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.

Its not easy finding an outstanding harlequin dam with some age on her. Kismet is that girl. She came to me via Kitt in Sept 2021 bred to Man of Mystery and promptly delivered a super dense youngster (you just cant find the skin dense) with Dad's coloring and I was sold. Her boy Game Changer is a keeper. I showed him at GWAS and he got .... 1st. YAY! He may be homozygous. BTW. I bred her in 2022 and she slipped. I bred her in 2023 AGAIN to Man of Mystery for a 2024 cria (September due date) that I CANNOT wait to see. I have a bunch of harlequin females. Most of them for their future contribution to my spotted fascination but many of them struggle in the area of fleece but not in pattern or conformation. Kismet has something to offer in terms of fleece. And I look forward to seeing what she produces this year.... and next. And next. This GIRL. The potential for homozygous here cannot be understated. AND we know the outcome will be show worthy.