Youth Judging Manual - Alpaca Llama Show Association

CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD JUDGE1. Judges are knowledgeable. Theyknow what type of lama they’re lookingfor: what their ideal is. . Theyrecognize good free movement: howthe feet and legs are supposed to worktogether. They know where to lookfor faults, unsoundness andblemishes.2. Judges have keen powers ofobservation. They know how to lookat a class and where to stand to seewhat they need to see. They havelearned to observe and evaluate thewhole lama and all his parts.3. Judges have learned to makecomparisons. They compare eachlama to their ideal as well as to theother lamas in the class. They knowhow important a fault, or good point,is and how strongly to consider it inmaking their decision. They havelearned to see not only that they havea difference, but how different it is.4. Judges are able to make decisionsquickly. Taking a long time to make adecision may lead the audience andthe entrants to think you’re not sure.Developing your. Knowledge oflamas, your powers of observation,and your ability to make comparisons(the first three (characteristics) shouldenable you to make timely, informeddecisions.5. Judges defend placings with reasons.A good set of reasons is dependenton:a. accurate observation.b. an effective vocabulary of relevantterms.c. an orderly system.d. the ability to convey yourthoughts in a convincing manner.(In this program, juniors will givereasons in writing in response toquestions. Intermediates will givereasons orally based on, but withoutthe benefit of notes.)6. Judges possess integrity. Never letanything other than the lamas in yourclass influence your decisions. Thehandler (unless you are judging aperformance class), the audience, oryour own knowledge of how aparticular animal has placed previouslyshould be neither a positive nornegative factor in your decision makingprocess.7. Judges are always positive. Rememberthat your job in the show ring is toselect the best lama in the class, not theworst. You mustspend a lot of time learning the correctparts of the lama and how they interact.But you must also learn about thedeviations from these norms. Althoughyou must discuss faults in your reasons,you must give equal weight to thepositive characteristics that offset thesefaults. .4