Another Great Day At The Ranch

I arrived at the ranch about 10AM anticipating a very hot day. I figured we would be doing alot of belly hosing. Nope, it was a beautiful day with a wonderful breeze. I was hoping to witness a birth, but none of the girls agreed. I did get to meet the newest cria, Lancelot (mom: Guinevere).

Fred had already had one date before I arrived. We brought Viviace up to meet Duchess, but she wasn't in the mood. After a little break, we brought Fred back up to the breeding pen to spit test Star. Although she had spit the week before, today she was somewhat receptive and eventually sat. Guess I'm not going to have a 2008 Mother's Day cria. Maybe Father's Day. Star is so funny, she would only sit by the feeder. I guess she didn't want to be too far from the food. She sat for awhile, then would get up, then sit, etc. I'm not quite sure if Fred spent enough time doing his thing to get the job done. We'll know in a few weeks. Yep, Star is definately a "silly maiden". Some exciting news....before Star was shorn, she was medium fawn. Her registration also says she is medium fawn. Now that she's been shorn, her coloring is different. Rick brought out the color chart to check her and she is now LIGHT ROSE GRAY! Since there are not alot of rose gray Alpacas, that will certainly increase her value.

Speaking of rose gray...ALPHA is continuing to change color. He still has about the same number of little white spots on his blanket, but they appear to be spreading out a little. Today, Rick noticed white hairs around his withers and going up his neck. It looks like he may be changing to a rose gray, as well.

Rick walked ALPHA today and I walked Felix. Although Felix was a little stubborn until we got up the hill, he did much better today than he has the last few weeks. Since he has this bad habit of wanting to always turn to the right, I moved the lead to the ring on the left side of his halter (rather than the ring in the middle under his chin), and that really helped. ALPHA didn't drop to his knees once today. He is doing so well on a halter. He even walked on to the patio and looked in the sliding glass door (and saw a very handsome Alpaca in the glass). Rick then walked him in to the garage and he went, with no problem! We walked them both down to the main fields to see the girls and crias through the fence. Of course, all the Alpacas had to run to the fence to see these handsome boys. Several of the girls were in the nursery and Rick walked ALPHA up to the fence. Princess (ALPHA's mom), came up to the fence and she and ALPHA were nose to nose. It was such a touching moment for mom to see her cria after several weeks of separation that it made me cry. It looked like she was giving ALPHA a kiss. Rick started working with ALPHA to prepare him for his first show in September. He got him to stand properly, looked at his teeth, and put his hands all over him as a judge would. ALPHA was super! Considering this is only his 5th time on a halter (1 time for shearing, 1 time for moving to Boy's Town and 3 walks), he is doing very, very well. I am so proud of him. Felix isn't quite his ol' self yet, but was much better today than the last few weeks. Rick & Pati has alot of pepper trees on their property and today Felix had to stop at every one and eat leaves off the branches. He's never done that before. In fact, he was eating leaves, plants, and hay off the ground during the entire walk. Got the munchies, Felix???

Sweety is a riot to watch. In a previous writing, I had described her as the NASCAR girl. She also bounces around, kicking up her heels and looks like a little Jack In The Box toy. She jumps straight up in the air for no apparent reason. She can be alone, or in a crowd and still do it. This girl is "personality plus", growing like a weed, and absolutely gorgeous. Merlin's Majik is getting more stunning each day.

There had been some changes in the fields since the last time I was there. Rick moved the weanlings to the center field because a few were still trying to nurse from the new moms. Most of the new moms are maidens, so they don't seem to realize the cria trying to nurse isn't theirs.
I learned something today about weanlings. I gave treats to the them and not one would eat from my hand. Rick said they never do. But, my girl Princess made my day by eating treats out of my hand again.

On June 28th, my girl Vanilla Sundae will be one year old. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, VANILLA!