Spring Shows

We plan to attend three spring shows this year. All three shows are listed as a Level IV show. The biggest show is a Level V, so all three of these are just under the biggest level. We try to get to higher level shows, as there is more competition and, we feel, the ribbons mean that much more.

This year we had to do a lot of thinking on which alpaca to take to which show. We have three show age males: SA Peruvian Greyt Exxpectations (Greyt), Sancha's White Lightning, and OHVN The Cavalier. If we take Greyt or Lightning, because they are older, they cannot be in the same pen with any female. Cavalier is young enough to be with (and currently resides with) the girls. For girls, we have Victoria's Shelby, Kateri's Tehya, CCAP Cafe au Lait, Snow Lily by Lord Stanley (Lily), and OHVNA Pocahontas (Po). That makes 8 total show age animals. If we took all of them to every show, we would have to get three pens. That adds up to a lot of money. Also, there are transportation issues. If we take the older males, we have to put up the divider in our alpaca trailer, leaving less room for animals and supplies. We also have to consider what supplies we can fit in our truck, what needs to go in the trailer, and if we can haul everything we need. So, we had to do a lot of figuring on who to take where. Do we go to only two shows, and take everyone to those two shows? Or go to more shows, only taking those that we really want to take (most big farms have a "show string" that they take to many shows). So many decisions!

This is what we came up with:

Our first spring show is The Best of the US Alpaca Show and Auction in Columbus, Ohio, on March 12-14. At this show we plan to take five of our alpacas. We will be taking Shelby, Tehya, Lily, Po and Cavalier. This will be the first show ever for Lily, Po and Cavalier (our 2009 cria). For our 2008 cria, we will be taking Shelby and Tehya. They (along with Lightning) were at this show last year. With this number of alpacas, we will only need two pens. There will be no need to divide them, as there are no older males going.

The second show is the Indiana Alpaca Invitational in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on April 2 and 3. At this show we are taking six alpacas. We will take three girls, Tehya, Lily and Po, and three boys, Greyt, Lightning and Cavalier. That makes for two pens, one for the boys, and one for the girls. Our trailer will be most maxed on this trip, as we are taking the older boys. I will need to pack light so we can fit all we need into the truck.

The third show is The Great Midwest Alpaca Festival, in Madison, Wisconsin, on April 24 and 25. This will be our smallest show in that we are only taking three girls to this show: Tehya, Lily and Po. It is some distance away, so we scaled down who we are taking.

As you can see we are making sure to get Tehya to as many shows as possible. She will be bred this summer, so this is the last of her show career. Shelby is not listed on any show after the first one, because she is going to be in the auction. Lily and Po are also going to all three shows. We feel these girls are incredible and want to show what they can to in the show ring. Cavalier will be at two of the three shows. While he is also a great alpaca, I believe he will get better after his first shearing. I think he will do best in shows this fall and next spring. He's one to watch! Lightning and Greyt, unfortunately, have the disadvantage of being older males, that don't mix well with the other show animals. It was easiest to leave them off the show list, as that meant pens can be mixed together and no divider has to be put up in our trailer. However, Greyt already has an impressive show record. Lightning does have a show record, though we would like to add to it. He can be shown this fall and next spring (whereas Tehya will be bred by then and not showing).