Rounding into form: CCNF Wayfarer
Amongst the many gratifying results we achieved last weekend in Syracuse was the win by our Ring of Fire son, CCNF Wayfarer. Though he had always been in the mix so to speak since he first joined our show string as a juvenile in the spring of 2010 (lots of 2nds and 3rds to go along with one 1st), it seems he was a young boy who really just needed to do some growing up. Jen had looked at him critically about 6 weeks ago and put word out that things were looking a little different from the last time we had showed him way back in April. Developmentally speaking five months can be an eternity for an alpaca of this age. Sometimes they mature and change for the better, other times they flatline in their development or even degrade some. You never really know until you take a given animal back out on the show circuit again and compare them against their peers. We too sometimes suffer from barn blinders though and while show results — and particularly a single result — should never be viewed as a final referendum one way or the other on a given animal’s quality, consistent results over time usually don’t lie. When Wayfarer took a Reserve Championship at the first fall show in Vermont we were certainly happy but that was just one show and one judge. However when he then won the Fawn Championship in Syracuse on Saturday (and got a long look for Judge’s Choice on Sunday) under a completely different judge with very different competition it all started to point to something undeniably special happening with our boy.
The story of this young up and coming Herdsire is multifaceted. On Wayfarer’s paternal side the genetics of Royal Ring of Fire come most famously from his AOBA Champion grandsire, Snowmass Royal Rose and his great grandsire, the one and only Peruvian Hemingway. It would however be unwise to underestimate the contribution of Wayfarer’s paternal granddam (Ring of Fire’s dam), 5Peruvian Margarita. For it is Margarita, a fawn colored super dense (yet fine) Peruvian import who spent most of her life here at CCNF, that makes Royal Ring of Fire so unique from his many other paternal siblings. She is a big contributor to the consistent phenotype one can see in her son’s progeny.
Wayfarer is equally stacked on the maternal side of his family tree. His dam, Nutmeg, was one of our first as well as one of our winningest Legacy Gold daughters ever, having garnered 17 ribbons and two Championships between halter and fleece competitions in her 8.5 years. I wont go on about her sire, Snowmass Legacy Gold, as his line really needs no introduction so established is it in this industry’s lore. We’ll just say that he’s really really good. Nutmeg’s dam, Reality, though lesser known than her sire is nonetheless an equally valued member of our colored foundation herd. Reality joined us from Star Hill Ranch 1o years ago as a juvenile and carries in her the blood of her prepotent imported dam, PPPeruvian Acomani. There is amazing stuff flowing through Wayfarer’s veins! Needless to say that while it may have taken him a little while to fully blossom, the quality you see before you now is certainly not a fluke. While we will happily keep Wayfarer here and use him occasionally, the reality is that he is related to the vast majority of our colored females and it is our preference to find him a home where he can really be used to his full potential. Young Herdsires of this caliber don’t come along often so if you are in the market for an exciting young male that is ready to work now please give our newly decorated Champion a look!
