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.

ARI# 31331159 Color: Black DOB: May 20, 2008 Unproven

Champion Dam, Holly

Meliora's dam, Holly, is a Champion out of two Peruvian Champions, She is an incredibly dense, crimpy. dark brown daughter of the black Champion, CPeruvian Black Hawk, and her dam is a Champion fawn daughter of the true black CPeruvian Jaxon. Both Meliora and her dark silver grey brother, McGregor, exhibit precisely the excellent conformation, density and color we were hoping for with this breeding match. 

Holly's awards: Holly placed first in a shorn class of 4 at the 2004 ABR Fall Festival in Colorado. She placed first and was awarded the Color Championship in a large brown yearling class at the 2004 Mid-America Alpaca Show in Topeka, KS. At the 2005 Virginia Classic, she placed second in a class of 12 brown yearling females, judged by Ruth Inglefield. Mike Safley awarded Holly a third place in an extremely competitive full fleece halter class of 12 medium brown yearling females at MaPaca 2005, the largest alpaca show in the country. He also commented that she was "the densest alpaca in the class".


Champion Sire, Ben MacDhui

Half-brother, Skye of Cairngorm, blue ribbon winner in yearling halter at the 2006 Level V Buckeye Show		 McGregor is sired by Ben MacDhui, our silver grey Champion, who has exceptional density and lock structure to his award winning fleece, excellent conformation, an exquisite typey head, and a grey/black pedigree reaching back four generations. 

MacDhui's awards: Dhui has won numerous ribbons, including Reserve Champion and a blue ribbon at the 2002 Virginia Classic, a first at the 2001 MaPaca Jubilee in full fleece yearling halter, plus a second place in adult male halter and a second place fleece ribbon at the 2002 MaPaca Jubilee.


Full brother, McGregor