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.

We, at MTAR, are thrilled to add this gorgeous girl to our foundation herd. Thank you Willowwind Farm! Pixie Cheetah is Calm, Content, Cute as a button and her Coloring is absolutely beautiful! Cheetah is out of Red Brick Granite’s Maxine, a Mile High The Reverend Mr. Black daughter. Maxine’s dam is an Appaloosa, Coffee Pot Elke. Her sire is multi champion fawn, PVA King of Diamonds, known for his exquisite, fine, bright fleece. He has passed his fleece qualities on to his offspring. Cheetah is a beautiful, solidly built female with a lovely head style, great conformation and rare harlequin genetics! She has bright fleece, a nice crimp style, a soft handle, and a long staple length. In short, she is a gorgeous harlequin female, displaying a high propensity to deliver beautiful harlequin offspring! We can’t wait to see what she’ll produce for us! Cheetah, bred to Red Granite’s Man of Mystery, formerly know as Pinktus (translates to spots from Spanish), produced a gorgeous female cria! Proudly co-owned with Willow Wind Farm.

It is with great excitement that we announce the addition of this handsome young appaloosa male to the Rare Gem herd. We have followed MIrakel's dam for years as she is the closest appaloosa descendant to LF Del a Burl, the handsome appaloosa male that was exported to Germany. With his departure, these genetics were limited to just two females in the United States-- one of which is MaRs Dixie-- MIrakel's dam. Dixie is the only appaloosa descendant of daughter from LF del A Burl. In Germany, Burl went on to produce 50+ cria, the majority of which are appaloosa and/or patterned. Mirakel's grand-dam, Sugar Shoo, was a full Peruvian and a granddaughter of Auzengate, a Peruvian male, noted for throwing appaloosa cria. Mirakel's maternal side carries the Victor line and is stacked with champions, including Eastwind's Snowstorm. Dixie's owners had the foresight to breed her to an elite-fleeced male-- Aspen Alpacas Highpoint out of the Silver Rose Overture / Augusto's Cochiti line. Highpoint has stamped this offspring, Mirakel, with his beautiful phenotype including a lovely head, full coverage from nose to toes, perfect portions and an evolved, fine colorFULL appaloosa fleece! His previous owners have said "Here's betting that he gives his maternal brother, Wahoo from MaRS, a run for his money!" Those are some big "hooves" to fill, but time will tell. We invite appaloosa and harlequin breeders to keep an eye on this young male, Mirakel. We have great things planned for him! Special thanks to Alpacas from MaRS and Las Flores del Altiplano Alpacas for producing this fine male and letting him join the Rare Gem herd. With gratitude... UPDATE: Mirakel's show career is off to a great start. His most recent award is from the 2023 PNAA IFA. He took first in his class and "Most Uniform in Grade" Award - Grade 0.