Mr. Butterscotch (AKA Scottie, or “Mister Scot” for the serious Star Trek fan) was one of those alpacas whose photo I had seen and gone, “WOW.” Well, sometimes the stars align, and now, months later, we are proud to have Scottie join our stud row. Scottie is a very light silver harlequin appaloosa. His sire was a dark harlequin son of the renowned DPA Quetzal, son of Timoteo. His dam, My Peruvian Zuleika, was a powerful producer for Magical Farms. She is also the dam of multiple-champion grey Zoolander, as well as several harlequin daughters who were all exceptional. With a name like Mr. Butterscotch, and covered in spots, one might expect Scotty to be a bit of a goof – but this is one serious macho. Scottie is a very dominant male, though he is outgoing towards humans and very good on a halter. He gets along very well with the other large, macho studs that he lives with. Scottie's dominant nature isn't surprising, as he has the largest testicles that I have ever seen on an alpaca. This is a very desirable trait, as it has been found to positively correlate with high offspring fertility in other livestock. Coming up on his tenth birthday, Scottie still looks stunning. He is ideally conformed, with a square build and good bone. He is extremely well-muscled and has a wide chest and excellent spring of rib. His type is excellent, with a handsome head, coverage to his toes and a topknot that keeps on growing. Scottie did extremely well in the showring, taking blue ribbons at highly competitive shows. More importantly, he has retained many of those competitive fiber traits even on his tenth fleece. Scottie's current fleece is still endowed with a distinct, consistent crimp that is medium to high in frequency. His brightness is terrific for his age, and his fleece is still quite uniform with a soft handle. He is very dense, and working on a great staple length for his age. Before arriving at Howling Hill, Scottie had one harlequin, Tia, to his credit. She has solid bone, excellent coverage, beautiful type, and consistent crimp. His first cria here was an appaloosa ... His second, a harlequin ... His third, a minimally-spotted appy. Scottie can throw harlequin, alright. As Scottie is getting up in age, I have decided to close his studbook. Look for his offspring on our farm, as well as females bred to him.

Look out for a donated breeding at the 2025 AOA National Show! First, you have to thank Red Granite for delivering such an outstanding male. Second, you have to thank Kitt Hollister for selling you her herd, including this outstanding male, and if I could reduce the lack of hesitation in making that purchase, I could in fact reduce it to this one male. From Kitt: "The best way to introduce this male is using the facts. First: YES, he is a true Harlequin. His great grandsire, Black Epic, is one of the most prolific Harlequin Appaloosa producers out there. His spots are subtle as his coloring is very light, a most stunning lavender rose grey. They are there, however, and there is no question that his extraordinary coloration is the result of the Harlequin Appaloosa gene." At 127.2 follicles/square mm density, Man of Mystery is the densest alpaca yet biopsied by Ian Watt in the USA, and I have not yet heard of a denser alpaca out there. With a primary SD of 2.5, secondary SD of 2.2, and fiber population differential of 3.5, he is also one of the most uniform. To quote Ian Watt directly, "overall this is the best alpaca I have tested in the US." His yearling histogram, at 16.0 AFD and 3.1 SD, is fine. His two year old histogram, at 17.3 AFD and still a 3.1 SD, is fine. His 2019 AFD, calculated off of his biopsy, is 16.9. So, he's fine, and he's staying fine, which is to be expected. Why? Well, his sire, CCNF Legionnaire, has a 6 y/o AFD of 17.3 with an SD of 3.5, and his dam's 5 y/o histogram was 20.5 with an SD of 3.5 -- impressive for any color, but stunning for a TRUE BLACK. So, here we go: unbelievably dense, uniform, and fine. As the pictures show, this fleece is, as expected, also quite beautiful -- bright bright bright, with a high-frequency crimp that stamps it as truly elite. He also has a decent staple. So far, he has thrown pattern 80+% of the time. His crias demonstrate his unique coloring and fantastic fiber statistics! He's produced blacks with 16 micron fleeces adn 2.9 SDs, and appaloosa/harlequins with 17.9 microns and 3.6 SDs. Be on the lookout. This guy is restricted but his kids are not... Much much more to come.