The
beginnings of the Modern Alpine – A conversation with Randy
Hoach
Introduction and
submission of Article by Kevin Kinney, May 2006 UCN.
When
studying the Alpine history, one has to agree that in the
1980s the American Alpine greatly influenced the breed. The
Americans combined style with additional stature, a stronger
substance of bone, and a longer, tighter fore udder extension.
Much of this influence can be contributed to the Sodium Oaks
and Shahena’ko Alpines. For many alpine enthusiasts, in the
1980s these two breeders set the trend and raised the bar.
But as 1990s approached, breeders were looking for the
“Modern Doe”. They wanted the breed to evolve through genetics
that kept the stature, strength and fore udder, but also
contained more length to the doe, cleaner front ends, higher
rear udders, increased dairy character and a feminine
presence.
They found this modern style at
the 1989 National Show in Oklahoma, under ADGA Judge Sheila
Nixon, where GCH L. Reeds Farm Barbie Doll, an American
Alpine, became National Champion and gave the Alpine breeders
just what they had been wanting for their breeding programs.
Barbie Doll brought the Hoach’s herd to overnight notoriety
and started a national infatuation with the Hoach style, a
love affair that still stands.
Barbie
Doll was not the only National Champion for Randy Hoach, but
was an introduction to the Hoach breeding program. A program
that to this day can be found not only in American Alpines,
but French Alpines as well. Some of the most famous Hoach’s
animals are the French Alpines, which includes the legendary
GoldenLark, the second National Champion for Randy Hoach. It
is these lines that have been the foundation for some of
the top show herds in the country. It has been awhile since we last
saw the Hoach Alpines exhibited at a National Show, but the
Hoach legacy is far from over, as evident in the 2005 National
Champion, GCH Redwood Hill’s Remember Jambalaya *M, sired by
*B Hoach’s Remembrance.
Perhaps, there is another Hoach Farm
national exhibition in waiting, either way the bred has been
influenced by the superior genetics of the Hoach’s Alpines, as
well as the dedication, and talents of Randy Hoach.
The following is a
conversation with Randy Hoach, in his own words....
When and how did
you start in dairy goats?
The
first Dairy Goats that we owned were unregistered grade dairy
goats. My father purchased two does from one of his friends
that had raised unregistered milking stock for many years.
One doe was a Toggenburg doe in appearance and the other was definitely an
Alpine cross of some sort. I believe he purchased them when I
was around 7 years old in 1973.
A few
years later, in 1975 we purchased a registered Alpine doe for
a 4-H project. I can still remember the pendulous udder on
Mockingbird Hill Kricket,
who was actually born in 1970; she was an aged doe at the time
we purchased her. I can remember showing Kricket at fairs when
I was about 9 years old. I was a small, skinny kid and she
would drag me around the show ring. I would grab onto the
show ring fence to get some leverage to slow her down. I
vividly remember showing her for the first time at the
National Orange Show in San Bernardino, California and the 2nd
place ribbon that she won. That ribbon is still in my
possession, tattered, torn and nearly all the gold lettering
missing due to the fact that I slept with it for about a week!
In the fall of 1975, at the
request of our 4-H leader, we took Kricket to be bred to a
buck that Duane and Corinne Haas had purchased from Ray
Horton. Duane and Corinne were brother and sister and had
some really nice animals that stemmed back to a lot of the old
Lockhaven (Melody’s lineage) and a dash of Raymar thrown in
for good measure (Corinne Haas Sharpe to this day has a
beautiful herd of Alpines). The buck that we bred Kricket to
was GCH +*B Raymar’s Intensifier, out of the famed GCH
Raymar’s Ilene and sired by GCH +*B Raymar’s Perpetuator.
Intensifier was a magnificent animal, in every way, he was an
extremely typey classic cou-blanc that exhibited tremendous
power and masculinity but didn’t give anything away in overall
dairyness and spring to his body. He had been Best Buck in
Show many times.
In the
spring of 1976 Kricket kidded with twin does by Intensifier.
We did not have a herd name, and as a 9yr. Old kid, to be
honest, I did not think much about it, so we named the two doe
kids Kricket’s Ladybug and Kricket’s Katydid.
These two kids were outstanding
and they won EVERYTHING there was to win as dry stock at
our local 4-H and open club shows! Well, now the dye was
cast and our family was “bitten by the goat bug.”
It just so happened that the
National show in 1976 was to be held at the Los Angeles County
Fair, which was a local fair for us, only about 50 minutes
away.
I wanted to show in Showmanship
and show Katydid at this National show but I really needed
someone to mentor and teach me how to show well enough to be
competitive at that level and back then showmanship had huge
numbers of entries and was fiercely competitive. We had 40-50
kids in just one age group at my local shows, what was the
National going to produce?
My
first Mentor in Dairy Goats was Janice McMahon of Fairhaven
Farms. She took me under her wing and really helped more than
anyone to develop my showmanship skills. Janice was an
excellent showman herself and new more than anyone that I have
ever met in Dairy Goats how to show a doe to her very best
advantage. Under Janice’s guidance, I win the Jr. Showmanship
Class at the 1976 National Show. I would go on to win
National Showmanship on two more occasions, and 2nd on two
other occasions.
I met people at this show who
would be extremely influential in my overall assessment of
good type and became mentors as well. Sheila Nixon had a full
Alpine showstring that she exhibited at that National Show and
Janice introduced me to Sheila. Her animals were very typey,
correct and consistent and I knew then I wanted my animals to
look like Sheila’s! I was also introduced to Nancy Lake, who
had the premier Lamancha herd at the time, Dorothy Locklin of
Lockhaven, Ray Horton of Raymar, Tom Koenig of Serendipity and
of course we already new the Haa’s of Haasenda.
The Alpine National Champion that
year was GCH Diamond Sunshine Stella and Reserve was GCH
Laurelwood Acres Yenda. I also remember that Sheila showed a
gorgeous 2yr. Old that won her class named Nixon’s Happy
Janet, and there was this incredible long, tall, exquisitely
dairy, milky doe that just took your breath away, named GCH
Nixon’s Eris. She had a presence about her, and that long
beautiful neck, clean tidy body on one of the best structural
frames I have ever seen, more sprung than any of the Alpines,
even of the modern era, and good functional udder with a large
area of udder attachment. Her true dairy-type was undeniable.
This was a true Dairy Goat. From that day on I knew I wanted
my Alpines tall and long like Eris, and I would put special
emphasis on these traits and still do to this day. One of my
earliest highlights and now a fond memory was showing Eris in
Sr. Showmanship at the 1982 National show. Eris was 10 years
old, she looked like she wasn’t a day over 5, and was a joy to
show.
Back
to the beginning, Janice always felt that Kricket, the doe
mentioned as my start, would not have the udder power to get
us anywhere fast, although her two kids had shown well as dry
stock, she felt it would only lead to heartache as they would
probably be culls when they freshened. Intensifier was a good
buck, but he could only do so much, and udders back then were
not as consistent as they are now in some of the Alpine lines.
Janice was right! We culled our Jr. Champions from that
breeding, a difficult thing to do when you are a kid and you
love the goat anyway!
Janice had a finished champion doe
that had contacted mastitis and was very uneven on one side of
her udder. She told my parents that she really wanted me to
have this doe, but she was asking a lot of money for her
because of her breeding and that she had already proven to
pass on her outstanding qualities to her daughters. I
remember standing by my Dad as he asked, “Which doe is it?”
Janice replied, “GCH Nixon’s Eraina * M.” I was so excited
at the prospect of owning and working with this daughter of +B
A.I. Demetrius, and out of a +B Raymar’s O’Hara
daughter-Nixon’s Arda. O’Hara was the sire of GCH ++B Nixon’s
Tomboy, who I had seen so many nice daughters from at the 1976
National Show. She was also a ¾ sister to Eris as the same
buck sired Eris and Eraina’s dams. I found out later in my
life that Janice never really wanted to sell Eraina, but she
wanted me to have something nice that she knew would be a real
asset to the herd. I appreciate Janice’s sacrifice now that I
look back on things and know that she gave up something she
really loved so that I could have a good start.
My family did not have a lot of
money back then and I can still see my mother putting dollar
bills and sometimes even change into envelopes to help pay for
Eraina. My family and I have bred Dairy Goats together for
many years, I have taken or received much of the credit, but
without them, there would never have been the Hoach’s Alpines
herd. When my biological father died, and mother remarried,
there was more money to be spent on the goats. My stepfather
John, never once complained about the animals or spending his
hard earned money to buy the next $1000.00 buck, or build the
next barn, or put in a new lixit line, both my parents spent
tireless hours sacrificing for the animals and the herds
advancement. The goats kept us a very close family and today,
I think they are responsible (the goats) for our closeness as
a family.
Eraina
ended up being the fountainhead and start of an extremely
strong purebred line, we named most of these does with “R” for
the first letter in their name. You may remember, GCH
Reflection, GCH Raino, GCH Rebel, GCH Dark Rain and GCH Rose.
This line also spawned the Crystal Creek Alpine herd that had
great success both at home and the 2 National shows they
attended. The majority of the Crystal Creek Alpine lineage
found their way to Trisha Duggar’s Sand-Dance herd.
We remained an exclusive purebred
herd for many years. We purchased the fountain of the “L”
line, Lollipop, in the early 80’s and this line is behind many
successful purebred lines today, producing animals like GCH
Goldenlark, GCH Lacey, GCH Lyric, GCH Limelight, GCH Cariari,
and a plethora of extremely good bucks that have been used to
advantage throughout the country.
We
brought in the best bucks we could from Nixon, Serendipity,
and added the Snowbird line as a cross back with nice results.
We advanced the herd tremendously with GCH+*B Serendipity’s
FDS Jubilation. This buck was the turning point that made the
herd nationally competitive. Jubilation was sired by
Serendipity’s Jackson Brown and out of Serendipty’s Daydream
Jubilee. In a nutshell he was a cross between Sheila’s lines
and a dash of Sunshine thrown in. Tom Koenig (Serendipity)
had a real knack for getting the best results out of these two
top herds by crossing them back and forth.
At the 1984 National show, when
Jubilation’s daughters were yearlings, I spotted a doe that
was the last doe to be pulled in to the “keeper” line in the
milking yearling class. She was tall and long, and somewhat
narrow in the chest floor and extremely immature, but dairy,
milky and stylish with tremendous length to her cannon bones
and one of the shapeliest, glued on udders I had seen. I told
her owner who was Shirley Benson that if she ever wanted to
sell her I wanted to buy her. I also found out that she was a
Jackson Brown daughter out of the sister to GCH Thunderhead SS
Fantastic Lass. Since I was already using a Jackson son,
Jubilation, it made perfect sense to me. The next year,
Shirley Benson sold us GCH L. Reed’s Farms Barbie Doll and she
was the start of our American line.
Hoach Dairy
Herd at the 1987 ADGA National Show
Barbie was bred the majority of
her life to purebred bucks and she crossed well with the “L”
line as well as some of the Sodium Oaks lineage. She was
extremely genetically potent. Her daughter CH Hoach’s
Heiress, was the result of breeding Barbie back to her son,
and won her class at the 1991 National Show and placed 4th as
a 4yr. Old with 2nd udder on another occasion. She also
produced a doe that died very young, that was quite stunning-GCH
Hoach’s Little Innocence. Her two sons Goldengenes, and
Encore Performance were outstanding bucks and their genetic
reliability as sires is well documented.
Barbie Doll and GoldenLark both
National Champions, and both Reserve National Champions are a
result of pretty humble beginnings. Both does have
contributed well to the breed and will be remembered as
National Champions who had the proven ability to reproduce
themselves. Both does were National Champions as aged does,
and both does had low placings at National Shows as milking
yearlings. If they did not teach me anything else, they
taught me patience.
Have you always
raised Alpines?
My family and I have always had
Alpines. Since our first registered purebred doe in 1975, the
herd has been exclusively Alpines. In the mid 1980’s we added
the American line through Barbie Doll. There have been no
other significant purchases in does since the purchase of
Barbie Doll and GCH Button’s Lollipop, the start of the “L”
line that had a significant impact in contributing to herd
quality. To this day, the purebreds are only bred to purebred
bucks.
Today, my work schedule really
doesn’t permit me to keep Dairy Goats at home on any large
scale. For the last 5 years (after a few years without goats)
I have been a partner in Leslie Schaffer’s “Brandt’s” Alpine
herd. Leslie got her start from me several years ago and
ended up with the last portion of does from my original lines.
Leslie has been so good to keep those old does registered in
my name. I have been responsible for the breeding program
from pretty much the start. Most of the animals that we keep
wear the Brandt’s herd name, but are predominantly genetically
Hoach breeding, and I have a few myself that wear the Hoach’s
prefix but our partnership does not put emphasis on which herd
name is used, they are all the same breeding and kept as an
individual unit.
What lines were
people working with then? How have you seen the breed evolve
over the years?
When I started in Dairy Goats in
the mid 1970’s there was no question that on a national level
you saw more Sunshine Farms Alpines bucks being advertised, or
working in peoples herds. Laurelwood Acres Alpines were very
popular and were also used extensively along with Nixon, and
Raymar lineage. In the mid 1970’s and early 80’s you saw the
emergence of the competitiveness of the Redwood Hills animals
and a little later, the Sodium Oaks Alpines, both of which are
popular lines today, and used heavily in quite a few present
day herds. From the time I started in Dairy Goats, I can’t
remember a time when the Redwood Hills Alpines were not
competitive and popular. In my opinion this is a stellar
accomplishment! A little later the Shahena’ko Alpines became
competitive and popular as well. About then, the Serendipity
animals were also starting to show extremely well and Tom
Koenig was selling a lot of bucks. They were doing excellent
jobs in the herds they were in. These bucks really put a lot
of breeders’ herds on the map.
The Sunshine does had udder
quality ahead of their time, the Laurelwood animals were flat
boned with generally long bone patterns with exceptional milk
production and the correctness in mammary to sustain the
additional milk. The Nixon and Raymar animals were similar at
that time. They were both very correct and very typey and
fancy looking. They were wider and more powerful than their
competition and had strong enough udders to compete well. They
were a great complete package.
Over the years the Alpine breed
has evolved tremendously. When I first started in Alpines
there was not much foot and leg quality. You saw a lot of
broken pasterns and postiness in the hind legs. There were
also a lot of steep rumps and weak chines. The mammary
systems back then had a lot to be desired, especially as a
breed. You could find herds as mentioned above that had the
desired mammary quality, but you could not always count on
that quality to be reproduced as you can with some of the top
herds today. The herds that had animals that reproduced
themselves were exceptions, not the rule.
The Alpines of today are much more
reliable for passing on the good traits that they do have.
They are longer and taller. We have improved rear leg
angulation and strength to the pasterns and have does with
much more correct backs and rumps. We have improved udders
probably more than any trait. The Alpine udders of today are
shapelier; far more extended in the fore udder, and
tremendously higher and wider in the rear udder and are more
productive than the Alpines were when I started in the breed.
The Alpine breed offers some of the very best teat size and
placement, as well as correctness in medial suspensory
ligaments and cleft to the floor of the udders than the
majority of breeds.
We have sacrificed some things to
get where we are now. Ultimately I believe we are still in a
much better place in comparison to the Alpines of the 70’s and
80’s. In my opinion we have lost a lot of quality in our
heads. The majority of Alpines of today are narrow in the
muzzle, between the eyes and across the poll. We also don’t
have the power and squareness to the head that we used to, and
our ears have gotten longer.
Many have said that we have lost
good front ends on our Alpines, and that is definitely true,
but I don’t see it as a total front-end problem. I think you
have to drill down in to the parts of the front end instead of
making a general statement that does not fit the breed. Our
shoulder assemblies are pretty good as a breed; the two areas
that I would point out that belong to the “front end” but are
more specific are the lack of tightness in the elbows and lack
of straightness to the front legs as the two biggest concerns.
With the exception of very few herds, this is something that
we need to place emphasis on in our breeding programs. With
progress comes change, it is inevitable and we would be pretty
arrogant to think that we were not going to make the breed
better without losing a little along the way and “fixing” all
that we had to work on back then and keeping ALL of the
strengths without losing a little here and there. We have to
be diligent in going back now and looking at the weaknesses in
the breed and improve them, just like we did 30 years ago.
How do/did you select
bucks to use in your breeding program?
When looking for a buck to use on
my does, the pedigree has to match the qualities that I see.
If I see a lot of good traits that I am trying to
incorporate, improve or maintain in an animal, I have to be
able to see where it came from and that it is repeatable. If
I see something I really like and there is no foundation or
pedigree to back it up, I move on.
I prefer to bring in bucks that
have some relation in the pedigree to what I am currently
using. Usually 25-50% of the first four generations need to
be related animals. This has worked very well for bringing in
new blood without a total outcross, which I normally will not
do.
I want the qualities that I am
looking for to run to at least to the third dam in the
pedigree and the same with the dams on the sire’s side of the
pedigree. I have seen a lot of people keep/buy bucks from
really gorgeous does, but the grandam was nothing like that
beautiful doe that drew them to buy the buck in the first
place. With the quality of today’s Alpines, and if you are
looking in the right herds, this is not a hard thing to do.
I am also looking for an extreme.
I want my bucks to come from does that are exceptionally long
and tall, but not over bodied, over deep, or mature. It is
like comparing a giraffe to an elephant, and I want the
giraffe. I want the line to be consistent for high
headedness, uphill look, and really long cannon bones, that is
where the uphill look starts. I require the line to have
proven that the does mature in a natural maturation process,
getting better as they get older, even into advanced age. An
animal can be long and tall, but not necessarily mature.
Naturally, overall correctness with good functional type are
key factors in my decision as well.
The dam of the buck, and really
throughout the largest contributing percentages to the whole
absolutely must have good feet and legs. I would not purchase
a buck from a doe or dam line that lacked in strength of feet
and legs. I also want the dam line to possess extension to
the brisket, and a nice tight shoulder assembly. I don’t get
caught up in does that are so sharp and prominent in the
withers that they are able to “split a raindrop.” I think a
lot of those kinds of shoulder assemblies come on does that
are narrow. I do want the shoulders tight and smooth in the
crops but I am not afraid of a line or doe that may have a
little more shoulder as long as the assembly is tight and
smooth.
As far as choosing a buck whether
from my own herd, or someone else’s to use as a herd sire
based on the mammary system, the doe must have an outstanding
mammary system, and I want the whole package, both fore and
rear. I am really picky about teat size, and shape, and I
want those teats to be on the bottom of the udder and turn
ever so slightly, inward toward the medial suspensory
ligament. I want to see some cleft to the floor of the udder
as well. I personally like shapely udders that tend to be a
bit more globular as compared to a “flat” udder.
Then there are those times when I
just get a positive feeling about a particular breeding and
that it is going to “click” well, and for me, there are no
hard rules in this type of breeding. The doe may not be a
champion or may not have scored particularly well, but the
overall balance of the animal and pedigree just “fits” in.
Over the years I have learned that there are certain
combinations of lines that just work well together.
I am always on the hunt for my
next herdsire. Sure, I keep a number of my own, but I am
always looking for herds and animals that provide opportunity
to add new blood and improvement. If I see a doe that I
really like and on further examination is bred in a way to
combine with my herd, I will not be shy about getting out the
checkbook for a deposit.
A.I. plays a huge role, as well as
the “live” sire. I think once you are good at settling does
A.I. the possibilities are endless and it is the fastest way
to have access to the best bucks available and rapid genetic
improvement.
What were/are your
strongest dam lines?
To this day, every doe in the
Brandt’s/Hoach’s herd can be traced back to 3 doe lines. We
have woven in and out with these three lines for over 25 years
to get where we are now. The three most influential dam
lines, I have really mentioned earlier; GCH Nixon’s Eraina *M
(the “R” line), GCH Button’s Lollipop *M, (The “L” line) and
GCH L. Reed’s Farms Barbie Doll *M (The American line).
All 3 of these doe lines have
proven to breed extremely true and each of them have produced
a number of bucks that have been used to advantage in many
herds. There is not much left in direct female descendants
from the Eraina line, as this line has been really stingy with
doe kids and has almost bred themselves out of female progeny.
We do have several bucks in the tank from the Eraina line and
actually we are using a buck that I have high hopes for that I
used A.I. from this line to incorporate back into the herd.
The other two dam lines, the “L” line and the American line
through Barbie are still going very strong and have produced
animals today that are multiple BIS winners.
What have your
animals done on the National Show level, DHIR, and Linear
Appraisal?
The herd over the years has been
exhibited at several National Shows. I mentioned that the
first National show that I attended was in 1976, and we had a
few in the 1978 National Show as well.
The herd started becoming
competitive Nationally in about 1984 with several high placing
animals and again in 1987. In 1989 GCH L. Reeds Farms Barbie
Doll was named National Champion Alpine and Best Udder and was
our first National Champion. In 1990, she was Reserve
National Champion and Best Udder as an 8 yr. Old. That same
year GCH Hoach’s QAAG GoldenLark 4*M was the 1st place 2yr.
Old. The other milking animals in the remaining classes with
the exception of one all placed in the top 5 of their class.
There is no feeling in the world
like owning or breeding a National Champion and I am so
thankful that I have been blessed and lucky enough to have
experienced the high as the drama unfolds in the
championship line up and it goes your way!
But if I had a choice between
having the National Champion or being awarded Premier Breeder,
I would take the Premier Breeder award as a higher honor than
the National Championship.
At the 1991 National show
GoldenLark won her class again as the 1st place 3yr. Old and
Barbie’s daughter, Heiress won the milking yearling class and
Barbie’s granddaughter was 2nd place milking yearling. Both
does were also out of Barbie’s son +*B Hoach’s Encore
Performance.
In 1992 in Amarillo, we took a
full string of Alpines and had many top placing animals,
culminating in the Premier Breeder and Exhibitor of the Alpine
breed. I remember that Reflection, from the “R” line won the
milking yearling class that year, GoldenLark was the 1st Place
4yr. Old, and went on to be named Reserve National Champion.
She had now won her class at three National shows.
We did not travel for the National
Show in 1993, and that was also the year that I did not get
GoldenLark settled and she remained dry. We had a gorgeous
milking yearling daughter that we showed at our local fairs as
part of the showstring that I thought had tremendous
potential, Hoach’s SRS Lyric.
The 1994 National show was the
last one that I have attended and shown the does at. That
year, as a 6yr. Old, GoldenLark was named National Champion
Alpine. Her daughter Lyric was the 1st place 2yr. Old that
year. I always felt that Lyric had what it took to be a
National Champion, but we never got the job done, as, soon
after that National Show, the demands of career kept us from
attending another National Show.
As far as linear appraisal is
concerned, the herd was scored twice. Once in the early 80’s
and again in the late 80’s. We have had several does score
Excellent and I guess you could consider the numbers a
success, but it was such a long time ago. The herd has not
been scored since, and although we have not ruled it out for
the future, to be appraised again, I just have not found the
need to do so. My two biggest concerns with appraisal are the
number of animals scoring excellent, and in my opinion, this
learning and profound data tool has become used as primarily
by many as a method of advertisement as the importance and not
the statistical data that it should provide to help us learn
and breed better Dairy Goats. I know many will disagree with
this statement and I see the “other side” or argument as well,
but you can’t be “on the fence” with everything.
The herd was on Official DHIR test
in the late 70’s and early 80’s, but physically it just became
another chore in our busy lives. The records of the animals
were very good, even then. It is interesting to note that I
have always wanted my does productive, I was not breeding for
the next breed leader, but you have to have good production to
compete at the top level. I never conscientiously bred the
does for extremely high milk production, but it came anyway. GCH
Barbie Doll was a tremendous milker and we have 4 lactations
of barn records of over 3,800 pounds. Lyric was milking 16
lbs a day as a 6year old, and GoldenLark has three years of
barn records of just fewer than 3,000 pounds.
I will make no excuses that
this herd was built and is maintained today as a “hobby” show
herd. Leslie and I don’t sell milk or make any money from the
Dairy Goats other than kid sales and premium monies earned at
fairs that we exhibit. I have always bred the goats to my
personal tastes, and the traits that I find most rewarding,
and I have never deviated. If people like them, and judges
use them as their Alpine Champion-that’s great, and if not
they are still a group of animals that I am pleased with
personally. It has taken YEARS for me to get to this point.
What lines are you
currently working with or would like to use in your breeding
program?
As I mentioned before, we have the
3 strong dam lines that we have interwoven for many years as
the base of the breeding stock. If you really put the
breeding into a nutshell with the purebreds it contains a lot
of Serendipity bred animals that cross back and forth with the
Nixon lines that were contained in both the Serendipity lines
and our original foundation. A great majority of our does
trace back 10 or more times to GCH +B Nixon’s Tomboy, even the
American line. You have to go back into the pedigrees for
several generations, but it was the foundation and I just did
my best to build on that foundation. We have added a nice
balanced thread of the Snowbird line through several different
bucks. +*B Qu’appelle Alchemist Goldsmith was the first buck
brought into the line that had a good dose of GCH Wa-Shaw-Me
Snowbird, as well as several other bucks used A.I. including
+*B Qu’ appelle Bravo Goshawk from a Snowbird daughter who
also happened to be sired by a Snowbird son and +*B Sweet
Dreams GF Goldenboy (+*B Chateau De Ville’s Wild Thing X +*B
Chateau De Ville’s Gyrfalcon) both directly and indirectly. Goldenboy
is probably the highest concentration of the “Snowbird” line
to be found within the pedigree of one animal.
The last GCH Hoach’s SRS Lyric 5*M
daughter, Lefevre, is sired by +*B Sunshine Seign Sedric and
she has been an outstanding doe for passing on good traits.
Her brother, CH *B Hoach’s Lyric Longevity (now owned by
Trisha Duggar of Sand-Dance Alpines) is the sire of GCH
Brandt’s Van Latte * M, who has had an outstanding year by
going Champion Alpine at the California State Fair as well as
the Los Angeles County Fair this year where she was also named
BUIS and part of our Supreme Best 3 Females. In addition she
was 3XBDIS prior to the State and Los Angeles County Fairs.
Another Lyric daughter sired by the famed +B Willow Run LA
Armand; Hoach’s WRA Londia is an outstandingly correct, long
and tall aged doe that unfortunately continues to have bucks
for us, as a main part of the breeding herd.
In the American line there is not
one doe in the herd that does not trace back several times to
GCH L. Reed’s Farms Barbie Doll, or for that matter, GCH
Hoach’s QAAG GoldenLark-paternally through the sire (although
GoldenLark was purebred). Barbie combined extremely well with
both the “R” line bucks and the “L” line bucks and there are
many good progeny from those crosses. We have also maintained
a small thread of Sodium Oaks lineage through this line, which
has been extremely successful.
We have two young Willow Run bucks
that are doing very nice jobs. The Willow Run Alpines have
much of the same blood running through their veins as our does
do. A lot of the quality of the Willow Run stock has to have
credit given to Barb Swayne’s Maple Glen herd, which in
reality is linebred Serendipity. Patti Dean had also used and
purchased several bucks from us over the years and did an
outstanding job with them. Patti and I have traded bucks back
and forth for some time. The Willow Run bucks have proven to
cross extremely well back into the lines we maintain today and
personally I feel that the Willow Run Alpines will continue to
be a major factor in the advancement of the Alpine breed for
years to come. We also have two of our own bucks that we are
using, a Lefevre son, and a buckling this year out of one of
our newest Champions-GCH Brandt’s Summer 2*M, who has in
addition to finishing her championship this season, gone twice
BDIS. Summers buck is stunning and is sired by +*B
Clovertop’s Fire Starter.
I had long wanted to incorporate
the Clovertop Alpines into my breeding program, and when the
chance came to own Fire Starter, Leslie and I jumped at it!
Fire Starter is co-owned with Dan Drake of Willow Lane Dairy.
Fire Starter is sired by +*B Sweet Dreams Wildfire and his
dam is an awesome doe-Clovertop’s Gene Sashay. I admire the
Clovertop animals a great deal and feel that these are some of
the finest Alpines in the country! Ray, in my opinion, is a
true master at breeding beautiful, correct, and productive
Dairy Goats. I admire his skill and talent tremendously. The
Clovertop animals are not campaigned heavily, as Ray and
Manuel don’t do a lot of showing or advertising. Fire Starter
is in advanced aged now and we are not sure how many breeding
seasons he has left, but we have a few does bred to him for
2006 kids as well as some really fancy kids born this spring.
I plan to incorporate some more
of the well-known Cherry Glen animals into the American
breeding program in the near future. Our most correct dry
yearling this year is sired by +*B Cherry Glen TRI Mojave, and
we have another planned breeding to Mojave this year. Linda
Eder Colquitt owns Mojave. We have many lovely Mojave
daughters in the Southern California area and Mojave is
definitely producing daughters to be reckoned with at our
local shows.
I mentioned that I always have
my eyes open for the next herdsire, and I feel that I have
found a doe to compliment the does that Leslie and I have
currently in the herd. An order has been placed and hopefully
within a few years we will construct the next layer in our
quest to breed the best we possibly can.
What are your future
goals for your herd?
I will always consider this herd a
work in progress. The perfect Dairy Goat has not been bred,
and really I don’t think that I can say that any of us have
even come close.
My goals for the future are to
continue the quest of making the does better and better with
each generation, and to get the purebred show string back to
the numbers that it was in the mid 90’s. The herd is pretty
small, about 8 to 10 milkers and 29 animals total, and we are
still re-constructing the purebreds. They have not been
overly generous with doe kids for about the last 5 years,
until last spring, so hopefully we will freshen some nice
animals as yearlings in 2006.
I am personally not as excited
about the showing part anymore as much as Leslie is. Although
it is nice to handle the does and win, I much prefer the
“getting them ready” portion. I love to fit them and make
sure that they are ready when they walk in the ring. But I
could be just as content without showing at all, really. I
also appreciate more than ever just seeing a beautiful Alpine
walk across the dry lot, looking at her through my eyes and
not caring what anyone else may think of her, I will see her
beauty and her faults. I am much more critical of the does
than anyone else could be. It is exciting for me to drive to
the farm where the goats are and see how much they look like
the dominant female fore bearers that laid the foundation for
Leslie. It is also gratifying to see them do well; there are
some outstanding animals in that barn that I am personally
very pleased with. I have received more special and positive
comments from judges this year on one of the current stars in
the showstring, Van Latte, than any doe I have ever owned
including the National Champions and past National Show
milking class winners.
It would be nice for Leslie to
experience what I have personally on the National level, and
travel to a National Show or two. I think breeders can learn
a lot from going to the more competitive National Shows. It
opens your eyes to how good they really have to be to win at
that level.
For now, at least for me, it’s
pretty simple. Build on the strong foundation that is
already here, be relentless in your pursuit of the best
possible animals and choices to advance the herd, and
continue to improve on any weaknesses doe by doe. I
will always breed Alpines that satisfy my standards first
with emphasis on what I think is important and the traits
that I find preferable. I refuse to become blind to the
fact that there are animals out there besides my own that
deserve merit and consideration for my goals in my
breeding program!
A number of national level
breeders as well as hobbyist breeders use your lines. How do
you see the influence these lines are making across the
nation?
I am not sure
that “influence” is the correct term that I would use to
describe what I personally see from the perspective of those
who have trusted in my Alpines. I first think that those who
would state that my breeding has helped them to achieve their
goals did not do it with ALL of my breeding, and they deserve
the credit for making the combinations that they feel advanced
their herds.
Nothing pleases
me more than to see others realize their dreams by using
something from my herd that has helped them along the way. I
think that all of us as breeders owe our very best to those
who come to purchase stock and put their trust in a chosen
line of animals or even a particular doe or buck that they may
purchase to use in their herd. We owe them a very honest and
critical assessment of our animals. We owe it to them to ask
the questions and discover what it is that they really want to
improve in their herd. I always ask, new buyers especially, “
Describe your version of a beautiful, correct Alpine-what does
she look like?” I don’t want to just make a sale or sell
somebody something that they we will be unhappy with. I have
had to tell potential buyers based on discovery type
open-ended questions that I don’t have what they are looking
for. When it is all said and done, and at the end of the day,
I really think it is up to the people that have purchased
stock from me over the years to hopefully someday tell their
story and ultimately decide what credit I deserve or do not
deserve or what influence my animals truly had. I know there
will also be the critics and they probably deserve to be heard
too!
What advice would you give
breeders working with your lines?
The best advice
that I can give from my perspective to those who have and are
working with my breeding is that they need to realize that the
majority of the animals in my barn for years have not always
been “instantly and all along the way what they eventually
become.” These lines have been bred for years to be slow
maturing and if you are one that has to win all those kid
classes and even the milking yearling class at the most
competitive shows, it is probably not going to happen with my
lines.
If you are
going to base culling decisions on a buck’s dry stock and not
wait for these long, tall and gawky kids to mature out until
they are around 3 yrs. Old, then you are not going to be
happy. I want my kids to be immature (no, not small-immature)
and I want my milking yearlings to look like milking yearlings
and mature each year as their age suggests they should. I
want them to be long-lived and competitive/productive into
advanced age.
I think the
majority of the breeders who will say that they have had
success with my breeding are those who are able to look at a
young animal and have some kind of foresight into what she may
look like when she has a few freshenings and years under her
belt. Not every breeder has this gift, but knowing what you
are dealing with going in sure helps. I think the number one
mistake of a lot of people in Dairy Goats make today is
impatience.
In addition,
realize that there are parts to competition that can be very
ugly. As your animals become more and more competitive you
will find all of a sudden that you have critics. This has
happened to every person that I know in my lifetime of
breeding Dairy Goats in one way or another. My advice is to
be strong, stay the course and keep doing what you are doing
for the love of the breed. I say this in an effort not to be
negative, in any way, but to encourage those of you who I know
to be struggling with some of these circumstances. I have
also witnessed some wonderful actions in competition from
those who really have a true heart. There are some really
awesome and outstanding people in Dairy Goats that will be
supportive, coaching and mentoring for a lifetime, and are
just nice people! Learn who they are and keep them close!
Surround yourself with the positive people who see that there
is some good in everything and everyone.
Today, what do you see as
the over all strength and weakness of the alpine breed?
The overall
strength in the breed is the stylishness, the levelness and
strength of backs, and as a breed, I think overall rear leg
angulation and strength of pasterns are very strong.
Alpines today have overall more correct mammary systems and
area of udder attachment than they ever have, at least since I
have been involved with the breed. They also breed much truer
and much more consistent.
Alpines today
as a breed, and being adverse to general statements, but the
question asked begs for it; there are always exceptions, but
we have lost the straightness of our forelegs, the quality and
correctness, to our heads, the tightness in the elbows, and
extension to the brisket and width in the chest floor. I also
think that while we have made great improvements in rear leg
angulation and strength of pasterns, the width in the rear
legs has narrowed considerably, and the openness in the
escutcheon has paid the price for the advancement in rear leg
angulation.
The Alpines of
today are far advanced from what they were when I started in
Dairy Goats in the mid 70’s. There will always be a “general”
breed weakness regardless of what breed it is. I think it
just changes over the years as we place emphasis on different
traits and as we also work to improve the areas we know need
improving. This is why I think it is so important to look at
the overall animal. I can do a whole lot more in a breeding
program with a doe that may have a fault or general weakness
in an area, but is outstanding and extreme in all other areas,
than I can with a doe that may not have any glaring faults,
but there is nothing particularly outstanding about her.
From the time you started
breeding alpines what bucks do you feel made the most impact
in the breed?
There are a number of bucks
that have impacted the Alpine breed, but let’s face it, the
ones who impacted the breed most are the ones who were used
most and had the opportunity to breed a lot of does and have
progeny across the nation. When I started in Alpines,
A.I. was not used as it is today, so the great bucks of that
time had to “make the short list” by others purchasing sons or
daughters. Back then we had bucks that did well
regionally, and of course most of these were from the popular
herds of the time, which showed and campaigned their animals
heavily.
I’m not sure
how much value my opinion would be given to describe which
bucks I thought impacted Alpines most as a breed. You could
ask the same question of 5 other Alpine breeders and get a
different list from each one. It would only be my opinion,
not to mention I would probably forget an important buck and
wish I had included him! I will say which bucks impacted my
herd the most -
The buck who
without question that did the most to advance the herd was +*B
Sand-Dance HLS Rico Suave. Rico was the son of GCH Crystal
Creeks Robin 2*M (yes, the “R” line). Another buck that I
will list later sired Robin that also had a positive influence
in the herd, CH Serendipity’s DW Abriham. Robin’s dam was an
exceptionally correct, beautifully uddered doe, GCH Hoach’s
Rebel * M. GoldenLarks brother, GCH++B Hoach’s QAAG LeSabre
sired Rico.
At the time, Rico was the longest
and tallest buck that I have seen, and he was very
genetically potent for passing on these traits. He
without question improved mammary systems and rear leg angulation, strength of feet and legs and
could be counted on to do so an extremely high percentage of
the time. Interestingly, Rico was not used much outside of my
herd until he was an aged buck. He is behind many successful
Alpine herds and National show top placing animals.
Patti Dean
owned Rico for a short time after I sold him to Kim Hull. We
just couldn’t use him anymore, everything was very related at
the time we made the decision to sell him. Anyway, Rico only
lived a very short time after Patti had purchased him, but he
made a huge positive impact in that herd, and is behind too
many animals to even think about listing. One thing that had
impressed me most about Rico was his ability to always come
through. The last couple of years I owned him he was only
getting a few does to breed a year. I can remember having a
kid crop one year of about 18 doe kids, only two were Rico
daughters, those two daughters were the two milking yearlings
I kept for the show string the following year. To keep the
herd small that was the number that we kept, regardless of how
many freshened well.
There were some
outstanding bucks in the early years that laid the foundation
for Rico to work his magic. The first significant buck was
++*B Willownook Acres Nickolaus who was primarily Laurelwood
breeding. After that it was GCH ++B Serendipity’s FDS
Jubilation, followed by CH Serendipity’s DW Abriham, among
many Serendipity bred bucks, Qu’ appelle Alchemist Goldsmith
and +*B Hoach’s Encore Performance. Hoach’s SDRS Logic (a Rico
son) and +*B Hoach’s Classic LeBaron were two bucks who
maintained the quality beyond Rico as well as +*B Willow Run
LA Armand who found his way to my herd as a buck kid in a
trade with Patti. A few years later, Armand found his way
back home to Ohio.
Today, bucks
who have contributed well are Hoach’s HD Aristocrat, and 3 of
our top does are sired by 3 different Lyric sons, Hoach’s
Lyric Lucky, Hoach’s Lyric Lojack, (Londia’s brother, sired
by +*B Willow Run LA Armand) and CH*B Hoach’s Lyric Longevity.
What bucks do you feel are NOW
making a major impact on the breed?
There are many
ways for a buck to impact the breed. The question is what
criteria do you use to define “major impact?” One could start
with a buck whose daughters are consistently competitive in
the show ring or Linear Appraisal and one could also mention
bucks that may be real “changers” or “fixers” and are
contributing to the breed by consistently improving our
Alpines in the traits that as a breed, generally speaking, are
in need of the most improvement. Given those two
applications, I think that the question is a difficult one to
answer. I also believe that at this point it will probably
not be any individual buck that can and will make the biggest
impact, but herds or groupings of lines that will impact the
breed most. For any good buck, this also means enough
exposure to herds throughout the country and for him to be
bred to enough does. The majority of bucks who will get this
opportunity, obviously, will come from herds that people have
put enough faith in to purchase their next herd sire. Past
history has shown us that the herds/bucks that get this kind
of exposure are those that do well at the National level.
It is important
for our ADGA National Show judges to realize that their job is
not only to pick the best animal there according to the ADGA
scorecard, but they are paving the road that many breeders
will follow when selecting herds from where their next herd
sires may be purchased and where our future generations of
Alpines will come. Their decisions need to be fair, ethical
and beyond reproach.
I also believe
that bucks that are impacting the breed now, we truly are not
aware of as individuals. I know that may sound strange, but I
think for a buck to get named on this list he should probably
be dead by now. In my opinion, we really don’t realize the
total impact of the majority of bucks during their lifespan.
It is usually some years later before we can really make any
meaningful judgments. I will go as far to say that I believe
the Willow Run, Redwood Hills, Cherry Glen, and breeders who
are branches off of these herds, to have continued impact on
the breed, as their use is widespread and breeders have
confidence in using them as proven herds standing the test of
time. This certainly does not take anything away from other
outstanding herds that have merit of impacting the breed, but
we have to consider use and the use of these lines that I just
mentioned are very apparent. The list is not all-inclusive,
as any herds that emerge to be competitive, especially at the
National level and receive exposure enough to become sought
after, the people will follow.
Where do you see the alpine
breed headed?
I truly believe
that we have a lot of really good animals to work with in the
Alpine breed! I think they will continue to get better as one
of the most advanced breeds of Dairy Goats! We have many
intelligent and talented people out there who will see to the
breeds continued advancement. I know at the age of 39, I am
not done yet and see other’s working just as hard at it as I
do.
My concerns for
the breed are the narrowing of the gene pool, as many breeders
like myself, still like the purebreds to remain purebred. As
breeders we need to see some of things the breed lost to get
them to where they are today, and to begin to make real hard
judgment calls in our culling decisions and processes to
regain the straightness in the forelegs and tightness in the
elbows, and width and openness to the rear end. As history
does have a way of repeating itself, we will probably lose
something else once we have improved the traits I mentioned
and we will have to be resilient in repairing whatever those
traits may be. It just has to be this way, or the perfect
Alpine will be bred, and that is never going to happen. That
is what keeps us all going, is the fun and pursuit of
something that is elusive!
I am also
concerned about the low numbers of young people involved in
Dairy Goats as compared to when I started. I am sure that
there are many factors driving this, the price of feed, fuel,
housing and land and many more. With that said, I feel we are
all obligated to sell young people the very best we have.
Mentor them and coach them, and be supportive. They are the
future of the breed and of the industry. Encourage the love
of the animal, not the win, and that it is ok to be a
competitor in the true spirit of competition, but people and
their feelings and the relationships and friendships that we
have with fellow breeders are a gift and most important of
all; another thing that took me YEARS to learn!
