Winter - Classical MileEnd Alpacas

News East German Show / Wills and Alpacas / SWAG Spring Show and Sale
East German Alpaca Show
By Dominic Lane Australian Alpaca
Association Judge
It is always a pleasure and a privilege
to be invited to judge an alpaca show,
even more so when it is an inaugural
event such as the East German
Alpaca Show which was held in
a pretty village called Burgstadt
near Leipzig on the 6th and 7th of
October. The distance is certainly
covered quickly via the German
autobahn which, I must say, is the
perfect place to own a sports car.
The evening before the show
we were invited as the guests of
honour to a lovely restaurant within
the Hotel complex. Now this was
some dinner function. We were
treated to an amazing variety of
local produce featuring plenty of
meat, bread and potatoes which
were staples of the East German
diet in harder times. The evening
was full of surprises including a fire
juggler followed by an alpaca fashion
parade. The garments were of very
high quality and were paraded by
professional models and next came
what appeared to be alpaca lingerie,
it was hard to tell considering the
size of the pieces, and was not for the
faint hearted but great fun and very
entertaining.
The venue was a well presented,
spacious shed that had more than
enough room to house over 150
alpacas along with a number of
displays and trade stands. I was very
interested to see the quality that was
being bred in East Germany and I
was not disappointed. The quality
was generally very high although
there was not the depth that I am
used to judging in the show rings in
Australia, New Zealand or the UK.
The handlers presented their
alpacas professionally and in clean
paddock condition. For some this
would have been their first show
but you wouldn’t have known it.
Everyone seemed to take it very
seriously but as always, I made it
clear before the show started that
the main thing was that they enjoyed
themselves and to remember that it
was also meant to be a fun day. In
one of the classes one of the alpacas
was led into the show ring by a young
fellow who did very well to control
his alpaca when it played up which
was fantastic to see. I made sure
that my comments reflected this as
he was also fortunate enough to win
his class. We mustn’t forget that our
children are the next generation and
it was great to see an exhibitor so
young gaining the courage to show
his alpaca.
You may wonder how my oral
reasoning was deciphered by
the spectators as in the east of
Germany, English has only been
taught in schools since 1989 and
therefore not many of the locals
of Burgstadt were fluent. I was
fortunate to have a couple of very
competent interpreters who repeated
my comments to the crowd. The
Champion Female and Male Suri
were both wonderful examples of
the suri breed and exhibited great
lustre, fineness and density with
outstanding architecture, coverage
and sound conformation. It was
unfortunate that I was not able
to award a Supreme Champion
Suri as the Champion Female and
Male Suri both compete against
the Champion Female and Male
Huacaya for Best of Show. This is an
interesting approach that I have been
faced with before when I was invited
to judge in Belgium and which I
Grand Champion Suri Male - Zeus of Zauberland Alpakas
Reserve Champion Suri Male - Admiral of Zauberland Alpakas
Grand Champion Suri Female - Soleil of Zauberland Alpakas
Reserve Champion Suri Female - Alina of Alpakahof Bochmann
Grand Champion Haucaya Male - Maranon of Alpakas Von Silberberg
Reserve Champion Huacaya Male - Mica of Alpaca of Density
Grand Champion Huacaya Female - Curly Sue of Alpaca of Density
Reserve Champion Female Huacaya - Melina of Alpaca of Density
Best of Show - Maranon of Alpakas Von Silberberg (shown above)
believe isn’t really giving each breed This seemed to be a very popular
the opportunity to be awarded the decision with the local breeders and I
Supreme award in their own section. wish the owners of the Best of Show
However, as a judge, we have to all the best in the future.
respect and judge to the show rules The crowd was always attentive
of the country we are judging in. and were genuinely interested in
As usual there was an alpaca that the judgingl. This was evident with
stood out from the rest in being over 4,000 people attending the
the complete package combining show which was a great success and
fleece and conformation. I awarded a reflection of how popular alpacas
the Best of Show to a German bred are becoming in Eastern Germany.
alpaca being the Grand Champion This is a very exciting time for the
Male Huacaya. He was very
European Alpaca Industry and it
upstanding and displayed the best was a pleasure to see how eager the
uniformity of micron and character breeders and general public were
throughout the fleece with excellent to gain as much knowledge as they
conformation and presence.
could during the weekend.
Your Will Could Benefit Alpacas
SWAG Spring Show and Sale
Nigel Cobb writes - Charitable
donations are a vital lifeblood of
any charity. We continually give to
charities during our lifetime, but we
could, and many do, a little bit more.
The Daily Telegraph reported in
October that a staggering £1.6 billion
is bequeathed to charities in people’s
wills. Alpaca owners should consider
the Camelid Trust, our charity, to
which 10% of your subscription to
your breed society goes. But it needs
to have more funds in order to finance
research and help the welfare of our
lovely animals. If you want to make
a difference, then leave something in
your will to help this research in the
future. Adding a clause to your will is
easy and bear in mind that any gift
given to a charity in your will is free of
inheritance tax, so the bonus for the
charity is quite large. You will need
its actual name and Charity number
- British Camelids Ltd - Charity
Registration Number 802688. Get
your solicitor to amend your will
or I would be happy to do this for
members, as a regulated will writer
(and alpaca owner) - see my web site
- www.dragonflywills.com
The South West Alpaca Group’s
Spring Show and Sale returns to
its original venue at the Bristol
Sales Centre on the 29th and 30th
of March. The show classes for
huacayas and suris will be run
under BAS rules and judged by
Nick Harrington Smith on the
Saturday. On the Sunday, the Sale
Day, approximately sixty alpacas
will be offered for private sale.
It is expected that there will be
a number of trade stands taken
by breeders and those marketing
alpaca products. Under the current
Bluetongue restrictions only
animals from outside of the control
surveillance zone will be able to
take part in this two day event. For
more details visit www.swagsale.
co.uk or contact the organisers:
Show: Di Davies 07739 382483
didavies@alpacafsnet.co.uk
Sale: Karen Oglesby 01489 878663
info@mvalpacas.co.uk
Alpaca World Magazine Winter 2007 / 08