Thursday, May 8, 2014
Alpacapalooza 2014; 1st and CC
Maverick attended Alpacapalooza 2014 with Sharon Loner judging males. As Leanne was on deck, I could see she was nervous. She was also worried Maverick would not do well. I told her to be confident and also said that, even though we are a small breeder, Maverick is a special alpaca. He is a Champion!
Maverick was the oldest in his class and was 1st up. As he entered the ring, he looked very good. Maverick has a crap ton of fleece on his body with a long staple. He is conformationally correct and very pleasing to the eye. As Leanne made it to the corner of the ring and began turning right, the next animal entered the ring. However, the judge kept her eye on Maverick while looking at the second animal as well. I think she liked what she saw in Maverick. When all animals were in the ring, the judge started with Maverick. She looked at his fleece in 8 to 10 different spots. She continued on through the class. She came back to Maverick one additional time and peeked at his fleece. Was she refreshing her memory about his fine, dense fleece? The judge then went to the front of the group.
While Maverick was in the ring, I was talking to another breeder. He believed Maverick would be first and that the judge already had him first. I don't get to confident, until the judge places animals in order. The judge pointed to Leanne to move into the first position. I was very excited as the competition was very challenging.
During the Championship, I was confident in my mind about Maverick, but "Was he good enough to be a color champion?" I believed he was and I believed he had the makings of an excellent; "Impact Herdsire".
Maverick was awarded the Color Champion in the Light group at Alpacapalooza 2014!