OUR BEGINNINGS
As a kid, I loved every critter that passed my way. In 10th grade, my dream came true in the form of my very own horse! Horse ownership was so fun, I began to think that the raising and selling of horses might be a wonderful occupation when I "grew up."
I did grow up, moved from home in Minnesota, and married my wonderful husband, Patch. He was a Naval officer and we moved frequently during our 23 years in the Navy. The moving and the locations did not lend themselves to buying a farm to raise horses, but it was always on the back burner of our minds.
In 1995, Patch left his Naval career and moved the family to Moscow, Idaho. We thought it would be easy to find a little hobby farm, but prices were amazingly high for acreage and we settled on a sweet little house in town and no horses.
Shortly after moving to Moscow we met Eddie and Joyce Gray of Grazing Hills Ranch, an alpaca farm 15 minutes out of town. We had never heard of or seen an alpaca before. We chuckled at their long necks and messy hairdos but thought they were mighty cute, then gasped when we heard how much they cost! Well, that price confirmed in our minds that we would never own alpacas. No way, no how.
Several years later, we bought a beautiful 12 acre parcel of land about 5 miles out of town with a farm of some sort still in the back of our minds. About the same time, Patch was diligently searching out ways to cut our taxes and stop Uncle Sam’s hand from reaching so deeply in our pockets. He spent months researching articles on the internet, reading books, listening to tapes. The common denominator in all this input was that having your own business was the best way to reduce taxes. But what could our business be?
Do you believe in divine providence? We sure do! It "just so happened" at about this time that a long-lost friend of Patch, whom he hadn’t seen in over 30 years, "just happened" to be getting into the alpaca business and "just happened" to be buying some animals from our alpaca friends, the Grays. We all got together over dinner. They were tremendously excited about their new purchases and couldn’t refrain from jabbering about the marvelous tax breaks they would be getting and the great investment these animals would be for them.
Simultaneously, a light bulb came on over my head and that of my husband’s. This could be our business: I would take care of and sell the alpacas and hubby would have his tax break and Uncle Sam would help us pay for it all!
Within a very short amount of time after that, we were buying our first alpaca, a pregnant female named Kupcake. We still did not have our own farm, but we agisted (boarded) her at Grazing Hills. We got to write off the cost of the alpaca, agisting fees, vet bills, feed, shearing costs. It was a great tax break.
Since then, we have bought two more female alpacas and have had several born to us. With a mind to expand the business, we finally had opportunity to build our home and a barn for the animals in 2003 on the property we had bought several years earlier. Our little herd has grown to eight, with four cria on the way in 2006. We intentionally started small, grew slowly, and intend to keep our farm a debt-free and manageable size, giving attention and hands-on time to each animal on a daily basis. And you know what? Alpacas are far easier to care for and train than horses! We’re very excited and pleased with our decision.
ABOUT US
We are Patch and Deb Blakey. (You’ll have to ask Patch how he got his nickname later when you give us a visit.) We’ve been "stuck" on each other, married for 25 years and still very much enjoying it! We have four treasures, our children: Laura, Bryan, Christa, and Jessica.
Probably the most significant feature you should know about us is that we are Christians, and our belief in the Lord Jesus Christ influences everything we do. We take this verse to heart: "I also do my best to maintain always a clear conscience, both before God and before men." That means our business dealings with you, and the information we give you about us and our animals, will be truthful, honest, and forthright. We will disclose to you every detail, good or bad, that we know about our animals – even if it means "no sale."
BUSINESS STRATEGY
Our strategy is to select the best herdsires we can afford for our females so that the quality of our herd will continue to improve with each generation. Since we are in the business of breeding fiber-producing animals, we are paying close attention to fineness and character of fiber in combination with staple lengths and density (indicated by hefty fleece weights at shearing coupled with a low micron count). Our goal is also to have a spectrum of color to offer our buyers.
BREEDING
Our alpacas have the huge benefit of being minutes away from Washington State University (WSU) under Dr. Ahmed Tibary’s care. Dr. Tibary is a well-known, highly respected, world-renowned camelid reproduction expert. We routinely bring our girls to WSU for a pre-breeding check where ultrasound is used to determine follicular activity of the ovaries. An internal check for vaginal and uterine soundness is also done. From these procedures Dr. Tibary can advise us of the prime time a female is ready to be bred. After breeding, if the female shows signs of pregnancy (by spit check and non-receptivity), she is brought back to WSU for 15, 30, 45, and 60 day ultrasound checks to confirm her pregnancy status. This series of pre- and post-breeding pregnancy checks at WSU is included in our breeding fee along with 2 months of free boarding. We also offer a 2 month live cria guarantee when you use our studs.
TRAINING
We think trained behavior is a large part of the total alpaca package. It’s not very enjoyable to have beautiful animals to look at in the pasture who have a fit – spitting, screaming, kicking, and kushing – when they are brought in to be handled close up. We are working with each of our alpacas to be calm while their head, ears, eyes, mouth, belly, legs and feet are being handled. They are in training to walk wherever led, even through unfamiliar territory, and to load in the trailer without a big production. Some animals "catch on" to their schooling more quickly than others, or have certain "subjects" they understand better than others. A couple of our animals will lift their feet when asked. Another will put his head in the halter on his own. One will come and follow when called. Others will stand still on command. We are aiming to have each animal trained to do every command. We would be happy to spend some time in training sessions with your animals while they are with us.
BOARDING FOR YOU & YOURS
When you visit our farm from out of town and need a place to stay overnight, we would be delighted to provide you the guest room in our home. We enjoy people and we’d like to get to know you and find out where you’re at in your alpaca adventure! We invite you to inspect our animals, participate in routine alpaca care, get to know us, and enjoy a bit of this pleasant life on our farm. Please call us for details and availability.
We can also board your alpacas! (They, however, will stay in the barn.) We give our animals attentive, daily, hands-on care. As we treat ours, so we’ll treat yours. Cost is $3.00 a day per animal.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Our farm, Stirling Ridge, was named after the battle of Stirling Bridge, fought September 11th, 1297, near Stirling, Scotland. The inexperienced Scottish, led by William Wallace, were outnumbered 3 to 1 by the well-trained English. Despite the odds, the brave Scots took the day, courageously motivated to rid their land of English occupation. Because of this victory, the Scots united in a fight for freedom under Wallace. He was later proclaimed the "Guardian of the Kingdom."
It is said that Wallace’s passion for liberty was first ingrained in him by his uncle, a priest, when he taught William this saying:
"My son, I tell thee soothfastlie;
No gift is like libertie;
Then never live in slavery."
Our unusual logo is taken from the shape of a pennanular, the shoulder brooch used to fasten a Scottish plaid, cloak, or shawl at the shoulder. The long-necked alpacas in the design feature patterns of intertwining lines forming a number of Celtic knots. Having no beginning and no end, these are said to symbolize the hope of eternal life.
