Cindy Harris, owner of Alpacas at Windy Hill, spent most of mid-March thru the end of April going to Alpaca Shows & competitions throughout the country. I asked her what the benefits are of doing such. To this she replied,
"There is a huge amount of education & marketing related to the shows . . . Shows are a good way to stand your animals next to other peoples’ to see how they compare quality-wise. You get to see alpacas you normally wouldn't see; you get to see other alpaca breeders & owners face-to-face to build relationships & [hear about new best practices] . . . When you win awards, it validates your breeding program in public & increases the value of your animals. It helps others decide if they want to buy one of your alpacas or breed one of theirs to one of your herd sires . . . The fleece scores (see criteria below) are also used to identify the value of the animal as one you want to breed (and sets a breeding fee, & how much its fleece is worth). [Afterall], you have to feed the animals the same, so if you have one that isn't scoring high, you might want to sell it . . . If you don't go to the shows, you don't have a clear picture of what you're breeding, you don't have much of a network, & chances are you're not going to know very much & not going to sell very much . . . The competitions are about breeding for the best fleece qualities into future fleeces."
THE SHOWS
Mar 18–20: AOA Nationals Ft Wayne, Indiana. Halter & Walking fleece competitions.
Mar 25-27: CALIFORNIA Classic Show Merced, CA. Walking Fleece & Halter (50% fleece/50% Conformation).
Apr 10-11: FUTURITY Show & Auction/Sale Kansas city, MO. Halter show only.
Apr 23-24: CABA Classic (halter & walking fleece) & Alpaca Western Extravaganza Dual Show (2 shows) McMinnville, OR.
Apr 29-30: GREAT WESTERN Alpaca Show & the Rocky Mountain Alpaca Spectacular Denver, CO. Denver Colorado. Two shows - Halter & Walking Fleece.
THE WINNERS
Congrats to Cindy who had a boatload of winning alpacas! Though I’m not sure if all the road trip alpacas competed in every show, there are still an impressive number of wins.
THEM THERE RULES
Competition Division Structure
Alpacas compete against others with same characteristics as shown in this most basic division chart.
Scoring Rules of Placement Competitions
Once an alpaca's division is identified, it can compete in placement competitions resulting in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, & 4th place winners. Cindy competed in two types of placement competitions - Walking Fleece & Halter. There are other placement competitions, but since Cindy didn't compete in those, I've excluded them here.
Walking Fleece Competitions
In a Walking Fleece competition the prime fleece is evaluated while still on the alpaca. A Suri's entire fleece length must be:
Under 2 years old: minimum of three inches with no maximum
Over 2 years old: minimum of three inches with a maximum of nine inches
In fleece competitions, an alpaca's physical conformation (i.e., the alpaca's bone structure, gait, etc.) is not assessed. In Fleece competitions, each Suri is scored (i.e., gets points) against the criteria listed below. The maximum points a Suri can get in a Walking Fleece competition is 80 points.
Luster (20)
Fineness and Handle (20)
Uniformity of: Micron (10) and Color (5).
Absence of guard hair (5)
Style: Lock Structure (10) and Density (5)
Absence of impurities/stains/fleece damage (5)
For Suris, the minimum Walking Fleece score to award a blue ribbon (1st Place) is 48 pointa (60%). If none of the total points in a class achieve 48 points or above for Suris, the judge starts placements with a red ribbon (2nd Place) in that class. In the event that any two Suri alpacas which are tied have identical fleece scores, the tie will be broken based on the Fleece Scorecard in the following order: Luster first, then fineness and handle, then uniformity of micron, then absence of guard hair.
Unlike Walking Fleece competitions, Halter judging is based on 50% fleece and 50% conformation (i.e., its the alpaca's bone structure, gait, etc.).
Full Fleece Score Full fleece classes are judged 50% Conformation and 50 % fleece relative to the alpacas entered in each class
Bred and Owned Production
Champion Competitions: All 1st & 2nd place division winners are lined up by row, with eldest in first row, yearlings in 2nd row, & juveniles in last row. Then, a bit of musical chairs occurs. The Judge/s chooses best of first row (a 2-year old), then select a Yearling from 2nd row to fill its' empty spot in the first row, then select a Juvenile from the 3rd row, to take the empty spot in the 2nd row. After this, all remaining 2nd place winners leave the ring & remaining alpacas are considered for the Reserve Champion competition
Reserve Champion Competitions: The Judge/s select a Reserve Champion from the remaining alpacas in the Champion competition.
Best of Champions/Judges choice: At the end of the show, all champions come together in a special class. The Judge chooses the one he/she prefers for the Judges Choice award.
Futurity Competitions Kansas city, MO. This is a halter show only. The Futurity features the highest level competition of any alpaca show in the country. It's open to alpacas 6 months to less than 3 years. Entries must be the offspring of a nominated herd-sire. Suri & Huacaya alpacas are rated separately, with prizes awarded for:
Breeder of the Year & Reserve Breeder of the Year in Small, Medium and Large farm divisions. All points won by all entries of the farm, and all herd sire points won by the offspring of the farm’s nominated herd sires count toward this award.
Herd Sire of the Year (aka Get of Sire). Top performing offspring of a nominated herd sire count toward this award.
Small Breeder Division: Top 3 performing (point winning) offspring
Medium Breeder Division: Top 4 performing (point winning) offspring
Large Breeder Division: Top 6 performing (point winning) offspring
Premium Award: Top 5 top-performing (point winning) offspring
Futurity First Timer (aka Rookie of the Year) awards. In order to be eligible for the award, neither the exhibitor (farm), nor exhibitor’s immediate family may have competed in the Futurity in any of the last five years.
Judges choice awards. Each offspring chosen receive 10 “bonus” points.
Calculations for Breeder of the Year awards & Herd Sire of the Year awards are the same. However, Herd Sire of the Year points are divided between the entry owner, and herd sire owner. 80% of the score is given to the entry/exhibitor, 20% is given to the Herd Sire/Herd Sire Owner. The company running the Alpacas Futurity Show & Auction pay out over $200,000 to top alpaca award winners. Are you motivated yet?