The Sheep for Sale
page has been updated with 2008 Yearling Rams.
Flock History
The Beginning
The Paasch's have been breeding Suffolks since the 1950's. The
Paasch's purchased the nucleus of their present flock in 1959 from Harlan Wagner's Stony Point flock. The grand-dams of these eweswere primarily Stoneman, Trentham,
and C.P.R. Canadian breeding, and the sires were 2 Green Valley rams out of the Fred
& Marion Cobles flock.
Circle P 29 and the 1960's
Circle P 29
1962 National Champion Ewe, National Suffolk Show, International
Livestock Exposition, Chicago, Illinois
With a brood ewe flock of 15, Bob & Margie
captured the English Perpetual Challenge Cup for 1st Flock at the 1962 International
Livestock Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. Chicago was home to most of the
national sheep shows prior to moving the exposition to Louisville, Kentucky in the
1976.
This 1962 winning flock was anchored by Circle P 29, Champion Ewe at the
National Show. Circle P 29 was named Champion Ewe at nine (9) shows in 1962
including the National Show (Chicago), Cow Palace, and the California State Fair.
Laramie, Young Pioneer and the 1970's
The 1970' started by capturing the English Challenge
Cup (1st Flock) at the 1970 International Livestock Exposition in Chicago,
Illinois. The flock was anchored by "Laramie", 1970
National Champion Ram. "Laramie" and "Cheyenne", another
University of Wyoming ram, were used heavily in the early 1970's.
The next step major
step in the Paasch's breeding program was the addition of "Young
Pioneer" BYU 40X7. Sired by the "Banyan " ram,
"Young Pioneer" was purchased at the 1978 Mid-West Stud Ram Sale from Brigham
Young University.
In the fall of 1978, Steve Paasch married Melinda Larsen. Steve moved to Utah to
help Jack Larsen, his father-in-law, run his Suffolk and Columbia flocks as well as his
cattle and farming operations.
"Laramie"
1970 National Champion Ram, National Suffolk Show, International
Livestock Exposition, Louisville, Kentucky
Black Jack, White Rock and the 1980's
"Black Jack"
J.D.L. U-570
In 1982, "Black Jack" J.D.L. U-570 was selected from Jack D.
Larsen at the 1982 Nugget All-American in Reno, Nevada where he was Grand Champion
Ram. "Black Jack" was used heavily on the "Young Pioneer" BYU
40X7 daughters. Along with having the growth and correctness that the Larsen flock
was noted for, Black Jack also possessed a jet black, silky head, long level hip, and
extra muscle volume.
In 1984 Steve set up an arrangement for a one year lease of
"Quest II," one of the top yearling studs being retained in the Larsen breeding
program. This powerful breeding stud sired
"White
Rock" along with his twin sister, D.T.R. 85-0222, who produced D.T.R. 89-581, ("Lover Boy's" mother).
1986 served as a turning point in the Donner Trail Ranch breeding program.
Bob & Margie consigned their top yearling ram to the Nugget All-American and
were hoping to find a new stud buck to use back on their "Black Jack" daughters.
However, their top yearling buck,
"White
Rock" was the highest placing "white"
pedigreed ram in the sale (now we have the
convenience of DNA testing), so they bought half of him
back from Caras Ranch. He went on to place sixth in the yearling ram class at
Louisville where judge Steve George praised him as the best traveling ram in the class.
"White Rock" was used heavily in
both the Donner Trail & Caras breeding programs for the next five years. A
number of "White Rock's" top sons were also used in the program, including
"Horned Rock", "Solid Rock", and
"Passion".
Seldom has a ram dominated the showring the way "Lover 'Boy"
did during his two year
show career. Undefeated, Grand Champion everywhere shown including the National Suffolk
Show in Louisville, Kentucky. This tremendous stud can now be found in every
pedigree of any Donner Trail Suffolk, (sometimes showing up four times in the same
pedigree.)
During the 1990's we have breed and shown four
Grand Champions at the National Suffolk Show, starting with
"Lover Boy"
in 1993. The following
year, "Lover Boy's" top yearling son,
"Bad
Boy" captured Grand Champion Ram honors. This is one of the few, if not only,
times when a father/son were back-to-back National Champions. During our next
trip to Louisville, "Brandy", a
"Bad
Boy" daughter, captured Champion Ewe honors. Again, in 1999,
"Alpine", a
"Bad Boy" granddaughter and
"Lover Boy" great-granddaughter,
captured National Champion Ewe honors at Louisville.
Send mail to
mary@donnertrailranch.com
with all questions or comments about this web site or the sheep on
it!
Last modified:
May 19, 2008
