AML LEGACY'S EL DURO "PEDRO"
October 30, 2002  -  April 14, 2009    

    

Conformation

In July of 2004 the Senior International Judge, Maggie Kreiger, conducted a seminar on alpaca conformation at Alpacas of Maple Lane.  Many champion and high quality animals were critiqued and Maggie always found something that could stand improvement.  Finally El Duro (age 21 months) came forth and the judge looked him over carefully in silence.  At last one of the attendees called out, "Well Maggie, what's wrong with this one?".  The reply came, "Nothing! well maybe his attitude."  Perhaps so, Pedro was flawless and sometimes had the arrogance that goes with knowing you're the best.


Presence/Style

El Duro always had "The Look", when he was on his exercise walks at shows breeders always were stopping to find out who was that magnificent male.  Their opinion was corroborated in 2005 at the North American Alpaca Show when Senior Judge Mike Safley awarded Pedro the Color Championship and then said, "I've judged a lot of alpacas over the years and if I had to choose one to have my picture taken with it would be this male here!"


Fleece

Alpacas are bred and raised to be fiber animals so quality fleece is essential in a great herdsire.  El Duro had the fineness at 17.6 microns Average Fiber Diameter and his annual clip of over 11 pounds attested to his density.  But some quality traits are more subjective and mere numbers don't  always reveal them.  In 2008 Pedro's fleece was sent out to a mill for processing.  When it was returned there was an unsolicited note enclosed, it read in part,"...this is the best fleece we have ever worked with, it is what everyone should be breeding for."  It was clipped from him at age 5 1/2.  Sadly it was his last fleece as he passed away the following spring.


Genetic Prepotency

Currently there is no objective way to assess the consistent quality of an alpaca's offspring.  EPD's - if they will  work  for alpacas - are still a long way off.  That leaves offspring show results, and while not all the best animals make it to the show ring, more than 1/3 do including the vast majority of top quality animals.
Unbeknownst to all in 2008 Ryan Maas, a nuclear physicist and alpaca breeder, was completing a study of the 2007 show results of all huacaya alpacas and attributing those results to the sires.  This was not a simple tally.  Ryan was working the results to account for such things as the disparity in offspring available to show, the number of shows attended and the strength of the competition.  Initial results were published in the Alpacanation Forum where comments from the breeder community led to some further refinements.  When the dust settled, the 2007 "Top Stud"  based on weighted results (as opposed to raw data) was the unheralded newcomer, AML Legacy's El Duro!  To get the interesting details of Ryan's work and the rationale behind it you can simply CLICK HERE

While Pedro is gone he remains with us through his outstanding cria such as the undefeated champion El Duro's Principio and the up and coming super fine champion El Duro's Magnum.  All in all there will be fewer than 60 El Duro offspring, but  perhaps 10 or more will have won at least one championship at a level IV or V show.  Although he was with us for less than 7 years, any discussion of the top herdsires has to include El Duro.  He was an exceptional animal, a magnetic presence remembered by all who saw him.  We are fortunate to have shared his time and will treasure his memory.  Rest in peace old friend.