No Place For Old Llamas

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=3 height=82 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Fallen Oak Llamas</B></FONT><B>     |   </B><B>  </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Fallen Oak Llamas"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id61.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Did you hear about the llama I bought??"><U>Did you hear about the llama I bought??</U></A>   |   <B>No Place For Old Llamas</B>   |   <A HREF="id65.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Abdominal Obstruction Scare"><U>Abdominal Obstruction Scare</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=150 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="128" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#000000 HEIGHT= 101 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="422785f0.jpg" border=0 width="120" height="95" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=398 BGCOLOR="#006633" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <B>No Place For Old Llamas</B><B>... Or Is It?</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The Show Ring</B></div> <bR> <div> A Llama Show. What a wonderful place to see outstanding llamas. The Halter Classes are filled with magnificent representations of the llamas finest potential. Weanling classes are filled with young llamas under a year in age. They are shown when their legs are straight and their growth spurt hopefully has their backs straight. Any person who has bred llamas knows that these young beauties do not look as perfect as that day in the ring. A young llama may be Grand Champion at one show & not place at the next show. </div> <bR> <div> Yearling class shows off the potential of what the llama may become. Some may have had a growth spurt & be tall & agile looking. Some may be turning into powerhouses. Some show off signs of their lineage. </div> <bR> <div> Two Year old Halter Classes show off a llama near his physical peak. The youth of the llama is shown in his grace & agility. The maturity of the Two Year old is shown in his muscles & tone. Then, the last Halter class is the Three & older class. This class is the focus of this article.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> The Over Three year old class… mostly made up of three to six year olds. The body is matured, the muscle mass is strong & exhibitors show of the genetic potential of continuing the lineage of that llama—male or female. The numbers in these classes are often significantly lower then the younger classes. Many llamas that were successful in the younger classes are no longer seen in the show ring after the age of three to four years. Ever ask yourself why? Well, there is no one answer for this question. Many factors are involved.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Reasons For No Longer Showing</B></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Success </B></I>is one reason llamas are not shown over the age of four years. A llama may have been shown extensively in his youth. He may have won all of the ribbons, received all of the prizes and gathered all of the points to receive a Recognition of Merit. This llama is probably a sought after commodity. With all hopes, people will want to pay top dollar to add this llamas genetics to their own breeding line.</div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Breeding</B></I> is another reason people no longer show their llamas past a certain age. Males now become the Herdsire for a ranch or sought after by other ranches. Many of these males can become quite unruly in the show environment too. People start breeding their females as young as two years so the two year old classes start to diminish in size. At a recent show, much to my horror, the judge asked if my two year old was pregnant. She was not even overweight. By three years, the female halter class numbers have diminished even more. The llama has reached the major portion of it’s growth & it’s body is now mature enough for reproduction.</div> <bR> <div> Many <I><B>other factors</B></I> all are involved in a llamas’ show career ending. They can include injury ( a problem our ranch became too familiar with in 2008), cost ( showing many llamas means spending many dollars) and moving on to other llamas (that new group of crias are great looking & will show off a herdsires genetics).</div> <bR> <div> I find the last factor for not showing a llama to be a sad one. <I><B>Confirmation</B></I>. At three to six years of age a llama will probably reach it’s peak physical shape. The body is tight, the back is straight & solid and the pasterns are strong. The llamas fiber is abundant & flowing. There is a flash in his eye and a perk in his step. Then everything changes. That straight back gets a bit of a sway to it. The pasterns become soft. The llama may loose the nice fluid movement it once had. The fiber begins to thin and become coarser. And let us not forget, the desired style of llamas is constantly changing.</div> <bR> <div> A bit of physical change is to be expected. After all, we see it in humans all of the time. The body seldom stays the same over time & this is something people should consider when adding to their breeding program. I have seen some people that have put genetically unsound llamas into their breeding program because the cria offspring look good (while they are young), or the pedigree is the ‘current fashion ‘. I have seen many outstanding llamas, in great condition’ overlooked merely because they were old.</div> <bR> <div> <B>The ‘Older’ Llama</B></div> <bR> <div> By now you probably think I am telling you that llamas are decrepit over the age of six. I AM NOT! All llamas loose some of the luster that they once had in their youth. Some loose more than others, but NO ONE should give up on a llama because of it’s age! </div> <bR> <div> Anyone who knows us knows our story. We started out with eight llamas—all at once. We had two herdsires, 2 1/2 years & 7 years old. The 2 1/2 year old not proven & the 7 year old only had two offspring and did not like people! Most of the females ranged between 7-9 years old. Many had been baby producers since before the age of 2 & others were ‘problem breeders’ because they did not get pregnant. All had good conformation and all would produce Blue Ribbon winners or Grand Champions.</div> <bR> <div> Our oldest Herdsire saw his first show in 2005, at the age of 12 years. Now you must remember, time did not leave him unaffected. Though he scored good over the back, he had a gut. Though it still was silky to the touch, his wool had thinned. He stood at 39 inches, well below the height of his</div> <div> competition… But… his back was strong, his pasterns were magnificent and he had a ’look at me’ presence of a much younger boy. He ribboned, placing 5th. Yes, there were only 7 in the class but none of the others were over the age of five. One of the males that placed under him consistently placed in the top three. WE WERE THRILLED!!!</div> <bR> <div> In May 2007, we were able to purchase an imported Argentine Herdsire, Argentine Corvo. He was 10 years old. We were impressed by his movement. He had strong pasterns. He had one of the strongest backs that we had seen, at any age. His problems– he only had four offspring & he stood at only 40 inches, but we like small. </div> <bR> <div> In May 2008, we entered him in the Grass Valley Show, CA. He was 11 years old (see a pattern here?). The Halter Class was double point—two judges. There were eight llamas in the class. Corvo placed a 3rd & a 5th, over much younger llamas. I had been sick so Corvo was not washed before competition. Corvo placed 4th in his Walking Fiber class. He was the only llama to score a perfect ten in wool density, in all four wool classes.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Conclusion</B></div> <bR> <div> Do you have a nice older llama? Enter him/her in a show. Yeah, you probably will not win but won’t you be thrilled if they do well. Plus, it is a great way to validate (or not) your own opinion of your llama. Are you going to breed to a llama outside of your ranch? Maybe you might want to consider a llama that has stood the test of time. You may not have the current fashionable genetics, but that strong cria produced might be the one everyone else will be wanting in the next few years!</div> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" width=150 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="128" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#000000 HEIGHT= 102 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="42478600.jpg" border=0 width="120" height="96" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>