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!!

Buck Brook Morning Glory is beige female with a couple of brown spots, like her famous grandsire, Snowmass Matrix. Her dam also on our farm Ivory's Quest, is a super fine female in the top 1% of EPD's in the country. We combined her fineness with the ultra dense fiber in our herdsire Gentle Breeze's Glacier. The result is a super soft bright and luxurious handle with uniform crimp. Morning Glory sells with her maiden breeding. We recommend our sire Snowmass Solar Paramount to add a zipper and color to her soft handle. Congratulations to Marilyn Esteb!

He’s a superhero all right! X man is not just the sire of beautifully fleeced appaloosas and harlequins from solid females but also produced a harlequin that was awarded 2023 grey female National Champion. His pedigree is stacked with elite solid colored ancestry and he carries the appaloosa genotype of his ancestor NGG Lionel. This boy is five years old and just getting started. This priceless opportunity will be made available June 1, 2024-- Parade of Champions Auction in N. Salem, New York. Come see him in person. Online bidding will be available as well. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * If your goal is to produce elite-fleeced appaloosas and harlequins, this young male is for you. He is handsome and well-grown-- 190 lbs. (Feb 2024) He carries elite-fleeced heavy hitters in his pedigree such as Legacy, El Nino, and Snowmass XXXtreme. These elite-fleeced alpacas are known for their lasting-fineness and density. GSire Accoyo America Sai-Hoji was 21 micron at 11 years of age! Not only does X Man sport a sweet, easy-to-handle disposition... his fleece is exactly what you would expect from such a stellar pedigree. He is dense and fine and FULL of crimp! He has a tight primary to secondary ratio with an AFD of 21.2, SD 3.9 and Fibers Greater than 30=0.6%. (Age 4) Expect lasting fineness from this guy! X Man now has 17 offspring on the ground. We are extremely pleased with the quality and coloration of his progeny. They are having great success at shows and on the auction stages. A couple of noteworthy accomplishments... June 2023 - X Man's harlequin offspring Monet's Palette of DVAF sold at the New York Parade of Champions after some very competitive bidding. July 2023 - X Man's harlequin offspring - Derwydd's Pukka-Dot by X-Man took the GREY Color Champion at the 2023 AOA National Fleece Show. 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 Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions you may have.