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Thursday, November 13, 2008

Re: [AlpacaTalk] Re: Let them eat cake.Last response by Libby

Hello Melody!

Thanks so much for this post. You made my day! I admit I do agonize over
it like I do so many things I care about and yes, I remember your kind
post when you got it! You are very kind and I thank you from the bottom
of my agonizing heart!!

Have a super day!

Libby

Libby Forstner
Magical Farms, Inc.
Litchfield Ohio
(330)667-3233

"Melody Weist" <weist_m@yahoo.com>
Sent by: AlpacaTalk@yahoogroups.com
11/13/2008 01:16 PM
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[AlpacaTalk] Re: Let them eat cake.Last response by Libby

Libby

I laughed out loud when you wrote "Someone reads that thing" in
regards to your herdshire catalog. I know you are kidding, but YES
Libby, someone reads it and refers to it often. IT's ME.

I greatly appreciate and acknowledge the time and cost that you fork
over for that product. I GREATLY appreciate that I was on your
mailing list to receive a copy. I even sent an email at the time
saying thank you. You have no idea who I am, or who or where my new
small farm is, but you were kind enough to include me. So Thank you
again. And please say Thanks to Jerry as well.

I have nothing for sale yet, but I do try to get my name out there.
And thanks to some of the comments on this thread, I am looking and
researching the ILA opportunities.

Melody Weist
Double Creek Farm
Lebanon, TN
615-286-4166

--- In AlpacaTalk@yahoogroups.com, libby@... wrote:
>
> Hello Heather,
>
> Good grief. Next thing you'll be accusing me of trying to sell
breedings
> from that catalog!!!!???
>
> You mean someone reads that thing??!! Yahoo!!!! (Okay, just
kidding.)
>
> I'm not lying, Heather. We've been breeding alpacas for over 15
years and
> no, we didn't show for years and yes, we rarely won for years when
we did
> begin showing. I too cried when I won our first ribbon, our first
blue
> ribbon and our first championship. (I bleed red blood. I cry real
tears. I
> fart...well, let's not go THERE!!!) By the way, it's NOT easy to
admit our
> mistakes and I don't know why this is so important to you. The
reality is
> that most breeders go through a "learning curve" especially in the
days
> before e-mail and websites. There are exceptions...I've seen some
new
> farms take their time and investigate and buy only the best. I was
too
> "taken" by alpacas to "learn" before I bought and it was love at
first
> site and I didn't do it the "right" way. But in the end, the long
journey
> turned out okay.
>
> As for our herdsire catalog...okay, I'll take the bait one time. I
know
> better...I should resist but here goes... You can't tell by ages
when we
> bought the males in the catalog if they were purchased. If animals
were
> imports with ages of 1993 or 1996, it doesn't mean we owned them or
showed
> them. Males like Dracula and Don Juan and Plantel were imported but
others
> bought them first, not us. We bought them later. We didn't own
Dracula
> and Don Juan until around 1999 (Dracula) or early 2000's (Don
Juan). I
> believe we bought Plantel from the importers in 1999 but not AT the
> import. Year later, I think.Never showed any of them in halter
except Don
> Juan when he was nearly 15 years old!!! (honest) Not sure exactly
when
> but if it's truly important to you, I'll look up exactly when we
bought
> these males.
>
> I believe the first alpacas we showed were in 1998 or 1999 yet we
bought
> our first alpacas in 1993 and yes, we lost a lot more ribbons than
we won
> for years!! Not sure of the exact date of our first show as I
didn't
> anticipate this conversation ten years ago!! White Gold was one of
the
> first alpacas we showed (probably not the first one but one of the
first
> ones) and he was born in 1997 so he would have been shown in 1998
at the
> earliest. Might have been one or two before that. Jeronimo and
Accipiter
> were purchased with their dams and they would have shown in 1999 or
2000.
> We didn't own Quetzal until 2000 or 2001 and he was born in 1997.
Males
> born in 1999 (a couple in the book) weren't shown, if they were
shown,
> until 2000 or 2001 and yes, they did well or they wouldn't be in
the
> catalog. We don't put pet males in the catalog so the ones that
lost
> aren't in it! You no doubt noticed that the animals with MFI in
their
> name were born well into the 2000's. (Are there any before 2000?
Since
> you're investigating me again, you might know the answer better
than I do
> as I sit here.) I also learned the hard way that HOW you show
alpacas is
> as important as what you show.
>
> Why is it so hard for you to believe that like any other farm, we
made
> mistakes and also did things wrong and right? We learned even when
no one
> wanted to help us learn by going to shows, volunteering at fleece
shows
> and in other ways. It took time and looking at hundreds and
hundreds of
> animals and fleeces to figure it out. (Okay...so I'm not that
smart!) The
> fact that one or two males won in 1998 or 1999 or 2000 doesn't make
me a
> liar in regard to what I said but it sure felt good at the time to
finally
> succeed (although I suspect the first "wins" were offspring of
females we
> bought like Accipiter and Jeronimo and I can't take the credit
except for
> picking out their incredible dams.)
>
> Why is it so important for you to try to catch me in some kind of a
> mistake? Did you actually go to our catalog to try to FIND a
mistake??
> Well, let me put your mind at ease. I make mistakes all the time,
> Heather, but I do not lie. (But I AM incredibly happy to hear that
you
> have the catalog! Yahoo!)
>
> So...we raised alpacas for at least 5 or 6 years before I began to
show
> and then it was only a handful of animals and we seldom won until
the
> early 2000's...with a few exceptions. We seldom won but we did from
time
> to time in the early years of our showing. It wasn't until the
early
> 2000's that our program took off and it wasn't until I learned what
made a
> truly good alpaca and began to understand which fleeces cross
best. It
> wasn't until we met a few breeders with high-quality animals in the
late
> 1990's when I got a real appreciation for what made a great
fleece. Took
> years. Even now, sometimes we win, sometimes we don't. We do our
best,
> just like everyone else.
>
> Enough back and forth on this, eh? No more mud slinging, okay? If
you
> have to do it some more, let's take it off line where people don't
have to
> read this. Okay?
>
> Please be well and happy.
>
> Libby
>
> Libby Forstner
> Magical Farms, Inc.
> Litchfield Ohio
> (330)667-3233
>
>
>
> Heather Zeleny <alpacatalk@...>
> Sent by: AlpacaTalk@yahoogroups.com
> 11/11/2008 07:35 PM
> Please respond to
> AlpacaTalk@yahoogroups.com
>
>
> To
> AlpacaTalk@yahoogroups.com
> cc
>
> Subject
> Re: [AlpacaTalk] Re: Let them eat cake.Mary responds to Libby
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Oh Libby, you crack me up! That's a good one! I was just leafing
> through your lovely and very expensive to produce Herdsire catalog.
It
> looks to me as though you've always done very well, from the
beginning.
> Nearly all of those animals in that catalog have MFI as part of
their
> registered name. These are sires born as far back as 1996, with
show
> results for some going back to 1999 as far as I've noticed, maybe
1998.
>
> I don't know how many sows there were back in the old days. We only
> started 10 years ago, back when AOBA was just forming. We weren't
in it
> in the pre-AOBA days. And AOBA only set up their own show and
judging
> system in 2001. So finding show results pre-2001 is going to be
tough!
>
> Heather
>
> On Nov 11, 2008, at 12:56 PM, libby@... wrote:
>
> > Hello Mary and Robin,
> >
> > When we started out 15 years ago, we were a very small farm and
we
> > spent
> > the next 15 years borrowing and I couldn't "buy" a ribbon for
years
> > so I
> > think I do recall what it's like although after 15 years and lots
of
> > hard
> > work, we've made progress.
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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