Hinterland Ranch closes chapter in llama breeding history

The closing of Sisters' chapter in the history of prominent centers of the llama breeding world came this weekend at Hinterland Ranch, a llama ranch east of Sisters.

Owner Kay Patterson dispersed her premier breeding herd at the Walkabout Finale held on September 3-4, and is ready to move on to new adventures.

"My glass is always three-quarters full," said Patterson, reflecting on the end of her time at the top of the llama breeding industry and the beginning of the next phase of her life.

She doesn't allow much time for melancholy, and preparing for a sale and open ranch of the scale she puts on consumes all the minutes in a day. Patterson and her hard-working staff groomed the grounds, flower beds, buildings and especially the animals in anticipation of the weekend event.

The Walkabout tours and sales have occurred at Hinterland every three years since 1993, and each one involves a day of hosting potential buyers and interested folks, providing information on the llamas and culminating in a barbecue the night before the sale.

Sale day allows people to have one last look at the animals, enjoy lunch and then settle in for the afternoon sale. More than 180 bidders from all over the United States, Canada and as far away as New Zealand came to try for their part of a herd which produced more national winners than any other llama ranch in the country.

Auctioneer Darrell Anderson, from West Lafayette, Indiana, has been at the helm of several of Patterson's sales. He was optimistic about the outcome.

"When you get this many people gathered up and this many good llamas, it's bound to go well," he said.

The top price paid was $27,000 for a champion female, with an average price over the 86 animals sold of $3,825.

Patterson and her ex-husband, Richard Patterson, began breeding llamas in Ohio in the early 1970s. They moved to Sisters in 1973, bringing 30 llamas and 44 Polish Arabian horses to a ranch west of town. Through judicious purchases, careful breeding and adept marketing, they built a reputation as the premier llama breeders in the United States.

In 1990 Kay Patterson moved to the bare piece of land that would become Hinterland. She brought many llamas with her and continued to breed and show, improving her herd marketing the fiber as

well.

At Friday's Walkabout Finale barbecue, Patterson recognized the small group of men who'd helped her build the infrastructure of the ranch she designed. Rick Slavkovsky, Jerry Klatt, Daniel Emrick and Jose Luis Gonzalez-Raya all came down the ranch driveway during those early days and imparted their considerable skills to a project that resulted in a ranch purpose-built for llamas, though other livestock would no doubt be supremely comfortable in the pens and shelters, barns and paddocks that make up the public areas of the ranch.

The ranch is now for sale, and Patterson is getting things organized on her new off-grid property a bit northwest of Sisters.

"The sale and sale weekend were a great success in these fragile economic times," she said.

"Every animal on my ranch has a new home."