CONGRATULATIONS to Lindsey Betz and the Betz Family Farm on the purchase of Vintage Cashmere's U-Taupe-ia. Taupie will be greatly missed at Rare Gem Alpacas but he leaves behind a number of lovely offspring to grace our herd for years to come! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Taupie is a striking appaloosa harlequin male that is on a roll for throwing spotted and harlequin offspring. He has sired 53 offspring and 74 percent are either appaloosa or harlequin! While dam selection has a significant influence on such outcomes, it should be noted that the majority of the dams Taupie has been bred to have no genetic influence on this outcome. So for those that don't have existing foundation girls with appy / harlequin lineage-- Taupie has proven to be capable of passing along his appy genetics and produce desired results. So how does this happen? Only part of that story is known, but what we DO know is that certain lines of known appy gene carriers are much more "expressive" than others. Taupie just happens to be one of those. His heritage boasts appaloosa genetics on both sides of his lineage with Aussie Rockford out of Hannahruh on his sire's side and Chiquita Import on his dam's side. In April 2016, Taupie's progeny debuted in the show ring taking a blue in walking fleece and the blue in halter at the California Classic. This first boy was then followed by another appaloosa female and then another appy male-- both very similar to the first. The fourth cria, however, is something extra special! This little girl has expressed every color on the chart, not one pattern-- just speckles and spots from nose to toes-- Rare Gem U-Taupe-ia's Appletini! The unique coloring of this cria looks as though the color from Taupie's Grand Dam, Chiquita Import, is coming through and producing the rarest of rare gems-- her beautiful color seems to morph before your eyes! As much fun as it is to talk about Taupie's progeny... more about him! Taupie has a spotted face, spotted belly, spotted legs, and a beautiful solid platinum-taupe blanket. His top line is a nice medium silver grey, then blending into light silver grey down the sides. UPDATE: 2/2019 Leoopard appaloosa offspring, Sleepy Acres App-solutely Adorable "Dorie", takes Reserve Color Champion at Txolan! Congratulations!!

EPDs... Top 1% in 6 categories (2018 and 2017)! Sephora is a gorgeous STUD female and lives true to her name, "Stunning" Sephora. She has great bone substance, full coverage, and a long stapled fleece with brightness and uniformity. Sephora even at age 8, as a breeding female has stats we love. Take a look at her histogram for this year-- AFD 19.0 SD 3.9 CV 20.4% >30 1.4% Royal fineness @ age 8! No surprise given her great genetics: El Nino, Caligula, Hemingway and Legacy. Sephora's is a multi-champion producer. 2015 daughter, Charlotte, now has 2 championships under her belt, RCC at OABA and CC at VAOBA! 2017 daughter, Chenelle, took her first banner 2018-- CABA / Palooza Color Champion. Chenelle is sired by Starshire's Vicente and was born a healthy 21 lb. pound fawn over black! In October 2017, Sephora and her daughter Chenelle joined the Rare Gem Alpaca foundation herd (co-owned with Diamond Valley Alpacas). These girls are exactly what we look for in our foundation-- elite-fleece-- lasting fineness, density, temperament, proven champion pedigree producers. AND, the the icing on the cake with these girls?! Versatility-- these girls can take a color program in many different directions. When bred to color, Sephora has thrown color. Bred to white, she produced white. What fun we will have with these girls!! UPDATE: November 2019. Sephora delivers a lovely female appaloosa sired by Rare Gem XXXtreme Spots. UPDATE: December 2021. Sephora delivered a handsome dark fawn male with just one black spot sired by harlequin appaloosa Apache Gentleman.