Thistledown's Donovan of Claravale
Romeo's first born, Donovan, has inherited his sire's rare and magnificent maroon coloring, with black points on his nose and ears, plus the wonderful luster which makes Romeo's dark fiber feel so unusually soft. Donovan's fiber is crimpy and unbelievably soft, with a staple length of over 3 inches at just 6 months of age. Maggie Krieger awarded Romeo's fleece a second place at EVAA 2001, and he took a red ribbon out of all the shorn males at MaPaca 2002, with over 1100 entries in show. Donovan's dam, Clara, is a brown and white pinto who reliably produces top quality offspring, including a third place winner in the white class of the 2000 National Handcrafters' SpinOff and a blue ribbon winner in the multicolor composite class at MaPaca 2003. She has consistently passed on wonderful conformation, density and crimp to her award-winning crias, and Donovan may just prove to be the perfect combination of the best features of both of his parents. 

Awards: Donovan placed third in the dark juvenile composite class at MaPaca 2004, described as the "largest alpaca event on the planet, ever", with over 1600 entires. His younger brother, Logan, won the blue ribbon!

ARI# 850925 Color: Dark Brown (Maroon) DOB: May 30, 2003 Unproven

Sire, Romeo		 Donovan's award-winning sire, Romeo, is downright gorgeous - he is the rare color of maroon with black points, has excellent conformation, beautiful crimp, great staple length and a handle to die for! His coverage is fantastic, his bloodlines are extremely rare, particularly on the east coast and he has a beautiful head and very heavy bone. Romeo's temperament is gentle, but his libido is strong - he settled his first female when he was only 20 months of age.

Awards: Maggie Krieger placed Romeo's fleece second in the 6-12 month dark category at the highly competitive EVAA show in 2001. He was awarded a second place ribbon out of all the shorn males at the 2002 MaPaca Jubilee by Carolyn Blalock, with over 1100 entries in the show.
Dam, Clara

Donovan, 4 months old 		Donovan's dam, Clara, is a proven producer of award winning offspring and a daughter of Peruvian Don Claro, one of the best known herdsires to be imported from Peru. Her first daughter, Vela, took third in the 2000 National Handcrafter’s SpinOff for her fleece in a very competitive white class. At MaPaca 2003, her multicolor daughter Fiona took a blue ribbon in composite and her bay black grandson placed first in yearling halter. She has only ever produced solid-colored offspring when bred to solid colored males. Clara has a calm, regal bearing and is an excellent herd leader and foundation female. 
Donovan at 2 days old

Donovan at 6 months		 Donovan, from the old english Donnabhain, meaning dark brown, was named to honor his grandsire Don Claro, and his dam, Clara. Donovan has crimpy, dense, deep maroon-colored fiber with exceptional luster - he honestly feels like velvet! His conformation is straight and heavy-boned, his bite is perfect and he is that very rare and desirable solid red with black points. His libido is unbelievable, even at this young age, so we are confident he will breed early, just like his sire. With a strong background of color and award winning genetics on both sides of his pedigree, this young male has a great deal of potential and we look forward to showing him in 2004.
Donovan at 4 months