Young Alpaca Explorers

All of the material will be supplied as well as overall instruction. Completed alpacas will be judged Saturday evening and on display for everyone to see Sunday. Prizes will be given out on Sunday morning around 10:00am

Stop by the Whispering Meadows Alpaca Breeder booth for details!

Seminars

Showing Off!

Create a calm, cool, collected, cooperative, comfortable, congenial, companionable, contented camelid!

Participating in shows is fast becoming a requirement for successful alpaca breeders. Learn the skills that will help you and your alpaca succeed, relax and have FUN!

• Wrestling with your alpaca not only looks unprofessional but only teaches him to be a better wrestler! Learn to use balance and re-balancing techniques to encourage your alpaca to stand still.
• Halter Fit: a simple principal but one often over looked and not as straight forward as you think! Learn the specifics of halter fit as it relates to show performance and how your halter may be interfering with your alpaca's ability to concentrate and perform.
• Attitude isn't everything but it is a big part of your success. Learn techniques for improving your alpaca's attitude about being shown and handled.
• The certain something that makes your alpaca look spectacular is something more than conformation and fleece. It is poise. Learn new techniques for improving the way your alpaca shows including his gait, carriage and stance.
• There is a lot more to showing than biceps! Learn techniques for helping your alpaca cooperate for fleece checking and bite examination.

Bringing Home the Ribbons

This seminar will outline the skill areas that many exhibitors can use to greatly improve performance scores for both their alpacas as well as the show person. This will include increasing awareness of alpaca owners' responsibilities and conduct with respect to their animals both in and out of the showring.

There are many people in the industry who are new to showing, or could use a refresher, and lack the insight on what to do, and why, when attending a show with animals. As a National Champion and professional handler, I teach an interactive seminar where participants can see what is taking place and its impact on their performance.

This will be accomplished through demonstrations during which attendees and owners will be encouraged to participate using alpacas in a clinic-like setting. They will be taught proper etiquette for show animals both in and out of the showring, from their arrival to have color checks done through handling the animal at all times outside of their pens. Included will be how to perform in a Halter Show so the judge is presented with the best qualities of their alpaca, not their worst. They will learn an easy way to show teeth and control the alpaca for the "hands on" portion of the judging and what is expected of every participant in the showring.

They will also learn what the checkpoints are that the judge is looking for in a winner.

They will learn how to show in Performance Classes and how to avoid needless loss of points over things such as handler errors and inattention to detail. Again, emphasis is given to technique and details that the judge is looking for in their determination of a show winner.

Saturday Dinner - An Evening with Bob Farmer and The Farmer's Almanac

• 6:00pm Cocktails
• 6:30 - 7:30 Dinner
• 7:30-8:30 Bob Farmer

Bob Farmer writes and edits for the Farmers' Almanac, one of the nation's oldest publications. He is also the almanac's official spokesman, having been associated with the publication for more than 25 years. Farmer brings this nationwide tradition alive with his unique down-home style of humorous storytelling. He travels extensively to inform, motivate and entertain audiences all of the country. He is a member of the International Society of Storytellers and was sponsored by Zig Zigler in joining the prestigious National Speakers Association.