In a Nutshell:

		BREEDER’S BEST THREE Eliza Belle Kalinka Altai
Eliza Belle:  1st Sr. Juvenile Female White Huacaya & COLOR CHAMPION TOO!
Kalinka:          1st Jr. Juvenile Female White Huacaya	Marushka:     4th  Jr. Juvenile Female White Huacaya
Huckleberry Rose: 2nd in the Light Fawn Huacaya Females Yearling…. A major league pain in the you know where in the show ring.  She won’t stand still!
Principe Dorato:  1st Medium Fawn Jr. Yearling Males. Peruvian Magnum:  2nd Light Huacaya Males Maccoyo Altai:   2nd White Huacaya Jr. Juvenile Males Caligula's Accoyo Spirit:  2nd White Huacaya Jr. Yearling Males CAN YOU BELIEVE…I KNOW YOU CAN…I DIDN’T HAVE TIME FOR THE REST OF THE PICTURES…..
WE SHOWED OFF IN THE HERDSIRE PARADE:
	Caligula’s Accoyo Justinian  Ready to pass on his famous genetics! 1ST @ THE AOBA NATIONALS IN 2004 Judge Maggie Kreiger started with this: “the male I’ve placed above the others is, in my mind, the epitome of the perfect alpaca…”
Standing at stud…	Peruvian Magnum Pure Sollocota…noted for fineness Dense…fine crimp (16.2 baseline)… GRAND CHAMPION FAWN MALE 2004 AOBA NATIONALS.

Bottom Line…

Eliza Belle amidst tons of applause and amazed laughter from the two pretty judges (who had picked their runner up from the front line)…she won the Reserve Grand Champion.

She won  “Bred and Owned Yearling Female” too.

Principe Dorato:  1^st in his Yearling Medium Fawn Halter Class

Chiquita (Banana):  1^st in her white Juvenile Huacaya Females division.  No muss no fuss, just walked in like a pro.

Kalinka:  1^st also in her White Juvenile Huacaya females’ class.  A little doll all the way.  Square and stocky…just like they like it.

Huckleberry Rose won the red (2^nd) in the Yearling Fawn Female Huacaya Halter class.  She’s a pain to show.  A regular snake on a leash.  Not mean, no, just double jointed…the whole neck wiggles when I want her to stand still.  Ugh!

Marushka simply walked in beautifully and each and every time the judges walked over to her she thru her lovely body in the dirt and rolled.  Needless to say all she got was dirty.

Altai placed 3^rd in the Juvenile White Male Huacaya halter class and he was very proud of himself indeed.  He looks like the toughest rabbit you’ve ever seen.

Breeder’s Best Three, judged by Mike Safely, Jude Anderson and Amanda VandenBosch was a huge class of gorgeous alpacas of all sizes and colors…but my trio “glowed”.  Eliza, Kalinka and Altai won this coveted award for us. Three different sires from three different dams...all winners.

These classes were divided and subdivided.  The competition tough but the alpaca breeders friendly.  How can you beat this for a business.

Wait, Wait, Wait and then finally Wait some more…. but it gives me time to set up my non-display.

Principe Dorato was much calmer this time.  We gave him a small dose of Gastro Guard (used for ulcers I think) as suggested by the vet at the last show.  Another different protocol…we are NO LONGER GIVING ANY GRAIN. It seems that if they are stressed during the trip (and who isn't?) they may not get enough forage.  If we give grain it could set up a situation called "acidosis" and neurological symptoms such as shaking set in.  I don't know exactly why he's acting better, it simply might be that he is getting used to the traveling but I'm sharing this with you just in case.

The class was big and strong but he managed to wangle a 2nd place ribbon out of the judge.  I can't wait until he's ready to breed.  His fiber is spectacular with curls all over his face.  Full Accoyo and a rare medium fawn…my new niche.

To continue the fawn classes…thank the Lord, I have another entry to show.  I think I'll get a black just so I'll have something to do before the last second when all the whites are shown at once.  Ugh!

Huckleberry Rose is a yearling…a very hot yearling with tons of fiber with stovepipe leg coverage that looks so good in the show ring.  (So far I can't figure the value of that extra wool below the knee.  It's supposed to indicate a density of the blanket.  I can tell you from personal experience that it doesn't hold true. (See Magnum, my stud who is the densest animal I've ever felt).

I started to worry.  She was not her usual snake like self on the end of that lead.  No twisting or wiggling.  No snaking the neck, no jumping up on my shoulders as the judge walked by.  In fact her eyes were closing.  Standing there with her entry number pinned to my blue and white damp show shirt I was getting more and more worried every second.  Jude Anderson examined her very fine fiber, first the mid side, then shoulder than her rear leg.  All looked uniform from my vantage point.  Jude pulled up her tail and made sure her spine wasn't twisted at the end and that her girly parts were organized properly. 

Hot little Huckleberry won the BLUE RIBBON in that extra large class.  I got her out of there fast and Rene, (my farm manager whose learning curve with alpacas is on a vertical path) took her temperature…102.9 F and walked her to the corner of the building where the Suri folks wet down their entries (I've got to figure this out someday).  He wet her belly with the cold water and also wet under her tail.  She had cold water to drink and back in her stall she started nibbling on hay.  The temp came right down and within one hour we were back in the ring for the championship classes. 

The usual two row system.  1st place in front , 2nd place behind.  And WE WON.  Can you imagine this?  She's a close-bred girl and the 3rd of her line to be a FUTURITY CHAMPION.  First was her grandmother Royal Velvet, then her mom Velvet Rose and now Huck.  Not to shabby if I do say so myself.  Gosh, you should see the prizes.  Not only a big ole purple ribbon to go with the 1st place Blue that we received in the last class but a statue of a Huacaya alpaca on a green marble base.  The brass plaque read Grand Champion Huacaya Color Champion 2005.  The cash prizes aren't what they used to be at the Futurity but this trophy is much more appreciated.

The last day and I have 3 white alpacas to show.  Eliza Belle was cool, calm and collected as she came in second in her class.  I admit it, I was silently praying for the first for her but then…. she WON THE RESERVE CHAMPION COLOR HUACAYA behind her half sister (another Caligula line female.)  Another purple, blue and trophy too!  I love lugging a bunch of stuff out of the show ring.  I feel like I did when I was a little kid with my arms full of prizes.  In this case a living breathing work of art alpaca was one of my prizes.  How good can this get?

Kalinka is as solid as they come.  She's square conformationally.  Nothing to correct on this young soft as soft can be young lady.  Judge Kristin Buhrman pulled her to the front for the BLUE in this halter class.  You all know what happened in the run off with Eliza.

Now for itty bitty Altai…my little boy "tough as nails Alpaca."  A big attitude wrapped in bunny rabbit fur.  He came in 3rd.  His density will increase next year.  He has a strange fleece.  It lies flat unlike many Huacaya.  It feels denser when you put your hands under it and pick it up.  I remember my Tinkerbelle.  She had the same thing.  So did Justinian.  I was surprised by the weight of the fiber upon shearing.  The same sized animal with pounds more showing on the scale.  Interesting, but not something all the judges seem cognisant of at this time.

My new ad reads…we are TOO BIG TO BE SMALL breeder of the year…

What do you think?  Do I sound spoiled, conceited?  Should I be coming down a notch or two?  Really, I didn't do anything here.  I can only attribute my success to date to some higher being that regulates our wonderful alpacas and Don Julio Barreda of the Accoyo Estancia in Peru who has supplied my little herd with such wonderful, culled genetics.