Herron Hill LaManchas
LaManchas
Developed on the West Coast in the late 1950s and popularized during the '70s back-to-the-land movement, the LaMancha is the only American breed of dairy goat. LaManchas, known for their engaging temperaments, their sweet milk, and their tiny rosebud ears, trace their lineage back to Spain, to the La Mancha region immortalized in Cervantes' picaresque 16th century tale of the "ingenious gentleman" Don Quixote. This unlikely hero lost his mind by reading too many of the chivalrous novels of the day.
La Mancha (LaMancha - one word - is the goat; La Mancha - two words - is the region) is legendary for its wine and its windmills. Where there is wine - this has been proved using complicated tables and formulas we need not go into here - there is always cheese. In this arena, La Mancha is best known as the home of manchego, a cheese traditionally made from sheep's milk (the sheep themselves are called, simply, "manchega," meaning that they are from La Mancha) on the high, arid plains of what is today the autonomous region of Castilla-La Mancha.
While the goat cheeses of Spain are less well-known than the popular manchego, they are no less distinctive. Majorero, Queso Palmero, Murcia al Vino, Queso de Antequera, Queso de Aracena, Queso Ibores, and La Yerbera are just a handful of many fine examples. La Mancha, and the neighboring Murciana province, is home to several breeds of hardy Mediterranean dairy goats, including the related Malageuna, Murciana and Grenadina goat populations (the last two are usually classed together as the Murciana-Granadina or Murcia-Granada goat). While there are at least 14 genetically distinct goat breeds native to Spain, the Malaguena and Murciana-Granadina account for more than 60% of the country's milk production. The Murciana-Granadina, which is largely credited as the ancestor of the LaMancha breed, falls into two groups: "veguesi," a larger goat which flourishes on the flat land, and "montana," a smaller goat better adapted to the mountainous regions.
Spanish goats traditionally browse poor land, walking upwards of six miles a day, and milk an average 1100 pounds (500 kg) per lactation. This would not be considered good or even adequate production for one of our LaManchas, but then our goats spend their days stuffing themselves with hay and lounging around the barnyard. And while our LaManchas are nowhere near as lazy as our Nubians, I have no doubt that they would band together to file a class action suit at the first indication that they might be obliged to walk anywhere other than the nearest feeder.