Don’t mess with the LG

I spent mid day yesterday driving to southern NH to make a little exchange with our buddy, Ryen Munro. It was time for Elite Legend and I-Star to head to the their coastal home in Maine for a while and for Legacy Gold to come back to CCNF in order to be in place for a drive-by breeding or two.

Snowmass Legacy Gold has held court here since the fall of 2001 so it’s a safe bet to say that he is a known entity to his peers in the Stud Barn, the vast majority of whom are nowadays much younger than him. What amazed me yesterday though was the deference they all showed to LG upon his coming into the barn. Whatever “it” is, the old man has clearly got it in spades. Sovereign came over briefly and though he gave his dad a little sniff (“Hey, you know…he could have been a girl”) he quickly backed off.  I cannot think of another single Herdsire who gone for even a week or two, two say nothing of 2 months, would not have been subjected to a full-on running humpfest, that great traditional male alpaca “welcome back” ceremony.

Though historically LG has been an alpha, he has not been a tyrannical one seeking battles or continually making a scene. My memories of the few times I ever saw him being challenged are that the challengers to his supremacy at the top of the pecking order were dealt with in a manner which was swift, efficient, and merciless. He apparently left an impression on his minions strong enough to last over the course of an extended sabbatical away from home.