Sweet Pines Lotus

Banderas is retired as a breeder. His info is here for reference. His last cria was a very dense and uniformly fine brown handsome little male - Spyker. Spyker is winning awards with his wonderful fleece! He is currently being offered as a junior herdsire and will likely be ready to breed starting 2024. Banderas is an EPD Top 1%er! His stats are excellent overall, but his EPD in staple length soars. Did you read Ian Watt's article in Alpacas Magazine? YES, length matters! To that end, we are still using this oldie but goodie to cover our females with shorter staple length. His latest cria was born in July 2021. BANDERAS IS A MULTI-CHAMPION THROWING ULTRA FINE CHAMPION OFFSPRING IN A VARIETY OF COLORS. And now we are seeing grand-offspring that are absolutely phenomenal. This has been especially exciting. Banderas offspring HIGHLIGHTS *Banderas daughter, AHarmony's Delta Dawn - RES CHAMPION & 2nd at IAO Cottage Fleece Show 2014 *Banderas daughter, Sweet Pines Dulce de Leche - RES CHAMPION & 2nd at the IAO Cottage Fleece Show 2013 *Banderas son, Banderas' Dasher - COLOR CHAMPION & 1st place at Fiber Fusion 2012 (15/15 for Brightness!) *Banderas son, Sweet Pines Torino - 5x CHAMPION! Torino is a National Fleece Color Champion and has won 2 halter Reserve Championships (Showcase & IAO). Torino's fleece also received Reserve Champion (and 1st place) at the AFCNA Continental Fleece Show (level 4). Judge Wade Gease commented, "Exceptional fineness with hand, crimp, and density. What more could you ask for?" *Banderas has blown us away with the fineness he is throwing. Here is a sample of histograms: AHarmony's Torreya (DRG): AFD 15.4, SD 4.3, CV 27.7, >30 1.1% Sweet Pines Torino (LB): AFD 15.7, SD 2.9, CV 18.4, >30 0.5% AHarmony's Delta Dawn: AFD 16.1, SD 4.0, CV 25.0, >30 0.8% Sweet Pines Lotus (MF): AFD 16.6, SD 3.6, CV 22.0, >30 0.6% Banderas' Dasher (LB): AFD 16.7, SD 3.6, CV 21.8, >30 0.6% While the average microns are impressive, we are so excited about the uniformity: SDs (2.9!) and >30s (0.5%!). This is what makes these fleeces so exceptionally soft. Banderas' HIGHLIGHTS: *unique, gorgeous, rich COLOR *bright, soft, UNIFORM fleece *fantastic character and CRIMP *multiple COLOR CHAMPION *elite GENETICS: dam & sire from Snowmass Breeding Program (VICTOR & PLURO) *PROVEN to throw his excellent conformation & fleece characteristics, along with modern rose grey, black, and brown Banderas' superabundant fleece (7# blanket in 2009) is a dark rosey brown roan. The BEAUTIFUL CRIMP, REMARKABLE LENGTH, BRIGHTNESS, & SILKY SOFTNESS are truly ADVANCED. In 2006 he won 2 COLOR CHAMPIONSHIPS. At GWAS, judge Mike Safley was VERY impressed with his superior fleece qualities and placed him as COLOR CHAMPION right away, noting that it was rare for the darkest animal in a class to win!