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Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Happy Birthday Black Jack!

Our oldest llama hits a huge milestone today - he turns 20! This is Ivory Pond's Black Jack. We bought Black Jack in the spring of 1998 for our daughter, Jackie, to use as a youth performance llama. Black Jack was almost 7 years old when we bought him and had been used by quite a few youths in the show ring.

Here is Black Jack and Jackie after winning first place in every event and Grand Champion in her youth class at the 2001 Sangre de Cristo Llama Show in Westcliffe, Colorado. At this show they got a perfect score in two out of the three classes. They missed one point in the pack class because Black Jack didn't step on the last step coming off the bridge. The judge said he rarely gives perfect scores and he was actively looking for something to "ding" them on but couldn't find anything until the missed step in the last class. So out of a possible 240 points they scored 239 points!


Here is a compilation of the awards won by Jackie and Black Jack over the span of four show seasons.


Grand Champion Youth Performance
  • 2002 Rocky Mtn Regional Championship Show
  • 2002 Colorado State Fair
  • 2002 LOCC Fall Show
  • 2002 Boulder County Fair (1st in all events)
  • 2002 LOCC Spring Show
  • 2001 Rocky Mtn Regional Championship Show
  • 2001 Kiowa Creek Youth Show
  • 2001 Sangre de Cristo Youth Show
  • 2001 Boulder County Fair (1st in all events)
  • 2001 LOCC Spring Show - Ultimate Grand Champion
  • 2001 Banana Belt Llama Classic (1st in all events)
  • 2001 Western Slope Llama Classic(1st in all events)
  • 2001 Ntl Western Stock Show (1st in all events)
  • 2000 Ntl Western Stock Show (1st in all events)
  • 2000 LOCC FallClassic Llama Show
  • 1999 Western Slope Llama Show
  • 1999 LOCC Spring Llama Show
Reserve Grand Champion Youth Performance
  • 2000 Sangre de Cristo Youth Llama Show
  • 1999 Banana Belt Llama Show
  • 1999 LOCC Fall Classic Llama Show
Top Ten @ 2000 Grand Nationals - Public Relations
4th Place @ 2001 Grand Nationals - Pack Class 4th Place @ 2002 Grand Nationals - Pack Class
7th Place @ 2002 Grand Nationals - Public Relations
8th Place 0verall @ 2002 Grand Nationals

I'll write more later as a tribute to Black Jack, who we affectionately call "the bestest best llama in the whole wide world".

8 comments:

brokenteepee said...

He is, as I said, a pretty boy. You just want to give him a hug!

Lin said...

Oh my! He is one handsome boy!! He looks really soft to touch--is he?

Split Rock Ranch said...

Pricilla: Thank you! I love huggin' on Black Jack. He is such a sweet llama. He was always such a joy to have at the llama shows. Everyone just loves BJ!

Lin: Thank you! He is incredibly soft. Most animals as they age get fiber that it fairly coarse and not very soft. Black Jack has retained the softness of his fiber. I would so very much love to shear him one more time but will need to buy him a coat to wear this winter if I make that decision.

Sharkbytes (TM) said...

That is pretty darn amazing. He's beautiful. My experience with llamas is talking with them whenever I find myself walking past a fenceline which they "own." They always come over to see what I'm doing, so I explain it all as I hike past. They seem so smart!

Split Rock Ranch said...

Sharkbytes: Thank you! What was really amazing was the team that Jackie and Black Jack formed. When they were "in sync" they were such a joy to watch. It was like they could read each other's minds. Llamas are incredibly intelligent and extremely curious. Very feline-like as we always like to say.

Grampy said...

They look wonderful together. So tall and proud.

Janet at New Moon Glass said...

Very impressive!

Joyuna said...

Fantastic! 20 sounds like a right old age for a large animal, but I'm not sure. What is an average llama lifespan?