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Time flies when you're havin' fun they say...maybe that's why I'm just now getting around to writing about our weekend at the alpaca show that occurred over a week ago?!
I took that Friday off work so we could wrap up last minute packing and leave by 11am or so. We pulled out of the driveway at 11:30. Not bad. We loaded the trailer with homemade chicken gumbo, snacks, drinks, "show clothes" and "work clothes" and three of our alpaca boys. We took Cadbury Suprise, Callaway Jaxon, and Golden Beau's Othello. We arrived around 1:30, went through the vet check-in and unloaded animals and found our stalls. After depositing the boys in their stalls, Jon and I took the trailer to the parking lot and found Bill & Rhonda already parked and unloading. We parked our trailer so that we'd have a nice little gathering area between our trailer and theirs with our awnings out and facing each other. We unloaded our show supplies and while we waited for the John Deere Gator driver to come by and haul our stuff to the barn where the animals were, we started setting up "house" at the trailer for the weekend. We rolled out the "yard," set up chairs, and our table, pulled the coolers out and got everything pretty well settled and turned on the crock pot before we headed to the barn to set up our stalls & farm display. The boys were waiting patiently for us.
Shows are always a lot of fun but it's especially fun to meet new people and to see people you don't see regularly and to see the various colors of alpacas in every shade from white to black to grey to even Appaloosa! You just know everyone is sizing up your animals as you do the same with theirs but it's all very non-competitive in my opinion and I like it that way. Gregg Bacon, one of our newest alpaca friends (come to find out) was showing a grey male in the same class as our grey male Callaway Jaxon. Gregg bet me a cookie that his male would place over my male...and the heat was on!
Friday evening, after everyone was in and set up and ready for the show to begin on Saturday, people started to gather at our little "trailer park" for our Chicken Gumbo and Rhonda's Chicken Chili. We started this "tradition" last year and this year we had a bigger crowd than last and I expect next year will be even bigger. It's a lot of fun and we had people we know and even people we didn't know stop by.
Saturday was a fun day, full of activity and excitement. Watching the show is suc
h an awesome learning experience! I especially enjoy hearing the judges comments on why this alpaca placed above that one and why that one placed where he did etc. I just wish my hands could feel all the fleeces that judges hands have felt! I would love to know what they know. We showed Cadbury Suprise and it was no surprise he did not place at all. He took what I call, "the walk of shame." Once the judge picks her top 6 alpacas, anyone else left in the ring is dismissed. This is "the walk of shame" in my opinion. It's better to place 6th than not at all I think. Jon joked with everyone saying Cadbury took 8th place..."you know, the invisible colored ribbon!" We also showed Othello. Othello did GREAT and took a 2nd place ribbon! Of course, his class consisted of 
two alpacas. Othello and one other. That's OK though...the judge said wonderful things about Othello and so did some other reputable suri breeders that stopped to look at him. We'll show him again in the spring. Cadbury's show career is over and he is now for sale. Saturday night was the banquet and that was fun. The speaker was very interesting and everyone was glad to get to bed after a long day.
Sunday was another busy day but only one alpaca left for us to show. Callaway Jaxon. The greys show late in the day so we spent most of the day just watching the show and visiting with old and new friends. Callaway was in a class of 13 alpacas and I really thought he might have to take "the walk of shame" but I was pleasantly suprised when he placed 4th! I was thrilled and in shock! Yippee!!
Packing up and heading home is never as much fun as packing to go to a show. We packed and loaded the trailer while we waited for the last few classes to show and said our goodbyes to everyone. It's all bittersweet as we get another show under our belts, more ribbons for our alpacas which is always good for business, but this is the last show for us for this year. We are now looking into adding a show or two to our schedule for next year and researching to decide which shows to add. Stay tuned!
Until next time...
I took that Friday off work so we could wrap up last minute packing and leave by 11am or so. We pulled out of the driveway at 11:30. Not bad. We loaded the trailer with homemade chicken gumbo, snacks, drinks, "show clothes" and "work clothes" and three of our alpaca boys. We took Cadbury Suprise, Callaway Jaxon, and Golden Beau's Othello. We arrived around 1:30, went through the vet check-in and unloaded animals and found our stalls. After depositing the boys in their stalls, Jon and I took the trailer to the parking lot and found Bill & Rhonda already parked and unloading. We parked our trailer so that we'd have a nice little gathering area between our trailer and theirs with our awnings out and facing each other. We unloaded our show supplies and while we waited for the John Deere Gator driver to come by and haul our stuff to the barn where the animals were, we started setting up "house" at the trailer for the weekend. We rolled out the "yard," set up chairs, and our table, pulled the coolers out and got everything pretty well settled and turned on the crock pot before we headed to the barn to set up our stalls & farm display. The boys were waiting patiently for us.
Shows are always a lot of fun but it's especially fun to meet new people and to see people you don't see regularly and to see the various colors of alpacas in every shade from white to black to grey to even Appaloosa! You just know everyone is sizing up your animals as you do the same with theirs but it's all very non-competitive in my opinion and I like it that way. Gregg Bacon, one of our newest alpaca friends (come to find out) was showing a grey male in the same class as our grey male Callaway Jaxon. Gregg bet me a cookie that his male would place over my male...and the heat was on!
Friday evening, after everyone was in and set up and ready for the show to begin on Saturday, people started to gather at our little "trailer park" for our Chicken Gumbo and Rhonda's Chicken Chili. We started this "tradition" last year and this year we had a bigger crowd than last and I expect next year will be even bigger. It's a lot of fun and we had people we know and even people we didn't know stop by.
Saturday was a fun day, full of activity and excitement. Watching the show is suc
h an awesome learning experience! I especially enjoy hearing the judges comments on why this alpaca placed above that one and why that one placed where he did etc. I just wish my hands could feel all the fleeces that judges hands have felt! I would love to know what they know. We showed Cadbury Suprise and it was no surprise he did not place at all. He took what I call, "the walk of shame." Once the judge picks her top 6 alpacas, anyone else left in the ring is dismissed. This is "the walk of shame" in my opinion. It's better to place 6th than not at all I think. Jon joked with everyone saying Cadbury took 8th place..."you know, the invisible colored ribbon!" We also showed Othello. Othello did GREAT and took a 2nd place ribbon! Of course, his class consisted of 
two alpacas. Othello and one other. That's OK though...the judge said wonderful things about Othello and so did some other reputable suri breeders that stopped to look at him. We'll show him again in the spring. Cadbury's show career is over and he is now for sale. Saturday night was the banquet and that was fun. The speaker was very interesting and everyone was glad to get to bed after a long day.Sunday was another busy day but only one alpaca left for us to show. Callaway Jaxon. The greys show late in the day so we spent most of the day just watching the show and visiting with old and new friends. Callaway was in a class of 13 alpacas and I really thought he might have to take "the walk of shame" but I was pleasantly suprised when he placed 4th! I was thrilled and in shock! Yippee!!
Packing up and heading home is never as much fun as packing to go to a show. We packed and loaded the trailer while we waited for the last few classes to show and said our goodbyes to everyone. It's all bittersweet as we get another show under our belts, more ribbons for our alpacas which is always good for business, but this is the last show for us for this year. We are now looking into adding a show or two to our schedule for next year and researching to decide which shows to add. Stay tuned!
Until next time...
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