Llama Biography #13: Autumn Hill's Blazing Starr

The problem with me and this blog is that while I have tons of topics to write about, I am always lacking the necessary pictures to successfully illustrate the articles.  That is the situation that I once again find myself in, so I'm writing another biography...

Llama #13 in our herd was quite the interesting character...  Autumn Hill's Blazing Starr (aka Blaze) was born in September 2003, 2 weeks early!  He was the first cria for his dam, Little May Flowers (who was also the first cria ever born on our farm!).  Blaze came out a little "undercooked" (premature), and along with May being a first time mom, she really didn't want a whole lot to do with him.  Luckily he was a fighter, and my mom was also determined to keep him alive!  May and Blaze had to be locked in the barn for about 3 days after he was born, during which my mom bottle fed Blaze fairly regularly.  After 3 days, May seemed to catch on that Blaze was her responsibility and decided to let him nurse.  It was a long 3 days for my mom, but Blaze was definitely worth it!

Blaze at about a month of age.  Look at the presence!

May, while she was pregnant with Blaze.

Blaze's sire was SHAG Guido, a beautiful white suri-type male.  I was never a huge fan of Guido, but we sent 3 females to Shagbark Ridge Llamas to be bred in the fall of 2002, and he seemed to be a good fit for May.  Luckily it was a great cross!

Guido, Blaze's sire.

Blaze was definitely one of the nicest crias we had ever had born on the farm.  He had the most gorgeous suri-type fiber, and great conformation.  Unfortunately he got his mom's tiny ears, but that was just about the only bad thing about him!

Blaze at about 4 months of age.

Blaze's fabulous fiber.

In the spring of 2004, I knew Blaze had to be in my show string.  Along with his 2 "friends" (female crias born the same time as Blaze), he headed to the Western Ohio Triple Crown for his first show.  Blaze was shown in the Heavy Wool Juvenile Male class.  It was a pretty big class, but Blaze behaved respectably well.  I really wanted Blaze to place in the class, but was shocked when the judge pulled him out for 1st place!  We then went back for the Grand & Reserve class, but by that time Blaze had had enough of standing still so he didn't stand a chance.  While at the show, Blaze and another of our crias, Faith, caught the attention of a large alpaca breeder from Ohio.  Before the show was over Blaze and Faith had been sold, and they would move to their new farm after they were completely weaned in a few months.

Autumn Hill's Faith.

While I was sad that Blaze's show career was over, he ended up having a great home.  When he was older, he sired one cria (out of another of our animals, Autumn Hill's Charity who was sold to the same farm later on), Blaze of Glory.  Blaze was then gelded and sold to be an alpaca companion.

Blaze of Glory, Blaze's son.

Hopefully I'll have something more interesting to talk about soon!

Llama Biography #9: Autumn Hill's Charity

I was all ready for a fiber-filled post, but my camera died as I was taking pictures of my 4 new skeins of yarn, so I'm forced to use what I've got on my computer already.  Which means it is time for another llama biography!

Llama #9 is one of my all-time favorites...Autumn Hill's Charity.  We had a lot of ups and downs together...she was a great girl!

Spring 2003, after her first haircut.

What a beautiful face!

Charity was born May 25, 2002.  Her mom was our first llama...Casa Loma's Little Sheba.  When Sheba was old enough to breed for the first time, we sent her (and April) down to Yellow Wood Llamas in Martinsville to be bred to the handsome LW Captain Curry.  A little over a year later the adorable Charity was born, and she looked just like her dad!

Casa Loma's Little Sheba, Charity's dam.

LW Captain Curry, Charity's sire.

Newborn baby Charity!

Charity was the first llama born on the farm after I had started 4-H, so I had a better idea of how to start training her.  And I started early!  Charity was doing obstacles at only 2 weeks of age...she was awesome!

Charity practicing squaring up at only a few weeks old.

Charity didn't have the best conformation, but she had amazing fiber and performance abilities.  I showed Charity in 4-H for 2003 and 2004, and we really cleaned up.  She had a bit of an attitude, but most of the time we got through it.  My favorite Charity story is at the 2004 Hamilton Co. 4-H Fair, where Charity decided to spit on me while backing in the obstacle course.  Somehow I managed to take it in stride, and we finished the course...going on to win the class and Grand Champion Senior Performance!

Charity at her first show, the 2002 North American International Livestock Exposition.  She was just 2 weeks over 5 months!

Our first Grand Champion in performance!  2003 Hamilton Co. 4-H Fair.

We really cleaned up at the 2003 NAILE!

Winning costume at the 2004 LamaFest.  We were skiiers.

Charity's beautiful fleece.  She won numerous awards for her shorn fleece!  Walking fleece wasn't available back then.

Even though Charity and I did great in performance, her attitude started to get to me, and I loved training new babies, so I decided to retire her.  Charity ended up at Alpaca Jack Suri Alpacas in Ohio.  She eventually was bred to another Autumn Hill llama that we sold to Jackie, and had a beautiful baby boy that looks just like her!  Charity still has a great home, and I couldn't be happier!

Blaze of Glory, Charity's son.

Llama Biography #1: Casa Loma's Little Sheba

I couldn't quite come up with a good topic for a post this morning, so I decided to start my "Llama Biography" series.  Starting from the beginning (way back in November 1999), I'm going to talk about all the llamas that have been a part of our farm.  It is going to take quite awhile to get through all of them!  Hopefully it will give you a good idea of how our farm and breeding program has evolved over the years.

Casa Loma's Little Sheba was the very first llama that we ever purchased.  After coming home from yet another family backpacking trip, we decided that llamas might be a fun addition to the family, so we started calling farms in the area and arranging to visit.  Casa Loma Llamas in Mooresville, Indiana was the first farm that we went to.  Lana Coffey, the owner, showed us around her farm and introduced us to several young female llamas.  Sheba was just a tiny thing then, only about 4 months old, and Lana haltered her up and walked her around.  It was during that visit that I got my very first llama kiss (from Sheba).  I was hooked!

Baby Sheba the first time we met her.

Since Sheba wasn't quite old enough to leave the farm that summer, nor were we ready to house any llamas at our farm, we instead made several more visits to the Coffey's farm over the fall, learning about llamas and playing with Sheba.  In November, she and 3 other llamas from another farm arrived at our house, and our llama adventure had begun!

Sheba was my very first 4-H llama too.  We both began in the program the next spring, at Shagbark Ridge Llamas in Noblesville, Indiana.  Sheba was very sweet and beautiful, but she was not the most willing 4-H companion, so it was an interesting summer.  We showed at the 4-H fair and a couple of other shows, but after that year I retired Sheba from the show ring.  She would be a mom instead.

Sheba and I as mountain climbers in a costume class at the 2000 Indiana State Fair.

Sheba was bred for the first time when she was just over 2 years old.  We found a beautiful male to breed her to, and sent her and another female down for their dates.  Almost a year later, Sheba had her first cria, Charity.  Charity looked just like her dad, but had her mom's beautiful fiber.

Charity.

A few months after Charity was born Sheba had a very bad health scare.  She somehow contracted Salmonella, and spent 2-3 weeks at the vet school at Purdue University.  She lost almost 75 pounds, but she made it through and kept her cria healthy the whole time.

The next fall Sheba was again bred, and gave us a fabulous little cria in 2003, Faith.  In 2005, Sheba had her last cria for our farm.  Unfortunately, she had a difficult delivery, and her cria was born about 2 weeks early.  We spent 5 days trying to keep her cria, who we named Snowflake Obsidian (Sid for short), alive, but he succumbed to sepsis after a plasma transfer.

Faith.

Sid.

Sheba was rebred, and then sold to be an alpaca companion for a farm in Ohio.  She went on to deliver another beautiful female cria, and still has a great home.

Sheba, her last summer on the farm.