Well PAOBA Breeder’s Showcase 2010 is over.  It was a great weekend.  We got to meet lots of people at our farm stall.  If you stopped by, it was great talking to you.

We had ‘The Sock Lady’ from from Appalachian Sock Company there demonstrating her antique sock knitting machine.  Many people were very fascinated by it (including me).  She cranked out some wristies and a cowl with some of our 100% suri yarn.  She did knit in some nylon for the wristies to give them some more stretch.

Kelly did some spinning of alpaca fiber when she wasn’t running around trying to make sure I had the animals where I was supposed to.  The results weren’t as good as we had hoped for, but when are they ever.  It was a new experience showing in some of the production classes, Best Bred and Owned Yearly Male and Produce of Dam.  the product of dam class was especially neat because Josh handled Gaston for the judges examination.

Snowfox produce of dam

On June 13, 2009 Big Rock Alpaca Farm will be showing off some of our alpacas at The Mannings Annual Spinning Seminar.? The two that we’ll most likely have there will be Gaston and Silver Ray.

Silver Ray has already been shorn, but since Gaston will be getting back from Nationals earlier in the week we’re planning to still have him in full fleece and to hand shear him on Sunday.

The day makes for a great family outing.? There is no admission fee or pre-registration required and lunch can be purchased there in support of a local church.? There will be lots of different demonstrations going on for everyone to experience and learn from.

Kelly showing Frankie

Kelly showing Frankie

We’ll have a couple of our alpacas there and will also have some of the their raw fiber and fiber in various stages of being processed.

We look forward to seeing all of you there!

Gaston takes 2nd in class at 2009 PAOBA

Gaston takes 2nd in class at 2009 PAOBA

Sir Gaston ROX recieved a second place in his class at the 2009 PAOBA Breeder’s Showcase in York, PA.? He was placed in the medium fawn class at this show.? The class had six other nice suri alpacas in it for a total of seven in the class.? The judge liked his fineness, density and consistency of lock over the third place.? In fact that only thing that placed the first place alpaca above Gaston was the bone structure.? The first place alpaca was a little more heavily boned.

After the cl;ass a much more experienced suri breeder stopped us with the first place alpaca and felt that Gaston had more density than the first place alpaca.? His comments confirmed a lot of what we think about Gaston.

His last and final show of the season will be the 2009 National Show in Cleveland, Ohio.? He’ll be remaining in full fleece until then and we’re planning to hand shear him soon after he returns home.

The 2009 MAPACA Jubilee is finally underway at the Farm Show complex in Harrisburg, PA.? If you are interested in learning more about alpacas this is one of the best opportunities to come out and visit with lots of different farms and see lots of great alpacas.

Judging a class

Judging a class

I don’t know what the official numbers are, but there are LOTS of alpacas to see.? Some of the best alpacas in the country are represented by the many farms, both suri alpacas and huacaya alpacas.

Much of the suri alpaca juding will take place on Saturday, April 24, 2009.? We will be showing Gaston in the light fawn class, probably late in the day on Saturday or possibly Sunday morning.

Admission is free this year so come out and see us!

Isn’t it nice to finally be getting to SPRING!? And with the end of the deep freeze of winter come the spring alpaca shows.

Here are the spring shows that we’ll be show Gaston at:

2009 Maryland Alpaca Show and Sale, April 18-19, 2009? Westminster, MD

2009 MAPACA Jubilee, April 23-26, 2009?? Harrisburg, PA

2009 PAOBA Breeders Showcase, May 8-10, 2009? York, PA

We’ll be sharing a stall with Criative Acres at these shows so be sure to look us up and say hi.

Allen

? Actually it’s a little more than half over, figuring the obstacles were done Friday evening, it is scheduled to end late Sunday afternoon.? Both of the boys did really well in their respective classes for the obstacles.? Josh in the junior youth got a fifth place and Jake in the sub junior youth got a first place by one point (picture to follow).? I’d say they did a little better than last year.
Dakari shows as a medium fawn and this year was not much different than previous years, it’s actually a little better than before.? We couldn’t leave early because they could make it to his class, but then they cut it off and we have to be the first class in the morning.? This year there are about ten classes before the class Dakari is in so we don’t need to be there first thing in the morning.? We’ll probably be hitting the show ring around 10:00 AM or so.

See PAOBA Breeder’s Showcase for more information.

Our next show will be The PAOBA Breeder’s Showcase on Mother’s Day Weekend in York, PA.? This is always a fun show, it’s not nearly as big as MAPACA.? This year we’re only taking and showing Dakari, and both Josh and Jake will be doing the obstacle course with him.

Hopefully they’ll do as well as they did last year.

Dakari with Josh and Jake with ribbons

We had some good help while at the show. Josh and Jake were both very helpful at getting the alpacas ready for the ring.

Getting ready for ring

Jake Scooping poop

We recently attended the 2008 MAPACA Jubilee in Harrisburg, PA. It was a very busy busy weekend with lots of photo opportunities. One of my favorite was the Get of Sire line up. It was awesome to see so many alpacas lined up in a row. And the amazing thing was they were just standing, none were jumping around. Unfortunately I only got the backs of the handlers, I wish I would have had time to get down from the stands to get the backs of the alpacas. I did get the backs of the alpacas on the ribbon ceremony, but it wasn’t quite as impressive as the initial line up.

MAPACA Get of Site

Here’s a shot of the results line up, but it’s not quite as impressive as the initial line up.

Get of Sire Results