Middle Earth Origin and Philosophy

Middle Earth Llamas derives its name from the fairy tale trilogy “Lord of the Rings” written in the 1930s by J.R.R. Tolkien. We started in 1981 and were fortunate to acquire a male weanling who matured into a large stud with medium wool. He was named Gandalf after a main character in the Tolkien masterpiece. without any Team or Mallon training this wonderful stud was completely desensitized and friendly. Gandalf is long gone, but many more nice studs have passed through Middle Earth.

Over the years we have remained with North American bloodlines and have gradually increased quality along with wither height for both studs and females. As Ferdinand Porsche once said “There is no substitute for horsepower.” There is no substitute on the trail for a well built tall llama. The evolution to the current herd occurred over the decades since 1981 with increasing consistency and quality.

Over time the majority of the llama industry has evolved into one of smaller animals with single coats and heavy wool. Several years ago a small group of llama ranchers who saw what was going on decided to form an organization to combat this situation and formed the North American Ccara Association. Middle Earth Llama was one of this group whose purpose is to promote working llamas and in conjunction with the ILR produce a breed registry for CCara llamas. The work of this group continues with a growing registry and acceptance by owners of working llamas.