Curbstone Valley H Galahad *B

Galahad was a spur of the moment decision to retain. By the time his dam was five years old, we expected to have more than a single doeling retained. Ava is one of our favorite Rowena daughters, but a single doeling as a first freshener, followed by triplet bucks, a year off due to the fire, then quadruplet bucks, we almost given up hope of getting another daughter to retain. However, in 2023, she finally graced us with two does, and two bucks, and we knew the daughters would automatically be retained. 

There was a hint of regret that one of her powerful-looking bucks had not been retained the year before. Then late lactation, Ava was appraised in October 2022 as part of a special session. Scoring EEEE 91 as her permanent score, with E’s in shoulders, front and rear legs, back, and rump, in addition to be productive, that regret deepened. It really was finally time to hold on to a buck from her. 

Galahad’s sire, Hanukkah, has been very complementary to our genetics, both in type, and production. Galahad has the length, strength, and angularity we would have expected from this cross, with a long lean well-placed dairy neck, straight legs, and natural up-hill stance. He placed very well at his first show in Virginia at just four months of age competing directly against two of his herdmates, Regulus and Zaurak. 

Although we did not use Galahad in the fall of 2023, in large part because we have many of his paternal half-siblings on the farm, plans are afoot for some dates in the fall of 2024, and we are looking forward to seeing if this young buck will live up to expectation.