It will sneak up on you, heck it is almost September already! Remember your entries must be in by September 24th. Today we’ll look at the Performance Classes, all of which will be judged on the Friday of the Show, November 11th.
PUBLIC RELATIONS
The first of these is the PUBLIC RELATIONS classes, a Novice Class for llamas who are entering for the first time and an Open Class for all others. This is one of the ‘fun’ classes at the Show and has been won in the past by a variety of llamas including 10 – 12 month olds.
There will be 9 situations for your llama to deal with, these can vary from an opening umbrella, to children playing with a ball, to being touched by a stranger. There will be 10 points for each situation plus 10 points for the judge to subjectively award. Points can be lost for bad reaction, refusals, balking, etc.
The llama with the highest score will be Champion Public Relations and second will be Reserve Champion (but of course there will be placement ribbons in each class)
OBSTACLE CLASS
The competition starts to hot up a bit with the OBSTACLE CLASS, again there will be a Novice Class for first time entrants and an Open Class for all others. The Stewards will have designed a course of 9 obstacles which will range from simple to challenging in difficulty, the Open Class of course having the greatest challenge. Again there will be 10 points per obstacle and a final 10 points for the judge to determine.
Points can be lost for refusal, partial completion, out of sequence etc. All entrants will receive a detailed explanation of the point system prior to the Show.
Again, in addition to placement ribbons for each class, there will be a Champion and Reserve Champion Obstacles.
PACKING CLASS
The final competition of the day and the SHOW is the Packing. Personally I am of the view that this class has been dominated for far too long by male llamas and it is time for the girls to strut their stuff and show the boys that girl llamas can pack just as well – or better!!
Again the classes are for Novice (first time) or Open. Handlers will lead their llama on halter into a pen, remove halter and leave the ring, re enter, halter the llama and attach the saddle.
All saddles must have two girth straps and detachable panniers (saddlebags). There will then follow 5 obstacles for the fully equipped llama to navigate and a final instruction from the judge to be complied with (that is a surprise), before entering the pen one final time to remove the panniers and saddle. Once again all entrants will receive full details on the procedure to be followed and how points can be lost.
The judge will allocate 20 points to saddling up, 20 points to saddle removal and 60 points to the obstacles.
There will be the usual placement ribbons for each class as well as Champion and Reserve Champion Packing.
AND, the llama who receives the greatest number of points over the 3 Performance Classes will be awarded the Supreme Champion Performance Llama and bragging rights for the next year.
BUT THERE IS MORE !!
The Stewards will calculate, over the course of the Fleece(20%), Conformation(40%), PR(10%), Obstacles(15%) and Packing(15%) classes, the best performing llama and that llama will be awarded the BEST OVERALL ALL ROUND LLAMA of the Show.
We will follow with a final communication over the next 10 days and then we will see you all at the Show. There will be the usual set up gathering prior to the Show (date and time to be advised) where we prepare the Compound for the event and the usual final gathering to put everything away after the Show, again date and time to be advised.
And don’t forget we will have a larger llamas area this year with new judging and holding sections.
And yes, there will be a social BBQ at the end of each day!
And a final matter for your consideration – we have an opening for one more Steward for the Show this year, so anyone who has an interest in this regard please contact Lyn Cole or myself. You will receive admission to the Show and Parking as well as $50 per day to cover your out of pocket expenses, not to mention the adoration of all the llama folk in New Zealand.
Keith Payne, Convenor Canterbury Show 2016
03 319 8522 | thepayneganq@mac.com