Foundation Herd

r foundation herd is actually comprised of two groups: 

The first is a group of animals that will just never leave the farm - either because of their phenominal track record in producing high quality offspring, or because their genetics are rare enough that we want to keep them in the herd permanently.  Their offspring, however, are often available for sale, so after you've familiarized yourself with these girls, you can check out the sales pages and see how you can add these genetics to your herd!

The second is a group of animals that has top-notch fiber statistics and whose genetics we want to add to the foundation herd, so we are not offering them for sale at this time.  However, once we have gotten a high quality cria out of them - male or female, we move them to the sales page.  You will notice that several of our younger girls on this page are out of dams who we originally had in this category, but are now listed on the sales page. 

All of the girls listed below represent the ideals that we are striving for in our breeding program and should give you a good idea of where we are going and the high quality that we offer for sale.  Check out our "Fiber Facts and Lingo" page to familiarize yourself with the fiber statistics and measurements we use.


 

Name:  The Moon at Knight
ARI:  826726
Color:  White
DOB:  07/07/2000
Description:  Moon is out of our beloved 4Peruvian White Knight.  We recently acquired her from another farm and are so excited to include her in our foundation herd line-up.  White Knight had only 15 offspring before his death in 2009 and only five were females.  WK's fiber stats and biopsy results were unbelievable (see herdsire page), and with so few offspring on the ground, these genetics are extremely valuable, so Moon will remain in our foundation herd.  While Moon's skin biopsy results revealed low density and a low S/P ratio, the significant finding on her was that her micron spread between her primaries and secondaries was only 5.4 - the best on our farm.  A low micron spread between primaries and secondaries is critical for producing a smooth, soft hand (regardless of average micron), and an even, high quality yarn.    Moon just had a beautiful white boy out of Belmonte's September Sunshine who has a density measurment of 90 follicles/sq mm, gland levels of 3 out of 4, an MFD of 20.9 as a breeding male, and an S/P ratio of 11:1.  We think this little offspring is really going to be something special...stay tuned!  Moon is now bred to NGG Cortez for a Spring, 2012 offspring.

What we do with the fiber:  Because of Moon's low micron spread, her fiber still feels soft and silky even though her  micron count averages 28.  As such, Moon's fiber will be turned into roving this year.



Sera                                                Ginny - Sold!

Name: Lost River's Serendipity ("Sera")
ARI: 1179569
Color: Dark Fawn
DOB: 08/26/2004

Fiber Stats: Density - 36.5; S/P - 11.1:1; Glands - 2 of 4; Medullation - 80%; Spread - 10.4 microns

Density - 36.5; S/P - 11.1:1; Glands - 2 of 4; Medullation - 80%; Spread - 10.4 microns Description: We don't do this often, but we bought Sera on a whim...she had great conformation, a beautiful head, her fiber was incredibly smooth and silky, and we got to see one of her offspring and thought that girl was quite lovely. So, next thing you know, we owned her. Sera just delivered a beautiful bay black girl out of Cosmo - a beautiful (white!) Bolivian boy who has produced some amazing offspring.  We've taken Sera off the market for now as we work on getting her pregnant - once we feel we have a solid pregnancy under way, Sera will go back on the market.

Price: $6,000

What we do with the fiber: Sera's fiber falls into the Grade 4 category, so we spin her fiber as a blend with wool and sell it as weaving yarn for outer garments.




 


Name:  Cami
ARI: 31656931
Color:  White
DOB:  10/27/09
Description:  Cami is another girl out of White Knight and probably the best female he produced.  Cami has wonderful conformation, and her fiber is just awesome.  We have not micron tested her yet, but she is clearly fine, lustrous, and has wonderful density.  Cami is also out of one of our favorite dams - Corissa - who we sold to Mystic Springs Ranch.  Given that she is a direct descendent of White Knight, she will remain in our foundation herd.  Cami's biopsy results are in and she has a very impressive 49 follicles/sq mm, an S/P ratio of 11:1, and a micron spread of 10.  We have bred Cami to our award winning herdsire Bronze Mahogany for a Fall, 2012 cria so stay tuned!

What we do with the fiber:  Unfortunately, since we left her in full fleece, we won't be able to process it into yarn.  However, a handspinner will be able to work with it, so we expect that we will sell her blanket in raw fiber format.  We will shear Cami in Spring, 2011.


 
Name:  Salt River's Pretty Penny
ARI:  31167741
Color:  Light Fawn
DOB: 05/05/09

Fiber Stats:  Penny's biopsy results indicate 51 follicles/sq mm and an S/P ratio of 10.6/1.  Her histogram stats at 1 year of age were as follows:  MFD 18.3, SD 4.9, CV 26.8, fibers >30 2.0%. 

Description:  Penny is an absolute beauty!  Incredible luster and fineness, with long, flowing locks and a soft, cool handle.  Penny is out of a maroon dam we purchased to upgrade our herd, and a sire - Snowmass Lightning Locks - who is a grandson of White Knight.   As a yearling, Penny took a blue ribbon at 2010 MOPACA, beating out some top notch farms, and she took a second place in her class at the Suri Network Fleece Show, with a very respectable score of 73!  Then, in 2011, Penny's fleece took a first place in the Suri Network Spin-Off contest - we think that 's great as we always like to see that our fleece is functional as well as pretty!  We will be breeding Penny this Fall to Bronze Mahogany to add density and lock structure.

What we do with the fiber:  Penny's fiber will definitely be turned into yarn!




Name:  Salt River's Miley Ray
ARI: 31167727
Color:  Medium Fawn
DOB: 06/27/08

Fiber Stats:  Density - 75; S/P ratio - 14.4:1; Glands 4 of 4; Medullation - 80%; Micron spread - 5.8; MFD 23 (3 yrs)

Description:  Miley has stunningly beautiful luster, fineness, and that cool, slick handle that everyone strives for.  We expect that even as Miley matures, she will be able to maintain an MFD below 26 microns.  Miley sheared six lbs of blanket in 2010 with an MFD of 23 microns.  She was a 2010 Color Champion at the Suri Network Fleece Show - the largest Suri fleece show in the U.S. - and a ribbon winner at two large halter shows with classes each of 11.  Miley's skin biopsy results just came in - unbelievably good! - top 2% of tested Suris in the U.S.  Miley's first cria - a male out of our herdsire, Ravada's Kuma - is really coming along!  We are eagerly watching this guy grow and hope to have him in our 2012 show line-up.  Miley had a tough first birth, so we gave her a little break but are now breeding her to LCA Boots for a Fall, 2012 cria.

What we do with the fiber:  Miley's fiber sold out last year before it was even off of her!  And we expect it will sell raw this year as well!