Dragonfly Farm Reference Bucks

May 27, 1998- January 1, 2012

In 2008 Paco became one of the few ++*S bucks! Thanks to all of the owners of his progeny that contributed to this accomplishment!!

Paco sired the first kids born here. When Judy Veale offered him to me I jumped at the chance to give him a home. Paco produces beautiful general appearance, improved capacity and attachments, excellent feet and legs, and sweet, gentle, milkable temperments. His offspring all have a characteristic elegant, uphill profile with very high withers. He has two MCH daughters: MCH Old Mountain Farm Dubonnet, bred by Cheryle Moore-Smith, and our own MCH Dragonfly Calliope *D E. A third daughter, the beautiful Fairlea Ariel, has three GCH legs but only received two, because of missing tattoos. Paco is also the sire of the stunning ARMCH Rosasharn's Tiger L *S E (4xRGCH, 3xGCH Buck). Paco had three daughters earn their stars in a one-day milk test in 2004; two of them had scores that put them in the top ten of one-day test scores for the breed that year. As a result, not only did Paco earn his +S, but his famous sire, Raising Arizona, now has his second plus as well. His daughter Fairlea Troy was GCH Junior Doe under judge Jeff Klein at the ANDDA Nigerian Dwarf Specialty at the 2005 AGS National Convention, and Paco also won his fourth Best Get of Sire award at the same show. After yet another Get of Sire win at our last show of the 2005 season, we were pleased to learn that Paco had won the 2005 Tom Thumb award, sponsored by Has It All Farm, for the most Get of Sire wins in a show season. He had yet another daughter, Fairlea Florence, win her junior leg at that same show.

It is fairly plain at this point that Paco is firing blanks, as it were, and barring a miracle, there will be no more naturally sired tots about. We do have some semen frozen and at some point in the future, he may yet sire some more kids. For now, he lives with the does, and goes around all day with a very satisfied expression on his face.

Show record: 10 x 1st, 3 x 2nd place Get of Sire, 2005 Tom Thumb Award Winner, 1 x RJrCH Buck

extended pedigree

photo courtesy of Cheryle Moore-Smith

3/1/01 - 12/30/09

Maestro passed away just before 2009 ended, with his typical grace and poise, apparently from a stroke. I want to thank AnneMarie Keenan for the absolutely terrific, loving home she gave him for his last couple of years, and we all hope he has a great number of little ones running around this spring, as he did his job well right up until the end. For more information and pictures, click here to go to his page. (photo courtesy of Cheryle Moore-Smith)

extended pedigree

Show record: 6 x 1st, 5 x RGCh Buck

May 18, 2002 - February 26, 2012

(Photo by Declan Dean) Hunk was a perfect gentleman, and had a certain aromatic savoir faire. . .though he stayed cleaner than any buck I have ever had--I don't know how he did it. While he was no substitute for our favorite but sadly infertile guy, Paco, he was both a Raising Arizona grandson, and a Luck of the Draw son, which was very nice indeed--in fact, he had four of the most illustrious names in the breed as his grandparents. He has proven many times over that he could produce lovely daughters, one of whom, Cloverdale's IH Cafe Latte, owned by Diane Davis-George of Mini Inspirations Farm, won an ADGA GCH and an AGS Best Udder in show as a first freshener. And I know everyone always says this, but--he really was much more level than he looks in this photo! His kids here have universally had notable length of body, neck and bone pattern, levelness of topline, tight shoulders and elbows, and wide open escutcheons. We have retained his daughters Merlin, Electra, Sweetwater, and Celestial as well as Best Junior Doe in Show winner Peregrine. More on Hunk later, but for now I am just very glad that he was collected multiple times, and that we have retained three of his sons from three of our very best does.

August, 2005

12/14/03 -- 1/14/15

Giacomo passed peacefully in his sleep in icy midwinter--I had checked on him and he seemed comfortable, but the next morning he just did not wake up. Giacomo was not fertile for his last few years, so he lived with the does and considered himself one of the luckiest bucks around. We do have plentiful semen in our tank,which I hope to use soon. Giacomo represents a close linebreeding on Twink's Pixie: he is by a grandson and out of a daughter. He himself was lovely to look at and a joy to handle; he is the only goat I have ever had who actually seemed to enjoy being clipped for shows, and happily strutted his stuff once he got in the ring. His kids consistently inherit his long, uphill profile, beautiful feet and legs, amazing width between the hocks, wide open escutcheons, and nice hind end angulation--we have retained his daughters CH Deirdre (1 x GCH Jr, 4 x RGCH Jr, 3 x GCH Sr), Intaglio, Floria, Zezolla, and a grandaughter, Merlin (1 x GCH Jr, 3 x BOB). His daughter Fairlea Tosca, out of MCH Fairlea Heidi *D, was also a junior champion and has a leg in milk, and her littermate Fairlea Hamlet *S classified E as a two year old. Giacomo won his first MCH leg as a yearling over more than 30 other bucks, and Best of Breed over a two-time Reserve National Champion. Thank you, Kellye!

Giacomo is a plus sire as of 2009--his daughters in our herd and elsewhere are some of our best milkers.

Show record: 12 x 1st place, 6 x Jr Ch Buck, 3 x GCH Buck, 3 x Best of Breed, 6 x RGCH Buck

3/19/04 - 6/1/12

Rio is the last buck that will ever leave the farm on a lease, and I blame myself that I even considered it. His loss at the age of only 8 years is my fault alone, and I will never forgive myself. I do hope we will have quite a few more kids here via AI, but he can never be replaced.

(Left photo by Declan Dean.) Rio was our oldest polled buck, and we were very lucky to have him. His dam was one of the canonical Flat Rocks does, and his sire was the late, incomparable Gem. He was a tiny fellow, but extremely well put together (check out that escutcheon) with especially tight shoulders and elbows, terrific skin and ribs, and strong feet with tight toes. It was immediately evident that he would consistently improve feet and legs, producing unusually short, strong, upright pasterns on long, level elegant daughters. What we now know is that all of his daughters to date have nearly identical beautifully shaped and attached udders--in that respect, I would say he was one of our most consistent bucks.

We have retained his daughters Harlequin, and Danu, and we are also very  impressed with Ocean Spray Sea Breeze, bred by Lisa O'Connor and owned by Mandi Babcock. His son Bacchus produced the lovely Dido. Sadly we have no sons here to carry on but perhaps the magic semen tank will remedy that lack.

Show record: 1 x 1st place, 1 x GCH Buck, 1 x Sire and Son (with Fairlea Fletcher Christian)

Reserve All-American Buck, 2 years to under 3, 2006

6/29/04 - 3/20/10

Halifax scored an amazing 2.9 out of 3 in the Style/Upstandingness category in his AGS Classification; one look at his photo and you can understand why. He was a beautiful balance of elegance and power. To my knowledge he never had a fresh daughter with anything but a lovely mammary system, and most of his offspring have improved general appearance and dairy character over their dams. Hal was a permanent champion in both AGS and ADGA, having gone 3 times Best of Breed from the AOP class over standard breed bucks, including a multiple Best Buck in Show-winning Toggenburg. To date he has had 3 daughters win Best Junior Doe in Show at large all breed shows.

Hal was found dead in his pen on the morning of 3/20/10. Post mortem examination showed that his heart failed quite suddenly, apparently due to a cardiac toxicity. I am just devastated by his loss, and can't bear to remove his picture from this page.

I am mystified to learn that Halifax apparently measured overheight at each of his LA sessions (two of which were before I owned him). I can't figure that out, because he was shown as a mature buck many times in AGS shows, (where each animal must WALK under the wicket in order to enter the ring--no holding heads down or other shenanigans) and never measured out. All of his wins in AGS have associated official height measurements recorded, for a total of 5 different measurements by 5 different judges, all within the height limit. When he won his three legs in ADGA, in 2009, two of the judges were willing to sign AGS win forms, thus I have a record of their official measurements of his height (at 5 years of age) as 23 3/8 inches (Lynn Fleming, 5/23/09) and 22 1/2 inches (Lynn Benedict, 5/23/09) (notice the high variability of measurements on the same day). It is my position that, no matter what is recorded in the ADGA Genetics database, Halifax was NOT an overheight buck.

Show record: In AGS: 1 x Jr CH Buck, 3 x RGCH Buck, 2 x GCH Buck (one leg lost), 1 x Sire and Son (with sire Water Tabby); in ADGA, 3 x GCH buck, 3 x BOB (judges Pete Snyder, Lynn Fleming, and Lynn Benedict, May, 2009)

Reserve All-American Buck, 2 years to under 3, 2006

Dam: Flat Rocks Masquerade (Flat Rocks Mighty Mike x MCH Flat Rocks Surprise *D)

(Photo by D. Gotthardt.)The birth of this buck really was a miracle--his 14 year old sire was supposed to be sterile, and his elderly dam had been retired from breeding. However, grandma and grampa had other ideas. Both parents are a tribute to longevity in the breed. I really like the elegance of this buck, though he does persist in adopting the typical butt-tucked, stubborn buck position in the show ring. One of Max's first daughters, Ocean Spray Catch the Wave, earned her AR and milk star as a 2-year old on her first freshening. On lease at Charlie's Acres.

Show Record : 1 x RGCH (ADGA, judge Pete Snyder, May 2009)

Max has been on long term lease with a friend for many years, but rules his current pasture with great pleasure.

I've not been able to get Sweetwater to settle for the last few years, so I was very glad to get this beautiful brother of hers back...hope he will have a few kids for us before he retires! Which he seems to have done--his does all cycled back in 2016, so he gets to live with the girls and he thinks that is pretty keen.

Dam: Flat Rocks She's a Keeper (Goodwood Henry Matisse x Flat Rocks Princess)

8/25/06 -- 12/14/15

Sirius is loosely line bred on Raising Arizona, with some Gem and Luck ofthe Draw thrown in for good measure. I was stunned when I peeled off his hair before hauling him off to a 3 ring buck show in May, 2012...I thought he was quite gorgeous, and the judges obviously agreed with me. His toes are so tight that I almost could not get the clippers between them to trim the hair there, and he has amazingly soft skin, velvet-fine hair, wide flat ribbing, tight shoulders and elbows, and the most beautiful profile. To top it off, he has a sweet, gentle personality to go with his great looks. Although he doesn't have the highest LA scores, in 3 appraisals he has in fact earned Vs in EVERY structural category except rump (+), and numerical scores equal to or above 25 in all the linear traits...just never all from the same appraiser in the same year. Sirius began really struggling to maintain his weight in the horrible winter of 2014, but he soldiered on and looked fat and happy the following summer. He suddenly dropped a lot of weight and started looking very old as cold weather approached in 2015, and passed away quietly on his heating pad at 9 1/2.

Show Record : shown 3 times; 3 x 1st, 3 x GCH buck and BOB (Lynn Benedict, Jeremy Lezniak, and Lynn Fleming, May, 2012), 1 x Best Buck in Show (Lynn Fleming, May, 2012)

2/6/07 - 2/12/15

(Photo by Declan Dean) This lovely polled boy is strong in several areas that our breed really needs, particularly his wide, flat, level rump, tight shoulders and elbows, nice rear angulation, great length of body, and general openness. What's even more remarkable about him is his pedigree, which largely consists of the great Flat Rocks Gem (75%)--pretty near as close as we could get to having the grand old man standing here himself. Tuan's dam, My Shadow (who was also the dam of our Flat Rocks Penumbra) had the highest, most open escutcheon I have ever personally seen on a goat.

Show Record : 3 x GCH (May, 2010, Tom Considine, Ed Cavanaugh; May, 2011, Patricia Ricotta), 2 x RGCH

Dam: ARMCH Caesar's Villa STS Suthrn Bell 2*D ( ARMCH Caesar's Villa CBS Stetson ++*S x Stonewall's Serena *D AR)

5/2/07 -- 1/17/15

Well, I really did not need another buck, but I could not pass this boy up. I have really wanted to bring in someone who embodies the Stonewall's Midnight Cowboy/Goodwood Mindy cross, but I felt that I was at my limit--so when my good friend Lorene Toth at Sunnydale Farm asked me where she should look for a great buck, I told her to buy what I thought I had the willpower not to--something linebred on Stetson. She contacted Sharon McCarty, and the result was twin bucklings--both of whom ended up with Lorene. The fact that one of them is now here is a gift beyond price. Rebel can trace his descent from royal dam lines, being the son of a Reserve AGS National Champion Stetson daughter (Suthrn, 2003; she was also 8 x BU and 8 x BOB) and the grandson of a National Champion Stetson daughter(Bridget, 2004) Both Suthrn and Bridget have prodigious milk records as well: in 2004 Suthrn milked 2.11 21 1/8 305 1057 67 6.3 45 4.3, and Bridget milked 5.0 21 1/8  302 1049 73 7.0 43 4.6, for an average of 3.5 lbs of milk per day over a 305 day lactation for each. Those records earned them both spots on the AGS Top Ten list for 305 day test that year--Suthrn in 5th place for milk, 6th for protein and 7th for butterfat, and Bridget in 6th place for milk, and 4th for both protein and butterfat. And for icing on the cake, yes, that is a big lovely moonspot in the middle of his back. Thank you so much, Sharon McCarty, for breeding this beautiful boy and his brother Southern Comfort, and words cannot express my thanks to Lorene for offering me the "other brother"!!

Here is a rear view of Suthrn Bell from Caesar's Villa's winning breeders trio entry at the 2004 AGS National Show.

Show Record : 1 x RGCH (May, 2010, Heart of Maine DGA, Tom Considine)

(Photo courtesy of Proctor Hill Farm) When this kid was born I thought he was one of the prettiest bucks we had produced, and he knew it very well...what a big personality. I am so happy that he has made his way back here. He has not had very many kids for us yet, but those he has produced possess real pizzazz, as well as beautiful wide flat rumps and gorgeous rear angulation. Udders TBD, but with his dam and paternal grand dam, I will be very surprised if they are anything but capacious with lovely attachments.

Show Record : 2 x RGCH, 1 x GCH

(Photo by Glenys Gotthardt) I am so glad to have this boy back...

Z39: black buck; Dragonfly RY Apache Tears is retained

Apache spent most of his years at the farms of 2 different friends, so I really have no daughters to show--but he does have some beautiful daughters in the Crossdrive and Fairlea herds, and I do have him in the tank. Poor Apache got the worst of a fight in the buck pen, and slowly lost his ability to move and we laid him to rest before the coldest weather could make his life even more uncomfortable.

May, 2014

Of all of the Halifax sons I retained, I think Ranger is the one that most resembles his illustrious sire. His two siblings have been extremely successfull: Dragonfly HFX Carmen VVVE 89 is the foundation doe for the Sunnydale Farm Nigerian dwarf herd, having produced two SG daughters, one of whom is a finished CH appraised EEEE 91, and the other with multiple legs earned, appraised EVEE 90, as well as multiple very promising younger offspring. Dragonfly HFX Tanunda, owned by Kyeema Ridge farm, recently appraised EEEE 92. This year (2015)I realized to my surprise that I had retained very few Ranger daughters, so I have remedied that, I hope, retaining 4 daughters out of some of my best does.

Dam: Dragonfly HLU Banshee (Dragonfly HFX Hallucination x Dragonfly RY Jubilee)

Revenant was my beloved Banshee's last gift to me, along with his gorgeous sister SOLar Eclipse. I don'thave any good photos of him--he was still not unfolded when we took his baby picture, but he has grown into a beautiful boy, and I hope to see pictures in the spring.

Show record:  not yet shown

July, 2014
June, 2009

When you have a buck who just looks great all the time, lounging in the pasture, hairy and stinky, you know you did a good thing bringing him home again. Gari was sold as a kid and went to a nice farm where he had some pretty kids, and when they needed to move him on, thank goodness they offered him back to me (thanks, Eva!!!). He has several brothers who were successful herd sires in Texas (see Pretty Noel) and Wisconsin (see Olson Acres). As soon as I set eyes on him, I thought I had something pretty nice here to work with. Gari is linebred on the great MCH Flat Rocks Surprise *D 'E', through both Flat Rocks Flash, one of my favorites of all time, and his half brother the great Gem, and his pedigree also includes the other two main lines I love to work with, Raising Arizona, and Raha Acres Twink'sPixie. Up close, he is a combination of probably my two best does, Party and Chiara. Polled, as a bonus.

Garibaldi has been sterile for some time now, and lives with another wether ina lovely pet home.

Show Record : 2 x RGCH, 1 x GCH

I am very excited about our new herd sire--he is very similar in breeding to our favorite Pacifica, as well as some of the most successful herd sires in the breed (see Twin Creeks BW Montego Bay, Rebel w/out a Cause, Fathom This, and Brown Dirt Cowboy, among others, and for a real thrill, Google their daughters...) They are all very very prepotent producers of strong udder floors, high rear udders, and especially, that near perfect teat placement that is still far too rare in the breed--I am really looking forward to some beautiful udders . Avatar has some really nice daughters from 2011 that have freshened with cookie-cutter identical gorgeous udders.

Show Record : 3 x 1st place, 2 x RGCH out of 3 times shown against the big boys, May, 2012; 4 x RGCH, May, 2013.

Okay, this guy ought to be Halifax come again...but at least at first glance, he sure is not. In fact, he is a very unprepossessing little guy, though he is absolutely the most lovey boy in the buck pen. However, as they say, it's not how they look but what they do, so hopefully we will see what he can do this spring.

I wanted to leave what I wrote above, now that I finally have a mature clipped picture of this little guy--he has turned out very well, I think. He's still the shortest guy in the buck pen, (and still the sweetest), but he is beautifully put together. A sleeper that I believe I should be using much more.

Show Record : not yet shown

Full brother to Demeter, and a very dignified and beautiful guy. Our beautiful Calgary has gone sterile very early, we're not sure why.

Show Record : not yet shown

(Photo courtesy of Proctor Hill Farm) Solaris represents the extreme in dairy character, with very lean thighs and an elegant profile. The udders behind him are very strong, and his pedigree includes one of my very favorite crosses in the Nigerian breed, Baywatch to Nonpareil. I am expecting very strong udder attachments and a lot of elegance from his kids.

Show Record : not yet shown

Polled. I just love this little guy, even though he doesn't like to help us photograph him. More impressive in person than this picture shows. Quite a few daughrters retained, all nice.

Show Record : 4 x 1st, 3 x Jr GCH, 1 x Jr RGCH

Our most beautiful Hal son, I think. Lost him way too soon.

Our newest outside herd sire, and a beautiful boy he is, as well as sweet and docile. Just love his first kids here, and I am keeping quite a few. I am sure that one look will tell you why. Like Calgary, Holy Bull also appears to have gone sterile at quite a young age, also for no reason we can discern.

December, 2011

Well, this is an awful picture of a really gorgeous little buck. I was so pleased with his daughter Sulis this year (2015) that I have given him a lot more work to do this fall, and will hopefully get a better picture of him this spring.

Not our most endearing personality, but beautiful all the same. Here's hoping for lots of little JoJo udders running around here. Confirmed sterile in fall 2020, but still trucking along.

May, 2014

Finally a photo of Nikola, looking a little naked at the Altamont Buck show, 2014, where he won his class several times.

September, 2020

Lower right 2 pictures courtesy of Frigga Farm

He's back, and I am thrilled! I never had a Nor'easter daughter to keep, and no Sirius sons, so this guy is doubly welcome home. Confirmed sterile in fall, 2020, but still looks great.

Show Record: 2 x GCH, 1 x BOB (September, 2020, Son of a Buck Show, judges Richard Grossman and Scott Horner)

(Photo courtesy of Dreahook and Lady Walkers Half Moon farms) An unexpected but welcome addition, thanks, Kathy Plutnick and Lori Yeske! Sea Fire is linebred on Fox Fire, sire of our gorgeous and ageless Ella Enchanted, and his dam Sea Star is half sister to our gorgeous CH Flat Rocks Charybdis *D (Best Udder, 2011 ADGA National Show). Also, he has a moonspot :- )

Many of you know how devastated I was to lose my beloved Egghead in kidding in 2019, along with her much desired buck kid. Thus I was thrilled beyond measure to have this beautiful son offered back to me later that year. Pendleton, along with his sister Freya, were from my last Rebel litter born via live cover, and my only Egghead son. Not only is he lovely to look at, but has his dam's sweet, loving personality, and even in this 2020 year of limited kiddings, will have more kids, hopefully, than any of the other delicious boys from whom I have to choose.

Very glad we used this gorgeous guy while we could as we lost him to pneumonia way too soon.

Show record: not yet shown

Our only Rebel son, flashy young Domino should be getting some needed exposure this year. His sister Persephone is one of our up and coming young does.

(Top photos by Sally Mills Rodeffer) Very happy to get this beautiful boy back.

Dam: Kannah Creek SF Kaya *D VG (Twin Creeks BW Solar Flare *S x Gay-Mor's Lucky Monarda)