Graduates from Lost Creek Llamas!

Snake River Dallys

ILR # 113804
female  b.6-23-93
Snake River Bandit x Snake River Morgan

Dallys worked her way from frightened weanling to reliable packer and was part of our main show string in years past. She is 45" at the withers and runs around 320 lbs. She was Gwen's llama while she was here, and Gwen still misses her very much even though she knows Dallys gets out and about far more in her new home than she ever would have if she'd remained here, and that Dallys thrives on her new improved lifestyle.

Dallys did exceptionally well (and during her growth spurt, very poorly!) at halter. She holds the ALSA title of Halter Champion, and currently has four Grand Champions and two Reserves to her credit, and also a Reserve of Show. Dallys's performance progress was initially hampered by her fears, but she did graduate to the advanced competition level in all classes.

Dallys has an excellent classic coat in addition to her superior performance capabilities and notable intelligence. However, she has a propensity for early births. After Dallys had Finys, a daughter by Andrew (whose daughters are known to carry to full term or better), we retired her from breeding and placed her in a good working home where she could get more of the "action" she enjoys.

Dallys likes athletic endeavors and going places, particularly where there are people-watching opportunities. She really enjoys trail work ... as long as there are no unleashed dogs.

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At a speaking engagement near Dallas, Oregon, we found a very wild, solid grey tiger kitten in a trap stenciled "Dallas Humane Society." We of course rescued the kitten from certain death and took it home. Dallas-the-cat (a female) went from throroughly frightened to affectionate friend before dying of a congenital kidney disorder at the age of one year. Dallys-the-solid-grey-llama came to us a wildly frightened weanling. We named her in honor of Dallas-the-cat, hoping that Dallys-the-llama would also be able to shed her wildness and become a good friend (which she has).

We made the spelling change to placate the ubiquitous stuffy types who had said, "You can't name a 'girl' cat 'Dallas'-- that's a 'boy's name'." That strategy hasn't worked so well -- now they all mispronounce it because (you guessed it), " 'Dallas' is a 'boy's name'." (Interestingly enough, "Dallas" was originally a female name, and "Dallys" is an accepted alternate Scottish spelling.)

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Meet Dallys's offspring:

Rocky Mountain Kiowah

ILR # 118507
spay  b.5-13-93
Rocky Mountain Harlequin
x Rocky Mountain Arikaree

Kiowah is a sturdy and outrageously curious creature who stands 46" at the withers and since her spay, she has had less trouble staying a trim 335 pounds.

Kiowah attended two shows, and we were very much encouraged by her perfomance class potential despite no prior background and very little training. We have also been very much impressed with Kiowah's physical attributes, magnetic personality, and naturally unflappable disposition.

In December of 1997, Kiowah unfortunately produced a cria with choanal atresia (sired by Hidden Valley Silverhawk) and so she was spayed in October of 1998 after she finished packing for the year.

We did not originally anticipate Kiowah ever leaving our llama family, but it became painfully clear that she deserves a home where she will have more opportunities to pack and do other interesting things.

Kiowah likes running and bucking games, and new stuff to investigate.

Snake River Molly

ILR # 134513
female  b 6-26-94
Snake River Bandit x Snake River Willow

Molly is 46" at the withers and averages around 320 pounds.

Prior to her arrival in the spring of 1996, Molly was handled only for treatment of a severe leg wound, so her training focused entirely on the basics for some time after we got her. She likes trails, but is apprehensive of dogs and human structures, probably a reflection of the events surrounding her injury. She is a strong packer, but her "self-preservation meter" is set too high for her to comfortably handle the deliberate scare tactics that are now part of every llama performance class at shows; again, her accident likely plays a significant role in that perception. Largely due to trailer space limitations, we never showed Molly at halter, although we suspect she would have (and still would) place very well.

Molly's paternal half-sister, Snake River Dallys, has shown extensively and done quite well ... and is also a highly-valued, well-trained pack llama.

Molly wants to be a teacher, whatever that means. She does have a particular affinity for young llamas. She also shows a great deal of patience (and persistence) when trying to get something across to us dummy humans.

Molly likes running full blast, pirouetting, inspecting cats, and being in what she considers safe places. She does not like dogs or confinement at all. She also sincerely appreciates that one house call from Dusty's chiropractor!

Molly is a real "find" for anyone serious about breeding good pack llamas. She is strong, quick, athletic, willing, and most important of all, she maintains herself at a trim weight. She has impeccable maternal qualities as well, and of course has no reproductive or genetic problems. She is also a complete outcross to common domestic bloodlines, and has no woolly ancestry at all. We certainly don't come across llamas of Molly's caliber very often, and because of that, although we listed Molly for sale three times ... and changed our mind twice. For Susan Baldwin of Sunora Farms, the third time was a charm, and Molly now has a perfect new home where she can pack, be appreciated, and may produce a few more fine classic offspring.

Spokane River Kokanee

ILR # 110470
spay  b.3-10-93
Hidden Valley Silverhawk x Princess Colleen

Kokanee believes she is very special, and we agree. She is 44.25" at the withers, and should weigh about 300 pounds, although her intake has to be well-managed to keep it there.

Kokanee initially did well for herself in the showring with a Grand and many Reserve Grand awards at halter and some excellent placings in performance classes. However, Kok tired of courses that were either too easy or -- as is increasingly more common -- are supposed to make her frightened, so we agreed she could retire from showing.

 

When Kokanee's sire produced a cria with choanal atresia, we made the decision to stop breeding Kokanee (after her 1998 offspring, then unborn) until a test for CA carrier status could be developed. However, Kokanee also did not produce milk to our standards, and so she was spayed. We have also finally concluded that Kokanee is marginally heat-intolerant -- a trait she has passed on to Apikuni -- and that, too, is sufficient cause for removal from the performance llama gene pool.

Kokanee likes eating, and enjoys attention in almost any form, although she isn't the type to shadow strangers anymore -- Kok prefers to place her trust in humans she knows. She enjoyed raising her baby, but she enjoys being a spay even more -- she can eat more and gain less weight (although weight is still an issue for her).

We placed Kokanee in a retirement home where she will get shade, exercise, and more attention.

Lost Creek Nubin Calliope

ILR # 109797 (crossbred subregistry)
spay  b.11-21-92
Ranger Dusty x Nubin Sandie

 

Calliope is Dusty's super-athletic daughter out of a half guanaco, half pacovicuna female (who was sold to us as a purebred guanaco in need of grooming). She is 41.25" at the withers (significantly taller than her 39" mother) and is staying a fairly fit 220 pounds now that she's a spay.

Calliope began her show career with a bang, turning in outstanding performances in obstacle classes. She then discovered hormones, teenagerness, and MALES . . . and suddenly obstacles were boring and pointless.

We chose to spay Calliope for several reasons. The primary reason was her energy level, fast reactions, and intelligence (increased due to her "wild" guanaco and vicuna genes), which can make her overwhelming to some handlers. A second reason is that her coat is dense and does not shed readily. These genetically dominant traits greatly outweighed the increased athleticism we'd hoped to pick up from the cross. Surgical separation from her hormones resulted in Calliope quickly returning to her sweet, even-tempered prepubertal self, and she doesn't miss the "old days" one iota.

Calliope likes treats and all sorts of mental stimulation, ie: INPUT! She also like space to roam and hills to climb and posture from, all of which she has in abundance at her new home.

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A calliope is a circus organ, and also the cheerful, lively music that eminates from it. One of Gwen's co-workers was named Calliope, and that struck her as a great name for a llama. In fact, it has turned out perfectly because Calliope certainly is lively!

Lost Creek Ranger Stehekin

ILR # 186199
gelding  b. 11-17-97
Ranger Dusty x Snake River Dallys

Stehekin stands 44.25" and weighs around 290 pounds. Stehekin liked both of us, but really fell for Margy.

Stehekin has exemplified the cooperative and teachable attitude we look for from birth, and has a pretty darned good body to boot. However, he does have some of his mother's innate tendency to react to loud noises and sudden movement by jumping first and asking questions later. Although he does learn to accept new "boogers" and is otherwise quite calm, the instinctive reaction is genetic, and so we gelded him at 15 months so he would be safe to pasture with females, a decision that turned out to be exceptionally fortuitous in Stehekin's case.

Stehekin has developed into a fine green packer, but is not interested in showing, which does emphasize scaring llamas (something Stehekin prefers to avoid!) rather than exemplary behavior and well-coordinated performances. This works out perfectly in his new home, where he is a packer and also gets ample attention, petting, and scratches ... and he gets to live with females (whom he understands perfectly) instead of rambunctious studs and late geldings (who make him very uptight).

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"Stehekin" means "the way" or "pass" (the exact native American language of origin is not known), and is the name of both a river and a beautiful, isolated town at the head of Lake Chelan in Washington state.

Lost Creek Ranger Olallie

ILR # 131298
female  b.12-10-94
Ranger Dusty x Hyder Llamas Sahalie

Olallie originally surpassed our expectations as an outstanding young pack and performance prospect. She is 45.75" at the withers and averages about 300 pounds.

Olallie had a number of good placings in performance classes and earned one Grand and two Reserve Championships at halter despite the distinct political disadvantage of her classic coat at that time.

Olallie began her packing career in the summer of 1998. As Olallie's maturity allowed our packing and driving demands on her to increase, a problem emerged -- bilateral patellar laxity (her "kneecaps" were found to be loose on both sides).

Based on the circumstances, we thought she'd acquired the problem in a winter accident, just as we assumed maternal half-brother Jack's patellar luxation was strictly trauma-induced. But when Olallie's brother Kilchis started showing the same reluctance to negotiate steeper terrain and we confirmed one of his patellas was looser than it should be, we concluded that no matter what traumas were causing the problem to emerge, there had to be a weakness there, and it had to be genetic. We castrated Olallie's only offspring and retired her from breeding and driving (harness work is particularly stressful to any llama's patellas, and we suspect that's why Olallie's condition is more significant than Kilchis's, who never actually progressed beyond ground driving in his training).

Olallie loves visitors, being the center of attention, and being scratched all over. We placed her in a retirement home where she will never be bred or worked, but will enjoy plenty of attention!

Lost Creek Ranger Skaikeek

ILR # 235969
gelding  b. 11-24-01
Gold'n Hawk x Lost Creek Ranger Olallie
[photo at 5 years]

Skaikeek is 44.75" and keeps his weight around a trim 275 to 290 pounds (and staying lean is a very important trait for a working llama!) He is a very sensible guy who really reflects his grandsire Ranger Dusty's disposition and physical prowess.

We looked long and hard for a stud physically and mentally worthy of Dusty's oldest daughter, Olallie, but with a sparse undercoat to compensate for her somewhat heavier-than-ideal undercoat. Gold'n Hawk, owned by Eagle's Nest Llama Ranch in Auburn, California, was the result of that intensive search. Skaikeek definitely has Hawk's face, heavy muscling and bone, and his very dark grey coat.

We would have preferred that Skaikeek had inherited his father's standard-length coat, but when breeding, there are no guarantees. Because Skaikeek's coat was not enough of an improvement on Olallie's (and because we couldn't be certain of his patellar integrity at the time -- see Sahalie's and Olallie's pages), we castrated him. Fortunately for Skaikeek, his coat improved at maturity, and his patellas are remaining sound.

Much as we really enjoyed Skaikeek's disposition and outlook, we can't keep them all ... so someone else is now very, very lucky to enjoy Skaikeek as their super packing partner!

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"Skaikeek" is the Chinook word for "hawk."

Lost Creek Ranger Taos

ILR # 245245
gelding  b. 12-13-02
Ranger Dusty x Snake River Molly

Taos tends to run around 280 pounds; we need to get an adult measurement for him in December of 2006. Taos will be living with a long-time friend of ours a few miles away.

All males born here are presumed to be future geldings unless they prove to be highly superior, and indeed, all but one have been castrated to date. Taos passed our very tough and thorough scrutiny for conformational and biomechanical traits and we would have liked to have kept him intact, but he did not come up to "stud quality" in classic-breed-specific coat traits -- his coat, although it does shed, would not improve the offspring from marginal females -- and so we castrated him.

Taos likes exploring, and he likes interacting with humans and trying to figure them out.

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"Taos" means "place where the red willows grow" in Tewa. Taos is red, of course; his maternal grandmother is Snake River Willow.