GCH Castle Rock Abraham Darby +*B +*S AR

Darby is named after one of my favorite English roses, which in turn was named for an important 18th Century British iron-master, who played a pivotal role in Britain’s industrial revolution.

When I found out this young buck was available for sale, I simply had to have him. Both his sire and dam exude dairy strength. Darby has excellent length of body, with a level top line, stands uphill at the withers, and has incredibly loose dairy skin.  This young smoothly blended buck also has a long, lean neck, beautifully angular hocks, and straight legs. He is tremendously wide in the hock with a very wide escutcheon, and so far he has passed that trait forward to his offspring, and as a bonus Darby has more than enough personality to fill a room.

Darby’s sire, CRF Castle Rock Guy Noir, a renowned member of the Castle Rock herd, has consistently produced some gorgeous dairy daughters, and sons. His dam, Tuscan Sun, is a very well put together doe, with a beautiful long, level rump, and a well attached, capacious udder, with large easy to milk teats.

Darby’s kids have consistently had long level top lines, excellent width between the hocks, high escutcheons, open ribbing, and very nice forelimb assemblies, and feet. His daughter, Curbstone Valley Mojave Rose, out-competed a first-place dry yearling to earn her Junior Grand Champion leg at her very first show, at just 9 weeks old! At nine and a half weeks old, his daughter Curbstone Valley Calypso also earned her junior champion leg as an intermediate junior kid, against the senior kid, and dry yearling! At eleven weeks of age, Curbstone Valley Carmenta earned her junior champion leg, and then went on to earn Best Junior Doe in Show. Continuing in the tradition, Darby’s 2017 daughter, Curbstone Valley Redwood Ivy, a repeat breeding that gave us Mojave Rose and Desert Indigo, earned her junior restricted leg at the CCCDGA show at 10 weeks old!

Buck shows have become something of a rarity in this region of late, so we don’t have many opportunities to trot the boys out. However, Darby attended a few shows as a two and three year-old. He won Best Buck in Show in the AOP class (no small feat for a Nigerian buck against the ‘big boys’) at the Midstate Dairy Goat Show as a two year-old, and the following year, at his first show of the season in Ferndale, he earned his final unrestricted leg to become a finished permanent Champion.

Following in his sire’s footsteps, Darby’s son, Curbstone Valley Desert Indigo *B *S, finished his championship at the age of three after two back-to-back wins at the Central Coast Counties Dairy Goat Association show in 2017. Indy’s daughters are also doing well in the ring.

Without the original Abraham Darby, Britain’s industrial revolution may have played out quite differently. Without our own Abraham Darby, there’s no question our herd history may have played out differently, too. We’ve had multiple offers over the last couple of years to purchase Darby, but even if someone offered the moon, Darby is here to stay!