Sunday, October 10, 2010

Magical Farms Auction

For years we attended the annual auction at Magical Farms and have purchased some of our best animals at this event. The last few years we had scheduling conflicts that didn't allow us to attend. We were anxious to go back this year, but had sworn we were going to sit on our hands and not bid on anything - yeah right, like that was going to happen!! During the auction preview, we evaluated nearly every animal and then cut the list to those who fit into our breeding program. Fortunately we kept to that list... but we still ended up buying 3 1/2 animals - how's that for the guys who weren't going to buy anything.

The auction started for us with a partnership in Our Peruvian Ilena, a Mister Antonio daughter who is bred to 3 time Herdsire of the Year - Majestic Peruvian Jeremiah. We split this girl with our good friends at Willow Bend Alpacas and are hoping for a Jeremiah boy next June.

The very next lot, MFI Peruvian Rewarding, was high on our list - and we were justly Rewarded! She is a Cactus Jack daughter and is bred to Jericho for a 2011 cria. (Interestingly, we can't wait for her second breeding - to our Jericho brother, MFI Peruvian Natural High.) We love the results of crossing the Jeronimo and Dakotia lines!

Early in the morning, when we arrived at Magical, we ran into one of our favorite Magical farm hands, Lee, and he told us the best animal in the auction was Lot 48. We looked at her and agreed we really really liked her for her density and fineness. To top it, she comes with a breeding to 3 time Herdsire of the Year - Majestic Peruvian Jeremiah! When it came to bidding, we had to do it for Lee and purchased MFI Peruvian Ellynora. She is a daughter of Rolex and will join the Tiskilwa show string for the fall shows before returning to Magical to be bred.

When the auction catalog arrived in the mail several weeks ago, we were drawn to one fantastic animal and that was the main reason we cleared our calendars to attend. Many people know of Tiskilwa as a BROWN FARM with our herdsires, Performer, Natural High, and Red Cloud. When we have put Natural on Performer daughters, we have gotten outstanding results - but we needed something for the next generation. We have been quietly looking for the next BROWN MALE to join the Chiefs of Tiskilwa. There he was in the auction catalog - lot 67 - MFI Peruvian Right of Way - a son of Cactus Jack (see Rewarding above). His ARI certificate is a who's who of the alpaca world including grey, rose grey, fawn, beige, brown, and black! We can't wait to put him on our girls - but he'll temporarily join the TFA show string this fall.
Thanks to the Forstners, the Farleys, and the entire Magical staff. They put on a great event and we always feel extremely welcome at their auctions. We were able to catch up with some old alpaca friends and make several new friends. There were several other animals that we had interest in and we wish all of the buyers good luck with their purchases. And we weren't going to bid.......