Interview with Sally and Jeff Rucker by Jill Edinger

Who are you and where do you live?

I am Sally Rucker, married to Jeff, and we live at Stage Stop Llamas in Florissant, Colorado.

What prompted you to enter the world of llamas?

It was my ex husband's male menopause. Long Story. We borrowed the money from my dad and bought a herd from Dee Swartz in Idaho and bought the ranch on a lease option in Colorado. He decided he didn't want to be married and that he needed to find himself. Somebody had to raise llamas and pay my dad back, so my kids and I moved up to Colorado and started the ranch ourselves. The kids were eight and four years old.

Was there anyone who was a mentor to you?

Charlie Lockhart, Greta Carson and Eva Domati.

Your ideal llama is?

Well conformed (legs which are angled properly and move freely, a high tailset, well balanced); a noticeable curiosity and a tractable disposition; high luster fiber with a low micron count and very little prickle factor; banana ears (that is a big awe factor); large without being clumsy, great mothering ability and abundant milk; breeds back quickly without any intervention, and finally I like for them to be sociable in a herd situation.

How many llamas live at your ranch?

376

What is your breeding philosophy?

I keep a large number of studs so that I can take advantage of great genetic diversity in my herd and find the right male for each female. My breeding priorities are 1) sound conformation; 2) good disposition; 3) good reproductive ability; 4) proven bloodlines; 5) high quality fiber (I like several different types and try to keep them all in my herd--many crimps per inch, high luster silky, and colorful. I have a few flat lock suris); 6) large size (because this is not my top priority I have a few minis each year; 7)flashy color; 8) Country of Origin so that I can have them available for people who are specializing in those animals.

What is the main purpose that your llamas serve?

We make our living from breeding llamas so we try to have llamas that can serve many purposes. The size of our herd helps us sell as many llamas as we do, because people have a wide variety of choices. We sell primarily breeding stock. We also sell many show animals. Many of our customers use their animals in fiber production and are involved in the fiber arts. We have sold many pets, packers and guard animals as well, because we deliberately breed for good dispositions (a trait which I believe is highly heritable).

What other things do you do with your llamas?

We had the first two llamas ever certified by the Delta Society as animal assisted therapy llamas. They were Larry and Narcissus. We always take llamas to nursing homes, events with children and take advantage of as many public relations events as we can. In the past I have done specific work with emotionally disturbed teenagers, retarded children and autistic children. I also spin and knit with the wool and have a lot of it processed in to yarn. I do a lot of spinning demonstrations at museums and youth events. I used to have a large youth llama project, but my stint on the ILR and the number of llamas we have has limited the amount of time I can dedicate to that right now. I am the color reader at a number of llama auctions and speak on many topics at local llama conferences. I also train and shear llamas for people when asked. I used to write articles for llama publications, but curtailed that when I was elected to the ILR, as I felt my job was to reflect the desires of the membership rather than to promote my own opinions.

What advice would you give to someone considering llama ownership?

Learn as much as you can from reading, but there is no substitute for the experience of a long time breeder who has a number of animals from which they have gained experience. Don't be afraid to ask. I'm still learning about these unique animals after twenty years of caring for over 100 (I had Dale Morris's llamas, as well as my original 36, at my place the first year so I jumped in the deep end right from the start). Start slowly and make sure that you can in fact sell your babies. If that is difficult for you I would recommend just having well-loved pets and not breeding. Raising and selling livestock can be emotionally taxing and stressful and you should evaluate whether you are in fact well suited for some of the realities of ranching. It is easy to care for llamas and the one thing I didn't anticipate when I began increasing the size of my herd was how time consuming it is to care for a large number of customers. Be sure to carve out enough time to be available to mentor, answer questions and just be a friend. I often find that I don't have enough time to do those things as well as I would like. I also made decisions in my forties not realizing that you slow down in your fifties so don't overestimate your physical capacity. Use contracts. Even with your best friends things can get messy if you don't spell things out a head of time. Do not build your herd based on looks alone. Some of my best dams are plain Janes who produce fabulous babies. Keep any female who will nurse another llama's cria. I could go on for hours so call if you want more insight. Remember you are choosing a life style that demands vigelence, hard physical work and a level of public exposure and lack of privacy. It is not a get rich quick scheme and there are many things you could chose to do that provide a better return. On the other hand, if you love animals, love creating art (by your breeding choices) and like people there is nothing more rewarding.

Llamas are so unique and intelligent that they offer unlimited intellectual challenges and rewards.

Llama-related organizations you are involved with?

ILR, ALSA, RMLA, LFA, LOCC, GREAT PLAINS LLAMA ASSOCIATION, NEBRASKA LLAMA ASSOCIATION, LANA

Accomplishment you are most proud of?

Surviving the first two years as a single mom/ rancher in the middle of no where, being available to help people when life blind sided them and they needed help with their llamas, providing good llamas at reasonable prices, and starting many people in the llama industry, and mentoring new llama owners whenever possible. I am also proud of my volunteer activities as President of RMLA, ILR, helping my husband run the LOCC Spring show, helping organizations with their conferences, and announcing many shows. Jeff and I are also proud of helping some of our local youth with scholarships dedicated to our son, Lew's memory.

To Contact Sally and Jeff Rucker
By Mail: Stage Stop Llamas,
8918 Teller Cty Rd 1,
Florissant, CO, 80816
By Phone: 719-689-9010
fax 719-689-3063
On the web: http://www.stagestopllamas.com/or e-mail ssllamas@aol.com