— The Openherd Team
Certificate
Huacaya, Female, Unproven | White, Dark Fawn
This post is in memory of Smiling Moon’s Sophie. From the time she hit the ground on June 27th, 2013, Sophie was a force to be reckoned with. She was named after her momma because she also had the white markings on her face and was the same color as mom, Sophia. Sophie had so much personality and was so social that she often was in the middle of whatever was going on, which sometimes was not so much fun!. She went to the Northeast Alpaca show as a juvenile, placed third in her class and I believe she really enjoyed herself “road-tripping” with her “paca buddies”, Soliel, Cal and Oryan. She was entered in the Empire show in October of 2014, when, about a week before the show, she started to display some balance problems and at one point, was found out in the pasture in the rain on a Sunday morning, unable to get herself up. The dreaded meningeal worm had struck, despite trying to protect her with her monthly injections. The vet was called to end her misery, but they were not able to come, so we took her in the barn (by sled) and set her up in a stall next to her buddies, anticipating the vet coming the next morning to euthanize her. Sophie, however, had other ideas and by Monday morning, she was getting herself up and moving relatively well. She continued to progress and, up to a few days ago, was doing very well, though she still remained a little wobbly at times. Last weekend, however, about 8 months from her first symptoms, she suddenly had a major relapse and was unable to get back to her feet without “Paca Mom” physically lifting her up. The decision was made that it was, indeed, time for the vet to come and “free” her from her physical suffering. I am sure that she is pronking somewhere and sticking her face into whatever is going on around her. We will miss you, Sophie.
Updated 8/14/2025