ABOUT US

2020 was... well you know. So it is not so much of a surprise that our lives took a different turn. We were ensconced in our mountain top home schooling, working, being hermits as we tended to do anyway, when it happened.

 

Tori showed me an ad about two pregnant alpacas for sale. She excitedly exclaimed "Look Mom! Four alpacas for the price of two! Lets get them!!"

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My immediate response was "No way! We do not know anything about alpacas!"

 

But I was intrigued. I emailed the woman selling them and asked her if we could visit her animals and learn about them. (My Bad)

That was in June.

The nice lady turned out to be Joy. She was so kind to take time out of her day to introduce us to her animals and tell us all about them. She also invited us back when her first baby of the summer was born. She kept inviting us back to learn more about care and husbandry, and showed Tallinn her loom and various projects she was working on with the yarn made from her animals' fleece. We were hooked. We fell in love with the different personalities of Joy's herd.

I think she saw the big "Sucker" tattooed across my forehead. Because here we are..

Owners of most of her herd!

Well - actually Tori and Tallinn did a business plan, pooled their money and put a deposit on 8 alpacas (hoping 10 this summer with the birth of two babies). They are currently in the process of starting Twisted Heart Alpacas.

Never mind we were in the middle of selling the house, and no idea where we were going. Well, today we still don't. We are currently sitting in Missoula for a month to see if we "like it" enough to move up here.  I guess you could say we put the cart before the horse. But that is another story - stay tuned!

So on December 30, on our way to Montana, and the quest for the future home of Twisted Heart Alpacas - and us- the girls became full owners of the 8 alpacas and 2 buns.

The girls are planning on breeding, showing, sales of the alpacas as well as a farm store. Tallinn is sitting here learning to weave with her new loom, making her first scarf. Hopefully in the future you will see her creations in the farm store.

We are so looking forward to our new adventure! We are so very grateful to Joy for passing on her passion and love of the animals. We wish her well on her new endeavor, focusing on alpaca fleece/fiber and the product side of the business. We are very thankful for her mentoring and look forward to our new friendship and future collaborations.

Tori, Tallinn & Carolyn

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Update March, 2021: Oops.. We did it again! When we bought the 8 alpaca, Joy kept two of the girls. Tori made sure to get Joy's agreement to give us first right of refusal when she decided to sell them. That decision came a bit sooner that we anticipated, but there was no question about bringing them back to join the herd! So we welcome Golden Inca and her daughter, Inca's Pearl to Twisted Heart Alpacas! We are so excited to have them.

 

After Montana, we headed back to Colorado. We are wrapping up a month stay in Pagosa Springs. We really do like the community here.

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Next weekend we will be taking a little detour to Nebraska! We decided to go check out the Alpaca Nationals show to see what we are in for, as we decided to take Luna and Zoomie to a show at the end of April!

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UPDATE: AUGUST 2021

So Much has happened since our trip to Nebraska!!  Well- we took the girls to the show and we were so happy with the results. Both Zoomie and Luna won First Place in their respective classes. We learned a lot about showing that weekend.

 

 We are still on the hunt for our new farm!

 

In June we welcomed Tempest to the family. We are all absolutely in love with him! We are so excited about his coloring that we have bred his mother Marina back to our sire Pelo. We hope for another gorgeous cria next year.

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We also welcomed Fireworks to the family. He is a really nice light color! Just what we needed to expand our selection of herd sires!

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Additional excitement for June was the 2021 Suri Network All-Suri Fleece Show results where our "baby" Pearl won Reserve Champion White Female!! We were very taken by surprise because our competition was amazing!

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Twisted Heart Alpacas also won the award for First Time Farm Entry!!

 

We have been so lucky to have such great mentors!!

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In early August, our third cria, Tornada finally arrived! Our only female this year and has the same sire as Tempest (Pelo). She is lovely and looks just like her Mama - Cutie Pie. I hope she has her fabulous fleece too.

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UPDATE: JUNE 2022

WOW!! Almost a year has passed and so much has happened!!

As typical of this business, we added a few more animals to the herd.

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Russell- another of Pelo's sons bred by Joy. He is turning out to be a wonderful boy!

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In the fall we added the "B Girls" - Blondie and Barracuda! These girls are half-sisters by the same sire - GLR Nico. Every time we visited our herd, I commented on the fabulous caramel color of these two. So happy to have them.

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Then we added the "Idaho Boys" Dragon and Bam Bam - Full brothers. The girls decided to concentrate on Grey, so these boys were brought in to help with that goal. Both boys have an amazing temperament and I have to say Dragon has become one of my favorites. They had not been shown previously and we look forward to sending their fleece to shows this summer to gain some feedback.

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Next came Gatsby! Another grey boy. He was Color Champion at Nationals and 2nd at Futurity. Gatsby's sire was actually bred by our friend Joy! This boy is amazing. We are excited to see what he does in the future.

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This summer we are expecting three more cria.

 

We welcomed Tempest's full brother EPICENTER. So far he is a mahogany brown with black legs, a white sock, chin and nose. He also has Pelo's signature white spot on top of his head. He is strong and very mischievous. Running out of the stall to pronk at every chance he gets! We love his color and hopes it remains.

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Zoomie's first cria arrived! This is also Greyson's first cria. SHINE IS MINE is a lovely light (shiny) fawn! Her color and markings are a throwback to her Great-Grandmother WRSA Goldielocks. Already in love with this girl!

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And Inca is expecting her cria with Pucara PureSuri Kahuna's Lexus in August.

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Along with crias arriving, breeding is well under way. The girls are hoping for at least six cria next summer. Such a long time to wait for these cuties!!

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The girls continue to do well in the show ring.

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In October, they won the ABR Fall Fest Ranch Hand Crystal Boot.

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In April Tempest won Grey Male Champion in Walking Fleece - defeating a 13x champion! We were shocked and so delighted!

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We recently found out that Twisted Heart Alpacas made the AOA, 2022 Top Ten National High Point list for New Breeder, Small Suri Farm! Next month we find out where we landed. We are honored to be included in this program.

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We finally found our house! We closed two days before Thanksgiving. I can not believe it has been six months! The house is quirky, but fits us. There is a small barn where we have the girls and the boys got the carport!

We moved in early January and still have not fully unpacked. We were busy getting things situated for the animals arrival in February - and continued to finish up after they arrived. 

The house is still in a state of disarray, with many unfinished projects. 

We now have seven cats - nineteen chickens (finally out of my bathroom!) - three ducks (still in my bathroom!) and added a puppy to the mix.

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The pastures are over-grazed and under watered. This year we are observing the land in order to devise a plan to revitalize the pastures. Sustainability, diversity, and natural methods are our interest. We are looking to implement practices that will honor the land, and the animals that call it home. We wish to ensure the habitat of our Bald Eagles, Golden Eagles, toads, birds, bees and butterflies will be here for them into the future. 

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