Fall 2022- Congratulations to Mary Miller of Aspen Alpacas on her purchase of FTAF Privateer. At age 10, Privateer is as handsome as ever and going strong. We are ever so grateful for what he has added to our herd over the years. He has blessed Rare Gem Alpacas and our clients with many amazing champions and foundation offspring. We will miss this sweet dispositioned boy, but happy that he is going to such a great home and program. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Privateer's offspring made their first show appearance March 2019. RG Privateer's First Mate took two 1 firsts and Grey Color Champion in both Halter (out of 17) and Walking Fleece (out of 33). RG Harley's Davidson took first of 13 in his Walking Fleece class and then Reserve Color Champion Walking Fleece (25 total). We can now add "Producer of Champions" to Privateer's list of fine qualities. Privateer’s grey, 3X color champion son sold at 2020 Amber Autumn Auction. Congratulations Jamey Haney on her purchase of this beautiful Privateer offspring. Privateer's 2017 skin biopsy at 5yrs old by Dr. Norm Evans shows a density of 71 follicles/sqmm. SP ratio is 12.1 to 1 with level 4 of 4 gland presence which correlates with what senior judges are referring to as “well-nourished fleeces”. Secondary fibers average 21.9 microns and primary fibers averaging 30.1 giving him a variation of only 8.2 microns. I greatly anticipated the arrival of this guy and he is all that I expected and more. He is out Crown Jewel of PVA and SHVN The Buccaneer (who passes on lingering fineness to his offspring), both of whom are multiple champion animals! What a powerhouse background this guy possesses, The Elite Maximus, Hemingway, Bobbie Ann on the dams side and Pot of Gold, Royal Inca Legend on his sire's side, no wonder he is such a gorgeous animal. Privateer is stunning. As you can see by his fleece, he possesses awesome structure and the brightness to his fleece is blinding. Take that with his gorgeous head and coverage everywhere and we are looking at a boy that will make an excellent herdsire! Privateer's fleece is that "elite" fleece with bundles everywhere and secondary bundles coming out of each bundle, even down to his knee and under his belly and on his chest. He also has dark skin which should allow him to pass color. He has placed well in the shows and has always been up against very tough competition. The animals that placed above him were always from very big farms. So that should tell you where this boys really stands in the line up of future herdsires. Privateer started his breeding career Fall 2016 and has thrown many champions and has champion grand-offspring as well. He tends to throw the color of the female— while significantly upgrading fleece characteristics. If you have a dam that you love the color of and want to look for improvements in AFD (fineness that lasts!), SD, density, crimp, brightness!

In 2017, Eclaire was bred to FTAF's Privateer, a Buccaneer son and FTAF Blackbeard sibling. Both Eclaire and Privateer brought superior fleece characteristics, fiber stats and phenotype and produced a lovely white female cria, Rare Gem Coconut Kream. Her fiber is super fine and has lovely crimp. Eclaire's sire is MFI Peruvian Allblack, the 2011 AOBA National Fleece Show Reserve Champion, chosen out of 27 brown fleeces. His fleece is fine with carpet density and loads of character with high frequency crimp. It is so bright, it's brilliant. Allblack consistently passes on his dark colored genetics. The majority of his crias are black or dark brown girls. Look closely at his pedigree, there is not a weak spot in it. His dam is as accomplished and well-bred as his sire. This male is quality head to toe. Flawless conformation, gorgeous head, and a super nice calm disposition. He has it all. Eclaire's dam, Krispy Kream, was a stand-out in the Rare Gem foundation herd for years. She is in the top 5% in three EPD categories and top 1% fibers >30 (22 micron fleece at age 11! ). Krispy graced the herd with her amazing carriage. Always standing tall... with an eye for everything going on. Just love this line of girls! Congratulations to Clear Mountains Alpacas of Connecticut. Krispy Kream, and her BFF Marshmallow Moon, moved to their new farm in 2021-- both with Apache babies in the oven! UPDATE: A few years back, Eclaire had a bout with mites leaving her nose bare as well as a couple of places on her legs. She has long since been mite-free, but the fiber has been slow to regrow. It can be a problem during the summer as her nose can get sunburnt on this delicate skin area. I keep a large mask on her during the summer that covers most of her nose to protect her from the sun. I have her on Mazuri Fiber Enhancer containing biotin and other fiber supplements. We recently started Eclaire on a new topical skin treatment Ozone Ointment with Propolis for Alpacas. Hopefully this will help with Eclaire's lil bald nose. If you think Eclaire might be a fit for your farm, please feel free to contact me so that we may discuss a breeding of your choice for Eclaire. She is being sold at a discounted price due to her skin condition.

Meet the newest addition to the Rare Gem herd-- Snowmass Sizlin Legacy XX! This boy is an exciting find out of the Snowmass herd. While Snowmass did not breed appaloosas, they kept detailed breeding program notes which included specific lines that threw spots and the frequency of those spotted results. Sizlin descends from an import within the Snowmass herd that threw the highest number of spotted offspring-- to a rate of 6.5X that of the others in their herd. Do we have a new gene carrier to add to the list of the appaloosa breeders?!?! Time will tell. Sizlin will be thoroughly "tested" and bred across the full range of colors of non-appaloosa carriers. In addition to having a beautiful phenotype, Sizlin has a buttery handle that opens up to well-defined spots of white, fawn, dark brown... and even grey! His fleece is extremely fine, dense and uniform. His first shearing at <10 months old yielded 8 lbs. of fleece! Needless to say, we are so blessed that Lynn Edens of Little Creek Farm has agreed to share this amazing young male. Sizlin's show debut was October 20-21, 2021 at the double show NEAOBA Alpaca Fall Spectacular and Empire Alpaca Extravaganza in Syracuse, New York. He color checked and was confirmed by the ring judges as "definitely" appaloosa. Both judges had very positive comments as to his fiber quality, eye-catching conformation and calm, pleasant demeanor. After New York, Sizlin was shown across the United States in a variety of shows. He has performed well including taking 3 Reserve Color Championship banners! Sizlin started his breeding career in the Summer of 2022 and he is a natural. He is being bred to a cross-section of females to determine what he will throw across colors. He has been color genotyped by Neogen / Canada and is a EeAA. Sizlin's first offspring was born June 2023 and is white out of a white dam-- gorgeous fleece and phenotype. January 2025 two more Sizlin cria have arrived-- both showing advanced fleece structure from the get-go. Sizlin's on Fya is a lovely appaloosa female and Haute-n-Knotty is a smoky light brown out of brown. More information can be found on both below. If you are interested in breeding for rare fleece colors, you can also read our recent article in The American Alpaca Journal: Breeding for Rare Fleece Colors by Clicking Here Snowmass Sizlin Legacy XX is co-owned by Little Creek Farm, Diamond Valley Alpacas and Rare Gem Alpacas.