Rocky Mountain Highlight
ILR # 265277
male b. 9-28-2005
Rocky Mountain High Spirits x Rocky Mountain Puzzle
click on the photo to see more pictures of Highlight on flickr®
Highlight is 42” at the withers and his “fighting weight” has stabilized in the 260-275 lb range, although he will quickly drift above 300lbs if his feed intake isn't regulated. He has all the necessary conformational attributes for a working llama as verified by his easy ability to keep up with longer-legged handlers. We call Highlight our “idiot detector” — he invariably “outs” the clueless types who are brainlessly hung up on size, size, size (and letting fashion dictate which llamas to choose).
Gwen was originally intending to play with Highlight, but Highlight had already bonded with and chosen Jim during a Get Connected! clinic at Bobra’s, and then while travelling here from Colorado. Together Highlight and Jim are pursuing the difficult path of having FUN in show performance classes despite the many human-created and social obstacles to just playing, keeping the llama-human relationship first, and, well, having FUN.
Highlight is the only offspring of High Spirits, and also the only male offspring of Puzzle (also dam of our Dazzle). Although we had wanted to lease High Spirits for breeding to some of our females, the distance between here and Colorado coupled with High Spirits’ frequent use for packing, public relations outings and showing made for endless scheduling impossibilities. Our initial disappointment at not being able to lease his sire has been forgotten, thanks to the privilege of having Highlight here for the rest of his life.
Although he is certainly not 100% perfect (what llama truly is?), we appreciate Highlight’s many superior qualities. Highlight is now trail-proven, having already met the qualifications for his PLTA Master Pack Llama certification with (as per our own requirement for stud prospects) no special conditioning or preparation. Highlight’s superb disposition and innate intelligence are no surprise to us (both run deep in his ancestry), and they definitely make him a real treat to work and play with. Highlight has the sparseness of undercoat that we know is important for health and grooming ease in the long-coated Classic llamas. Highlight’s excellent muscling, superior bone, tight and properly-proportioned structure (no trendy, unbalancing over-long neck here), lightness on his feet and above-average gaits all combine to create a stout, athletic, superior physical working package.
Highlight was probably named to reflect his sire (High Spirits) and perhaps it was also an intentional oblique reference to his maternal half-sister (Dazzle). Regardless, Highlight certainly is one of the highlights around here!