearling fleece won a blue ribbon in her class and Champion of all the multi/grey huacaya fleeces at MaPaca 2004, described as "the largest alpaca event on the planet, ever"! Her fleece also placed second in the juvenile class. Brianna's 2005 fleece was awarded a red ribbon by Kristin Buhrmann at MaPaca 2005, with over 200 fleeces in the show.

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 Misty ....... Champion grey Michelangelo daughter!
A granddaughter of the top west coast grey herdsire Fantasy's Gremlin and the renowned Pperuvian Guellermo, Misty is a stunning silver grey girl, stocky and solid, with excellent conformation and proud presence. Her fiber is fine (23.0 AFD at age 11 months) and bright, with fabulous staple length and a tight little crimp. She is heavily fibered down to her toes and has a wooly, typey head. Her dam, Fabia, is a beautiful and correct silver Chilean and her half-Peruvian black sire, Michelangelo, is a blue ribbon winner whose dam is a fine-fibered silver. At the 2000 Alpacapalooza the international judge said of Michelangelo, "From the minute he entered the ring, there was no other presence such as his", and he is producing show-stopping offspring, including the 2002 AOBA Champion, "Onyx De Mico". Misty was bred with the full Peruvian black Champion Knightrider in Fall 2008. 

Awards: At 2 years of age, in her only showring appearance, the majestic Misty placed first in her age group, and went on to become Reserve Champion of all the mixed multicolor and grey female huacayas at the 2004 VA Classic Show. Nard Mullen awarded Misty a third place for her fleece in 2002 at the highly competitive EVAA show, only 2 points behind the first place winner.

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 Thistledown Heather Nikos.......Champion grey daughter of two Champions!
Independently valued at $15,000 by both Dianna Timmerman and Wade Gease in August 2010, Heather is a rare find in quality grey females. A Reserve Champion and multiple ribbon-winner after only her first show season, Heather exhibits well-balanced, straight, square conformation, plus fine, crimpy, rose / silver grey fiber, with a remarkable absence of medulated fiber throughout. Her fiber diameter is 19.7 microns, with a 4.7 SD, a mean curvature of 44.3 and a comfort factor of 97.3%. Daughter of PV Nikos, our 3X Champion, half-accoyo dark silver grey herdsire, Heather inherits Felix, Yupanqui and Hannaruh bloodlines from her sire. She is the daughter of two Champions, with her Champion dark brown dam, Holly, bringing the Black Hawk and CPeruvian Jaxon bloodlines into the mix. Heather offers rare black and grey genetics for tremendous breeding potential, plus excellent conformation, fiber uniformity and a wonderful personality.

Awards:  Amanda VandenBosch awarded Heather the blue ribbon in her first halter class, at the Level IV CABO show in February 2010, against alpacas from some of the best grey breeding programs in the US. Heather placed second of all the greys in the March 2010 Virginia Classic Walking Fleece Fiber Futurity, and her juvenile fleece placed second in the 2010 MAPACA fleece show and second in the 2010 PAOBA fleece show, where she scored only 1/2 a point less than the Reserve Champion! At the 2010 Blue Ridge Classic, Heather placed second in her yearling halter class and won the Reserve Championship. At the 2011 Level IV VAOBA show, Heather placed first again, in full fleece halter.

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 Lavender ....... rose grey daughter of 8X Champion Silver Legend of KPR!
APaca Fun's Lavender is a true to type tuxedo rose grey, sired by 8X Champion Silver Legend of KPR, with four generations of grey on both sides of her pedigree. She has a fine, dense, soft-handled and crimpy fleece, excellent coverage, and square, correct conformation. A granddaughter of 5Peruvian Peruvian Royal Inca Legend and MFI Lord Grey-Stoke (a Peruvian Platinum son), Lavender is a wonderful "fit" for our grey breeding program. Her dam, Ladysmith, is a fine-fibered tuxedo rose grey with excellent mothering abilities, who has produced all tuxedo grey offspring. Ladysmith is affectionately known as "the milk machine" by her owners, and all her deliveries have been problem free. 

Awards: Lavender was not shown in halter classes by her previous owner, and has now begun her breeding career, but we hope to show her fiber. Lavender won a first place out of 8 entries in the 2010 MAPACA SpinOff.

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 Ishbel ....... multiple blue ribbon-winning dark silver grey Peruvian Luciano daughter!
Luciano's Ishbel arrived the week before Hurricane Isabel, hence her name, which is the Scottish form of Isabel. This half-Peruvian bombshell is a Danko & Platinum granddaughter, who has inherited four generations of world class grey and black ancestry from her dam, Hisami, a gorgeous black Danko daughter with extremely fine (20.3 AFD), soft-handled fleece, and great coverage. Ishbel's sire is El R Peruvian Luciano, a full Peruvian medium rose grey son of the renowned Peruvian Platinum (deceased). Luciano is a multiple blue ribbon-winner, with an adult micron count of 19.3 and 2.3% of fibers over 30 at his 3rd shearing. His density and handle are excellent, he has a full topknot on a true to type huacaya head and a calm temperament with great presence. Shown as bay black for two years, Ish has now turned dark silver grey, and with her fine, dense, long-stapled fiber, heavy bone, compact, typey conformation and perfect bite, Ish is one girl we expect to keep! Ishbel has produced medium silver grey and dark silver grey offspring, and will be rebred with our 3X Champion dark silver grey PV Nikos in Spring 2009.

Awards: Ish placed 5th in bay black full fleece halter at MaPaca 2004 and second at the VA State Fair. Neither of these results does her justice! At the 2005 Virginia Classic, Ish placed sixth in a bay black halter class, but the judge, Jane Tellier, explained that she should have been in a roan or grey class. Ishbel's fiber placed first in the Handcrafter's SpinOff! At MaPaca 2005, Ishbel was again classified as a bay black and lost points for white fibers in the blanket, so Mike Safley placed her 4th in the full fleece yearling bay black halter class. Ish's yearling fiber won another blue ribbon in a class of 8 at the 2005 Mid-America Handcrafters' SpinOff, with a score of 94.5 / 100! Comments included, "7 crimps per inch - WOW!", 10/10 for fineness "very soft & fine", 5/5 for hand "wonderful to spin". At the 2005 OABA fleece show, Ishbel placed second in the grey class of the Handcrafters' SpinOff, with a score of 92/100. She was beaten only by our grey male, Nikos, who won the grey SpinOff Championship at this Level 4 fleece show, with 212 entries in the SpinOff competition! Ish won another blue ribbon in the 2006 Southern Select SpinOff competition, and a second place in the 2006 Alpaca Western Extravaganza SpinOff, with a score of 92/100, placing higher than a number of Champion greys! In 2007, Ish's fleece won a second place in the MAPACA fleece show, judged by Wade Gease.

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 Thistledown's Kerensa Compadre ....... black Compadre daughter!
With four black grandparents and a very strong heritage of top quality color, Kerensa is a beautiful black girl with excellent conformation and fiber character - her blanket is just a mass of tight, shiny curls! Her dam, Demelza is our MaPaca ribbon-winning 3/4 Peruvian "black in brown clothing", who exhibits excellent conformation and stature, dense fleece with outstanding crimp, plus coverage from tip to toe. Kerensa is a Cornish name, meaning love and affection, and she is, if anything, even sweeter than her dam in temperament, so the name suits her very well! Kerensa is sired by Patagonia's Compadre, a "double black" son of Caballero Andante from Alpacas de la Patagonia. At 2 years of age, Compadre had a fiber analysis of 20.6 AFD, 3.4 SD, 16.5 CV and 1.2% > 30 microns, with an 8lb shearing weight - these are phenomenal numbers for a true black out of two blacks. Kerensa has produced a black son and a patterned daughter and was bred with our 3X Champion dark silver grey PV Nikos in Fall 2008.

Awards: In her first showring appearance at 8 months of age, Kerensa placed 5th in a halter class of 12 juvenile black females at the 2006 Virginia Classic. Judge, Shannon McConnell, commented that she had not yet developed the fullness of body of the other females in the class. In a juvenile black halter class of 15 at MaPaca 2006, Kerensa won a 6th place ribbon, with the judge commenting that the girls placing 4th-6th had very similar fleece and conformation, and that head-type was the deciding factor. At the 2006 VAOBA Alpaca Expo, a Level III AOBA-Certified Show, Kerensa's fiber won a blue ribbon in the SpinOff where the judge, Cathy Songer, commented that she had, "beautiful fiber" and awarded her 93 points out of 100. Kerensa also won a blue ribbon out of 11 juvenile black entries at National level in the 2006 Fiber to Fashion SpinOff, placed first out of 9 with a score of 94/100 in the big OABA 2006 SpinOff, and won another blue ribbon out of 6 entries in the 2007 Virginia Classic SpinOff competition. 

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 Lakisha ....... 3/4 Peruvian true black daughter of brown AOBA & MAPACA Champion!
If you have ever seen CPeruvian LB Remington, as we did at MaPaca in 2001, you would understand our excitement about having his true black 3/4 Peruvian daughter, Lakisha, in our foundation herd! Remington is one of those males that stops you dead in your tracks and makes you spin around on your heel for a second look. He has phenomenal macho presence, conformation, serious coverage, density and crimp, and a wonderful mellow temperament. Lakisha's dam is a true black granddaughter of Peruvian Chocolateer and The Silversmith, with very good conformation and coverage, plus great handle and staple length. Lakisha has wonderful solid, square, typey conformation, with excellent density and handle to her fiber and a perfect bite. In November 2007 she produced her first cria, Boadicca, a stunning true black female, and Lakisha has proven herself to be a wonderful mother and milker. Lakisha produced a 7/8 Peruvian true black son in 2008 from her breeding with our award-winning, white Peruvian Presidio son, Tundra, and was bred with our 3X Champion dark silver grey PV Nikos in Fall 2008.

Awards: In her first showring appearance at 9 months of age, Lakisha placed 4th in a halter class of 12 juvenile black females at the 2006 Virginia Classic. Lakisha's juvenile blanket had a 4lb annualised shearing weight, and was awarded a second place by Jill McCloud in the 2006 PAOBA fleece show. Cathy Songer awarded her fiber second place in the SpinOff at the 2006 VAOBA Alpaca Expo, with a score of 90/100, commenting that she had "excellent color integrity (no bleaching)", and Lakisha placed fourth in a full fleece halter class of eleven at this Level III show. Her fiber also placed first in a class of 7 at the 2006 Mid-America SpinOff, second in a class of 8 in the 2007 MOPACA SpinOff competition, with a score of 90/100, and her 22 month shearing won a second place in the 2007 PAOBA show.

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 Lady ....... true black daughter of the black 2004 Futurity Reserve Champion!
Lady is the third black daughter from her extraordinary mother, Spanish Peaks Madison Avenue and the first offspring of Nova's Black Knight III, the 2004 Futurity Reserve Champion and son of the legendary true black Snowmass Nova. Black Knight placed above 4 other Snowmass Nova sons at the 2004 Futurity, all of whom had placed at the top of their classes. He has superfine, dense, uniform, bundled black fiber - his first two shearings both had an AFD of less than 20 microns. Lady has her father's elegant, calm presence and excellent conformation. Her fleece is lustrous, velvety soft, and full of uniform crimp. 

This little girl is a powerhouse of top genetics for fleece quality and for black color. Her father's lineage includes Bueno, Drambuie, Snowmass Peruvian Casanova (rose grey), Black Knight PC G222 and Zorro PC G188 (the latter being two of the finest black alpacas ever to be imported into the US). On her mother's side are Felix and Outback Gold. Her mother has gorgeous fleece with a CV of 13.2 and SD of 3.6 at 2 years of age, giving it a satiny sheen and silk-like handle. Lady produced a dark-pointed roan son from her breeding with our 3X Champion dark silver grey PV Nikos in Fall 2008, and was bred with Champion silver grey Ben MacDhui for her Fall 2009 cria.

Awards:
Kevin O'Leary placed Lady fifth in a class of 14 juvenile black females at PAOBA in 2007. Lady's juvenile fiber won first out of 9 entries in the 2007 VAOBA SpinOff, a second in the huge OABA 2007 SpinOff and another first in the 2007 LA Deep South Show SpinOff competition. Lady went on to win second place in both the fleece and Spinoff competitions at MAPACA 2008, the largest alpaca show in the US. In the fleece show she lost by only one point to a black son of Peruvian Powerplay, the multiple Champion fawn son of Ppperuvian Timoteo! In 2008, Lady's yearling fiber won a second place in the huge OABA Spinoff, a second place in the LA Deep South Spinoff, and a second place in the extremely competitive MAPACA 2009 SpinOff.
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 Thistledown's Iona Jaxon ....... superfine black daughter of Champion black sire!
Iona is a sleek and shiny, half-Peruvian, jet black Jaxon / Danko granddaughter. CPeruvian Jaxon is a nationally renowned black Peruvian herdsire and Danko is possibly the top grey herdsire in the country. Her dam is Hisami, an extremely fine true black Danko daughter (20.3 AFD @ 11 months), with beautiful soft-handled fleece, a lovely typey head, very nice conformation and a friendly, curious nature. Iona's maternal grandmother is a "blue black" Macintosh daughter, with two generations of black in her background and an AFD of 24.4 at 4 years of age. Iona's sire is the 4X Champion true black Peruvian CPeruvian Axtion Jaxon, who has a remarkable show record and superfine, crimpy fleece. In his first year AJ's fiber analysis was AFD 18.4, SD 3.7, CV 20.0, >30 1.4%, which is phenomenal for a true black, and he has won numerous first place and Championship ribbons in major halter and fleece competitions, including first place black fleece at the 2003 AOBA National Fleece Show. Iona was bred with our true black full Peruvian Champion, Knightrider, for her Fall 2009 cria.

Awards: Iona won a blue ribbon at her first show, in a juvenile shorn class at the Virginia State Fair in September 2005, and second place in a yearling shorn class at MaPaca in 2006.

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 Thistledown's Meliora Cairngorm
This crimpy black daughter of brown halter Champion, Holly Hawk, and silver grey Champion, Ben MacDhui, arrived on May 20th, 2008. Meliora is the second black daughter Dhui  produced for us this Spring and her half sister is already sold, at less than 6 months of age! The name Meliora is derived from the Latin "melior", meaning "better", and is also a name strongly associated with Cornwall, where there is a church named after St. Meliorius. This little lady is a bright and playful character, with excellent "typey" conformation, plus wonderful crimp, staple length and coverage. Meliora certainly has "the look", and is like a miniature black version of her sire. She will be shown in 2009 and is expected to remain in our foundation herd. 

Awards:  Meli's fiber placed 2nd in the big OABA 2009 SpinOff, 2nd in the LA Deep South SpinOff and 2nd in the 2010 MOPACA SpinOff. She placed 6th in a full fleece halter class of 10 at VAOBA 2009, a Level III AOBA show and also partnered with our eldest daughter to win the Youth Performance Championship.

 

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 Spring Blush ....... Champion producer & full Peruvian daughter of maroon 3X Champion!
Blush is a Champion producer who consistently produces award-winning offspring with dense, crimpy, soft-handled colored fiber. This full Peruvian maroon daughter of two maroon parents offers exactly the kind of quality and rare color we value in our breeding program. Her sire, King Crimson, is the Champion full Peruvian maroon son of two true maroon parents. King has won numerous halter and fleece awards at regional and national level, including Best Hand, Best Luster and Best Brightness awards for his magnificent fiber. Blush's dam, Peruvian Daphne, is the rare true maroon daughter of two 6Peruvian imports. Daphne also possesses excellent fiber quality, strong, square conformation and a beautiful huacaya head. Blush produced an award-winning maroon daughter from a breeding to silver grey, a second place winning son from her breeding to our white herdsire, Tundra, and a blue ribbon winner & Reserve Champion son from a repeat breeding to Tundra in 2008. Every one a winner!

Awards: In her first show, Blush placed third in a large, competitive juvenile brown halter class at the 2004 North American Alpaca Show in Kentucky. Blush's yearling fleece was awarded a third place ribbon by Kristin Buhrmann at MaPaca 2005, a second place in the HandCrafters' SpinOff at the 2005 Blue Ridge Classic Alpaca Show, with a score of 91.5/100, and a blue ribbon in the Handcrafters' SpinOff at the Level 4 OABA 2005 Fleece Show, with a score of 92/100. Blush won another blue ribbon in the 2006 Southern Select SpinOff competition, with a score of 91.5/100, and a blue ribbon in the 2006 MOPACA SpinOff with a score of 95/100. 

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 DSF Iris ....... award-winning daughter of Champion rose grey, McGinnis!
Iris is the brown / recessive black daughter of the Champion rose grey, McGinnis, who sired both the grey Color Champion female at the 2004 AOBA Nationals, and the 2005 grey Futurity Champion female, who went on to sell in the Futurity auction for $80,000! McGinnis has excellent, soft, crimpy rose grey fiber and a reputation for producing quality offspring.

Iris is a very attractive female, with soft-handled crimpy fiber, wonderful staple length, and good coverage. She is very balanced, with straight legs, lovely overall conformation and a perfect bite. She inherits her even, rich, brown coloring from her 3/4 Peruvian dam, and has excellent potential to throw quality black and grey. We actually prefer to breed our grey males to solid, dark-colored females with a grey heritage, to produce grey and black offspring. Iris should grow up to be an important asset in any breeding program, and as we watch her develop, we are leaning towards keeping her for ours! Iris produced a beautiful true black son from her breeding with our silver grey Champion, Ben MacDhui, and was bred with our 3X Champion dark silver grey, PV Nikos for her Fall 2009 cria.

Awards: Iris placed second at her first show, in the juvenile dark composite class at MAPACA in 2007. Kevin O'Leary judged her conformation in the showring, and her fleece was judged by Wade Gease. Her fleece went on to win a blue ribbon in the 2007 PAOBA fleece show, a second place in the 2007 LA Deep South Spinoff competition, a second place in the prestigious 2008 National Fiber to Fashion Spinoff and a blue ribbon in the 2008 LA Deep South Spinoff competition. In 2009, her fiber won a first place in the extremely competitive MAPACA Spinoff - our two girls. Iris and Brigit, placed first and second out of all the male and female entries in their class!

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 Caterina ....... half-accoyo Champion granddaughter of Camilio and Victor's VAccoyo!
A half Accoyo granddaughter of Accoyo Camilio and Victor's VAccoyo, Caterina is well-furnished in beautifully marked fleece, conformationally correct and nicely balanced with good bone. Her fiber is just gorgeous - bright, with well-defined crimp extending to the ends and consistent throughout her blanket. The 2003 fiber analysis of her brown fleece only, was 21.8 AFD, 4.1 SD, 18.8 CV and 2.2 > 30 microns. Cat has an outstanding solid maroon sire, and a dark fawn dam who both shear 8lbs of fiber annually. Her dam is the winner of many blue ribbons and two reserve championships, and a daughter of Victor VAccoyo, who is no longer available for outside breedings. Cat has an irresistible, well-shaped head and wooly topknot, a light brown skirt, matching shoes, earrings, eyeliner and freckles! She produced a black son with white face from her breeding with our true black full Peruvian Champion, Knightrider and was bred with our award-winning, white Peruvian Presidio son, Tundra, for her Fall 2009 cria.

Awards: Caterina's fleece won a blue ribbon in the yearling multi class at MaPaca 2004, and Reserve Champion in the grey/multi category, with 200 fleeces in the show. Her 2004 fiber placed second in the HandCrafter's SpinOff at the 2005 Virginia Classic Show, first out of 13 entries at National Level, in the 2005 AOBA Fiber to Fashion HandCrafter's SpinOff competition, and another first at the AOBA National HandCrafters' SpinOff in June 2005. Caterina's 2005 fleece was awarded a red ribbon by Kristin Buhrmann at MaPaca 2005, the largest alpaca show in the country, which attracts top breeders from as far away as Oregon and Washington. In her first halter class entry, at the 2005 Blue Ridge Alpaca Show, Caterina won a second place ribbon and compliments from the judge for her excellent handle.

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 Thistledown's Nola Mavericka....... Champion daughter of Champion Peruvian sire !
This beautiful, MAPACA fleece Champion is the daughter of Champion pinto herdsire, Peruvian Maverick, and our MaPaca blue ribbon-winning pinto, Fiona. She is also half sister to the 2005 Virginia Classic brown female Champion, Thistledown's Myfanwy. Nola is a rare, 7/8 Peruvian brown, black and white "tricolor" - her head, neck, body and back legs are brown, her nose, ears, eyes and gums are black, and her front legs are white, with little brown shoes on each front foot and spots on her knees. VERY cute! She also has two full Peruvian black grandparents (Peruvian Matador and Black Jack Jax sired by 4Peruvian Black Magic). Nola is one of the most gentle, even-tempered alpacas we have ever owned. Her name means "famous" and is also a pet form of the Irish name Fionnghuala. Nola is absolutely covered with crimpy, dense, lustrous fiber, and just brimming over with presence and style! She produced a 15/16 Peruvian maroon son from her breeding with our true black Champion, Knightrider, and we repeated this breeding for her Spring 2009 cria.

Awards:
  In her first showring appearance, Nola placed 2nd in a halter class of multi females at the 2006 Virginia Classic, against primarily fawn and white alpacas! Judge, Shannon McConnell, commented that all the females in the class had very similar crimp and lock structure, regardless of color. Jill McCloud awarded Nola's juvenile fleece a blue ribbon in the 2006 PAOBA fleece show. Nola won another blue ribbon at the 2006 Virginia State Fair Alpaca Show, which had over 100 entries. Jane Tellier awarded Nola second place in the halter class at the 2006 VAOBA Alpaca Expo, a Level III AOBA-Certified Show, and her fiber won a blue ribbon in the SpinOff at this show. The judge, Cathy Songer, who has over 20 years of spinning experience and has judged at AOBA Nationals and regularly judges the Virginia Classic SpinOff, commented that Nola's fiber was, "one of the nicest fibers I've ever spun" and awarded her 97.5 points out of 100! Nola won another blue ribbon for her fiber in the SpinOff competition at the 2006 Mid-America Alpaca Show, a second place ribbon out of 15 entries at National level in the 2006 Fiber to Fashion SpinOff, a second place in the OABA 2006 SpinOff and another blue ribbon in the 2007 Virginia Classic SpinOff competition. In 2007, Nola won the Championship and a blue ribbon for her fleece at the MAPACA Jubilee, and another blue ribbon in the AOBA National SpinOff competition. In 2008, she placed second in the fleece show at MAPACA 2008, the largest alpaca show in the US.
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 Yupanqui's Bronwen ....... award-winning half-accoyo proven to produce black!
Bronwen is a full Peruvian, half accoyo female, with dark eyes and toenails, and dark markings around her nose, head and ears. Her award-winning dam, Jewel, is the only white offspring of 5Peruvian Chinchero, a true black herdsire imported from the Maychapampa herd in Peru. Jewel's dam, Marcela, produced the famous grey herdsire Silver Dollar, and the nationally respected fawn herdsire, Show Me the Money. Bronwen's sire is Ppperuvian Accoyo Yupanqui (deceased), the number one pick of the 1996 importation, who has produced multiple ribbon winners in a whole rainbow of colors. At 11 years of age, Yupanqui's fiber analysis was 24.0; 4.6; 18.9 and 7.4 > 30 microns, with wonderful crimp and a handle comparable to many yearlings. Bronwen has produced two true black females, from  breedings with our Champion "double black" herdsire, Peruvian Knightrider, and our silver grey Champion, Ben MacDhui. She was rebred with Knightrider in Spring 2008.

Awards: Bronwen won a blue ribbon in her first showring appearance, at the 2004 VA State Fair. Tim Lavan awarded her second place in a white yearling female composite class at MaPaca 2005, the largest alpaca show in the country, attracting top breeders from as far away as Oregon and Washington. 

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