Smoky Buttes Taurus was born on the ranch in 2012. Taurus represents an interesting combination of colors. He is marked Dark wild, but shows a lot of black pigment, giving him what I refer to as a Black Wild look. His dam (Anasazi) was Self Black and his sire (Laramie) was Light Wild with a white blaze on his face. He is a large ram and has been a nice calm Alpha. He has sired lambs of virtually every color possibility, including Self Light. Taurus has been a very versatile ram and has had a lot of genetic influence on many of the lines here. He has been officially retired from breeding.
Woodland Creek Orvieto was born in 2013. As you can see from the photo he carries a great deal of Excessive White Spotting (EWS), including white horns with black striping. He is the one 100% British (RSBT) ram on the Ranch. As an RSBT he is smaller than the other rams, weighing roughly 60 pounds. He has proven to be an excellent breeder, siring many colorful, white marked lambs.
Bismark is a Son of Taurus and Caldera, born in 2017. He is a self black ram with lots of white on his face and neck. He is growing a beautiful black and white mane. He has developed into a big ram with excellent confirmation. His horns are really getting big and wide, showing some white striping. He has taken over the role as ram flock alpha.
Boise is a 2017 ram (twin) out of Blaze and Georgianna. He is Light Wild with a white wisp on his head. He is likely recessive for SCLP. He started out small, but has developed into a big blocky ram, with beautiful wide horns. He got his first turn in the breeding pens in the Fall of 2018 and has produced a nice crop of Blonde lambs.
Yarrow is a 2018 ram out of Taurus and Chickadee. He is Light Wild with quite a bit of white on his head and neck. He is likely recessive for Black and EWS. He is not the biggest ram, but has already developed a nice curl to his horns. He gives us another blonde ram not related to Boise. He sired some good lambs in 2018.
Borage is a 2018 ram out of Taurus and Robin. He is self Black with a white poll spot, but is very unique in that his coat bleaches blonde. He is recessive for light phase and is a good candidate to produce self light lambs. He is a nice, big bodied ram. His left hand horn set is a little tight. He got his turn in the breeding pens in 2019. We are looking forward to seeing his lambs.
A186R is a 2019 ram out of Raleigh and Amythyst. He is self Light with a two white poll spots. Self Light (SCLP) is the rarest of the Soay colors. He is a modest sized ram, pictured here at 10 months of age. His horn set is a little tight. He got an opportunity in the 2019 breeding pens to see if he can produce some self light sons with wider horns. We are looking forward to seeing his lambs.
Teed’s Montana ’05 was the foundation ram in the original group of Soays that arrived on the ranch in the fall of 2010. He was a Light Wild ram that carried a great deal of black pigment, including a black mane. He was the primary breeder for the first three years on the ranch and produced many wonderful lambs. He was a calm, gentle alpha ram; one of the things that made the initial venture into Soays so enjoyable. He passed February 2013.
Soay rams establish dominance much like Big Horn sheep, backing off then crashing together “ramming” until one of the combatants concedes.
