CONGRATULATIONS to Lindsey Betz and the Betz Family Farm on the purchase of Vintage Cashmere's U-Taupe-ia. Taupie will be greatly missed at Rare Gem Alpacas but he leaves behind a number of lovely offspring to grace our herd for years to come! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Taupie is a striking appaloosa harlequin male that is on a roll for throwing spotted and harlequin offspring. He has sired 53 offspring and 74 percent are either appaloosa or harlequin! While dam selection has a significant influence on such outcomes, it should be noted that the majority of the dams Taupie has been bred to have no genetic influence on this outcome. So for those that don't have existing foundation girls with appy / harlequin lineage-- Taupie has proven to be capable of passing along his appy genetics and produce desired results. So how does this happen? Only part of that story is known, but what we DO know is that certain lines of known appy gene carriers are much more "expressive" than others. Taupie just happens to be one of those. His heritage boasts appaloosa genetics on both sides of his lineage with Aussie Rockford out of Hannahruh on his sire's side and Chiquita Import on his dam's side. In April 2016, Taupie's progeny debuted in the show ring taking a blue in walking fleece and the blue in halter at the California Classic. This first boy was then followed by another appaloosa female and then another appy male-- both very similar to the first. The fourth cria, however, is something extra special! This little girl has expressed every color on the chart, not one pattern-- just speckles and spots from nose to toes-- Rare Gem U-Taupe-ia's Appletini! The unique coloring of this cria looks as though the color from Taupie's Grand Dam, Chiquita Import, is coming through and producing the rarest of rare gems-- her beautiful color seems to morph before your eyes! As much fun as it is to talk about Taupie's progeny... more about him! Taupie has a spotted face, spotted belly, spotted legs, and a beautiful solid platinum-taupe blanket. His top line is a nice medium silver grey, then blending into light silver grey down the sides. UPDATE: 2/2019 Leoopard appaloosa offspring, Sleepy Acres App-solutely Adorable "Dorie", takes Reserve Color Champion at Txolan! Congratulations!!

This young male is an up and comer in the Rare Gem breeding program. We purchased his dam from the Alpaca Palace auction in Pennsylvania in 2019 when Cras-Z was "cooking in the oven". When born, Cras-Z had the bundles of curls and the "look" we get excited about. He has grown into a handsome body double of his daddy, Sunset Hills Zagato. Zagato was the 2019 Futurity Herdsire of the Year (dark) and has a proven track record of throwing the coloration of the dam while stamping the offspring with his superior fleece qualities. Cras-Z’s is a compact male with an advanced architecture fleece... brightly bundled and uniform with a high-amplitude crimp structure. Cras-Z's 2022 fleece was submitted to the Fall PNAA Innovative Fleece Assessment / Show. He placed 2nd out of 9 in a very competitive Grade 1, Medium Fawn category. Report is included under pictures... of special note, "Uniformity" across blanket = 15 out of 15! This uniformity extends out into Cras-Z's extremities. One of our favorite traits of Cras-Z is that he has an extremely clean apron and lower carriage and no halo. Cras-z has been color genotyped and is an ee a2a3 which is a genotype with dilute as well as two black alleles. This genotype carries a lot of variety in what it can produce. We are happy to discuss your goals and whether Cras-Z can stamp your female with his elite-fleece while producing the color you desire.