Aspen Ridge Alpacas, a Favorite in the Jemez
By Robin Frames

 I n a heavily forested area of the Jemez Mountains, in northern New Mexico, 15 alpacas share 1-1⁄2 acres with their human parents, sisters Mickey Wright and Evelyn Simons. Not long ago the teachers traded in their two-legged students for furry, four-legged ones.

Wright and Simon’s alpaca business began not long after the first large-scale commercial importations began in 1984. Last year, the 20th anniversary of that event was celebrated. That 1984 milestone came only four years after the first known private herd of alpacas was brought to the United States.

“As recently as 1997, we didn’t even know what an alpaca was,” recalls Wright, who taught high school for 37 years. Her sister had spent more than 20 years helping disabled students and developing a Special Olympics program.

Most people know something about llamas, one of the alpaca’s bigger cousins. Alpacas, although too small to be high-profile beasts of burden, are widely known for their fine fleece which is made into scarves, shawls, sweaters, blankets and stuffed animals.

Wright and Simons, who were living in southern California, felt it was time for a change, and so in 1998, bought their first alpaca, named Carinosa. She was the first of many alpacas who would help to build the furry family at Aspen Ridge. “Learning how to raise and care for alpacas is an on-going process,” Simons says. “There are two kinds of alpacas—the Huacaya (wa-KI--a) that have a colorful, teddy bear coat, and the Suri, with long, silky fiber.”

In June 2000, both sisters moved permanently to Aspen Ridge, which they call Aspen Ridge Alpacas of Northern New Mexico. It sits at an altitude of 8,700 feet, about a 1-1⁄2- hour drive from either Albuquerque or Santa Fe. Retired animal lovers don’t have to be ex-prize fighters or mud wrestlers to keep alpacas in their later years, because these animals are remarkably gentle.

Their small size (compared with llamas) also makes an alpaca ideal for retirees and other mature adults. Wright was in her 50s and Simons in her 60s when they started their business. They also know another mature adult in her mid-80s who has been working with alpacas for years.

Now Wright and Simons are hoping for an upcoming issue of Alpaca Magazine to focus on alpaca owners over 70 years of age.

Mickey (left) and Evelyn (center) shearing under the
watchful eye of Master Shearer Russel Gent.

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© 2006 Mirror Image, Inc., Albuquerque, NM