New York State Fair!

Well it has been a whole MONTH since the NY State Fair, and I'm just now posting pictures!  I'm a terrible blogger when I'm working full time...

Overall, the animals did pretty well.  They all placed respectably well in halter, and Ralph even managed a performance class placing!  Lily was not at all happy whenever Kara left the pen, but by the end she managed to refrain from trying to jump out!  They weren't very happy about all the people though, even Kara.  They spent a lot of time in the middle of the stalls, just out of reach.

Chilling in the stalls.

As with most shows, there were highs and lows.

First off, it was just plain awesome being in the ring with May again.  She was the second llama that I showed as a kid, and it was so much fun to be back at it with her.  And she was amazing!  The judge loved her fiber (even though she was body shorn!) when we were in halter, and he seemed pretty impressed when I told him she was 15 years old!  She managed a respectable 4th place in light wool adult female, despite being the oldest in the class.  And even without any performance work in 13 years, she did amazing for me in obstacle and public relations.  She placed 20th out of 49 in novice obstacle, and if she hadn't refused a very steep and narrow stair obstacle in novice public relations she would have placed pretty well...she got an 8 or 9 (out of 10) on all the other obstacles!  I can't wait to see how she does next fall after some training!

Still looks good for 15 years old and 4 crias!

Ralph was his good old steady self.  Always nervous, but I've learned how to deal with it most of the time.  He placed 7th out of 49 in novice obstacle, and if I hadn't forgotten an obstacle (the easiest one too!) and gone "off course" he would've done well in novice pack.  I think he was 21st out of 48 or so in novice public relations.

Kara...well Kara was mostly my fault.  She got pretty heavy this summer on all our gorgeous green grass, and thus didn't do so hot in halter.  She placed 3rd, right behind the Grand and Reserve Champion winners.  She also placed 3rd in bred and owned female, behind the Grand Champion Heavy wool and Suri winners.  She was great in showmanship though, except for not letting the judge touch her.  We still got 2nd though, which I thought was pretty good.  And she got to meet her "little" half-sister, Sunny.  They placed 1st in produce of dam, and the judge loved them and their size!

Chubby girl...

Sunny and Kara.

And last but not least, Lily (aka MSF Regal Princess).  To be honest, Lily was my disappointment.  She was very very nervous being at the show, and it came out in the ring.  She was a mess in the performance classes, although she did try some new obstacles which I was proud of.  She wanted nothing to do with halter either, and thus didn't walk very well.  She got 2nd out of 3, behind the Grand Champion heavy wool female.  The judge seemed to like her, he just couldn't evaluate her movement very well.  I'm hoping that I can get her over some of her fears this winter, and get her to more shows this spring to help as well.

Little miss ears!

Such a gorgeous girl!

It was still a great show with lots of great people, and May got to go to home with Dakota Ridge Farm from Albany to be bred to their gorgeous male (and Best of Show at the NY State Fair!), Joey!  Very excited for this baby!!

Autumn Hill Llamas & Fiber's future breeding females!

I'm Back!

Well, after a very long winter hiatus (due to the holidays, vacation, and lack of a computer), I'm back in the blogging world!

Due to the craziness of the holidays and starting a new job, I haven't really accomplished much in terms of llamas or fiber...  I did get a bunch of new knit items that my mom made listed on Etsy tonight...check them out!

A crochet scarf I made over Christmas vacation...up on Etsy now!

The exciting news from the past week or two is that I'm going to be growing my llama herd this year!  I found a fabulous new home for Mr. T, and in exchange Kara gets a date with a gorgeous part Argentine male next spring.  I'm also looking at purchasing a bred guard llama and a show female (possibly bred as well), so I could be doubling my herd in a couple of years!  Very excited to have some new blood in the herd, and especially babies!

Lamas in the snow.

I'm going to try and be better about posting for the rest of the winter, even though there isn't a whole lot going on.  I do have a ton of knitting patterns to publish though, so if you've been waiting you may just get lucky!

Big E Recap!

Well I was all set to write a blog post last night, and then completely spaced it!  So here you go, just a day late...

The reason I didn't post last week was because we were at the Big E!  This is one of the two llama shows that is relatively close to us, so of course we had to go!  We left Thursday afternoon and got back home Sunday evening.

Our stall display and a very wet Kara.

I was worried about getting checked in late (we couldn't check in at the show until 5 pm) and not having enough time to get everyone washed Thursday evening, so the boys got their baths before we left.  Kara didn't show in halter until Saturday morning, so I washed her at the show Friday afternoon.

Wet llama!

Luckily this fairgrounds was more organized, although we did have to drive about 10 miles away to park the trailer!  Really makes me miss the simplicity of all the Midwest shows we used to go to.

Friday was the first official day of the show.  T and I showed in the very first class (Advanced Adult Showmanship) and got 3rd with some great competition.  A few hours later he placed 2nd in his halter class (Non-Breeder Adult), and personally I think he got robbed!  But oh well, I'm pretty sure he already has all the ILR-SD halter awards he can get.  Everyone showed in Novice Pack Friday afternoon as well.

My handsome boy T.

Saturday was Kara's day to shine.  We started off the day with her halter class (Medium Wool 2-yr-old Female), and she won!  Sure, there were only two in the class, but she looked great and the judge said lots of nice things about her.  I was really hoping she'd get Reserve Grand Champion again, but the championship class was really tough.  We also got to go back in for Best Bred & Owned Female (you have to qualify at this show to enter the class), but they only place one animal and she didn't win.  Not terribly surprised though.  Everyone also showed in Novice Public Relations and Obstacle, but no placings there either.  The performance competition was stiff!  Late in the evening T and I went back for Ground Driving, and he got 2nd!

T and his ribbons.

Overall it was a fun weekend!  I got to hang out with some great people and love on some gorgeous llamas!  I'm sad that the show season is over so quickly!

Kara and Ralph were hot!

Indoor Obstacles!

One of the frustrating things about living in upstate NY is the short training season...  Luckily it is typically cool enough in the summer to do training (not so in IN!), but once December hits the obstacle course is covered in snow.  I decided to fix that...I built an indoor obstacle course!

Actually, I built the indoor course because I had a few obstacles that I didn't want sitting out in the sun all year.  But I quickly realized that there are other benefits!

First up is several unusual surfaces to walk over.  From left to right: a leftover piece of foam insulation, a trash bag, part of a shower curtain, and some foam pool noodles.

Next is a step over/jump.  It is actually a leftover roll of fence.

Last but not least is the tunnel.  After the NY State Fair, I knew I desperately needed a tunnel.  I haven't had one in several years, so even Ralph is unaccustomed to going through one.  Luckily there are lots of posts in our barn, so I wrapped some heavy twine between two posts and the wood cattle stanchions.  Next I draped a tarp over the top.

On one side I attached a shower curtain.  I had to cut the bottom off so it didn't drag the ground, and I slit the curtain in several places.

On the other side I attached a few foam pool noodles.  I need to get some bells to hang on one of the ends too.

Just a day or two after I set up the indoor course I had all 3 lamas going through it.  Their reactions were quite surprising.  For some reason T absolutely refused to do any of it, at least the first time.  The second time (a couple days later) he was only nervous about the tunnel.  We still need to work on that.  Kara was amazing with the tunnel, her issue was the unusual surfaces.  But it only took 2 passes and she was over her fear.  Of course Ralph was awesome about everything!

From now until the next show (the Big E, the last weekend of September), my main focus is ground-driving T.  He has good moments and bad, I may end up scratching but I figure I might at least try!

NY State Fair!!!

If you can't tell from the title of this post, I was quite excited to be going to the NY State Fair last week.  My husband not so much, but oh well...

We set off for Syracuse late Wednesday morning, and then the fun began.  The NY State Fair is one of the most disorganized fairs I've ever been to!  We had to drive all over the fairgrounds (right between the "carnie" stuff to get to the barn.  Luckily it is a tiny show, so there weren't a ton of people waiting to unload like in Indiana.  We quickly unloaded the animals and supplies, and went to park the trailer.  We drove around the fairgrounds a few more times trying to figure out where to park the truck, but we eventually found the right place.

I was lazy before the fair and didn't wash the lamas, so once we were parked and unpacked I washed everyone in turn.  Surprisingly Kara was the best...T did not want a bath!

Wet T.

Wet Ralph and Kara.

Thursday was the first day of the show, and I was in the first class with T...adult showmanship.  We were very much out of practice, and T didn't want to behave, but we still got 3rd.  I was pretty happy. A little while later T and I went back in for adult non-breeder halter, and he won!  And then got Grand Champion!  I was thrilled!  I'm 90% sure that this finishes his ALSA Halter Champion, which means he has every halter award he can get with ALSA or ILR.  Now to start on the performance awards!

T and his winnings.

Such a handsome boy!

Once T was done it was Kara's turn.  We went in for her halter class (medium wool 2-yr-old female), and she was an angel.  Looked gorgeous too of course.  And the judge agreed...she got 1st!  Going back in for grand and reserve I wasn't real positive, but Kara pulled off a Reserve Champion!  I'm so proud of my girl!  We also went in for bred and owned female, and got 3rd behind 2 other females who won Grand Champion in their halter classes.  So not bad!

Kara didn't want to pose with her winnings.

So I had to force her.

Of course, the weekend went down from there.  I've been working with the lamas a lot over the summer, but I have fairly basic obstacles so we weren't quite prepared for the creative performance courses.  Plus it doesn't help with the competition is outrageous (over 35 animals in each novice performance class)!  Ralph managed a 9th place in novice obstacle, but didn't place in the rest.  Neither did either of the llamas.  But the important part is that they improved with each class.  T decided to attempt the very steep and narrow stairs during novice public relations and Kara did the "tunnel" in novice public relations.

T doing the stairs.

Kara under the "tunnel".

Kara wearing the scarf.

Ralph weaving.

Overall it was a great weekend.  Kara loves the public (she was born to be a PR llama!), so it was a lot of fun taking her around.  Even T was pretty good with all the attention.  Ralph thinks it is beneath him.  T also spent the weekend trying to eat lots of things.  Some I let him, others I didn't!

T munching on an apple core.

T trying to eat ice cream.

Can't wait for the Big E in a couple of weeks!

Cute little Ralphie.

And You Thought Only Spiders Had Cobwebs!

I will admit that I'm weird, I find it strangely relaxing to brush a llama.

At least when that llama is well-behaved!

The NY State Fair is coming up in 2 short weeks, so during my recent time off I decided I should work on grooming the animals that I'm taking to show.

Lucky for me 2 of them are body shorn!

Since Ralph is only going to show in performance, he doesn't need any grooming at all.  I'll wash him right before the show just like the others, but only because I don't like petting him when he's all dusty!

Ralph after being shorn.  Not much left to brush!

T is also body shorn, but he has a hideous-looking tail!  I never got around to picking the burrs out of it in the spring, so it is a mess.  So on Tuesday I took the scissors to it (to cut out some big mats and burrs), and today I brushed out the rest.  He looks a little silly with a very poofy tail, but I think he'll look fine for the show.  He is showing in performance, halter, and showmanship, so he has to look his best!

T and his terrible haircut!

Kara is the big challenge.  Luckily she isn't terribly dirty, and being fairly young her neck and leg fiber hasn't matted too badly yet, but I was really determined to have her spotless and mat-free by the show.  I've now succumbed to accepting that she won't be completely mat-free, but I'm hoping to get most of the cobwebs out of her fleece.  My ulterior motive for doing this is that I hope having less cobwebs will help her cool off, since her skin should be able to breathe more.

Beautiful Kara.

For the past week or so, Kara and I have spent a lot of quality time in the barn...brushing and being brushed!  Luckily she is a sweetheart and accepts it very well!  So far I've done the top of her neck, her tail, and both back legs.  Today I started on a front leg.  Hopefully I'll be able to get done before I have to go back to work next week!

Kara's neck fiber before brushing.

The same spot after brushing.  (I love that she has her dad's curls!)

The lower part of Kara's neck...still needs a lot of work!

NY State Fair, Here We Come!!

The show season is finally getting closer...I just filled out the entry forms for the NY State Fair!

The NY State Fair is held in Syracuse (about 1.5 hours from us) August 20-23 (the llama show at least).

I always feel funny going to shows when I have such a small herd, as I tend to bring more than half of my animals!  This year, T, Kara, and Ralph are all going to be in my show string.  I really didn't plan on showing T, but he is so close to his ALSA Halter Champion, and is showing a lot of promise in performance, so he gets to go too.  Plus I figure if I'm taking 2, it isn't that much work (or money) to take 3!

Ralph and Kara at the 2012 Hoosier Llama Show.

So for this first show, T will be my showmanship buddy, in addition to showing in halter (non-breeder adult) and all 3 novice performance classes (obstacle, public relations, and pack).  As an adult, he has to carry weight (25 lbs) in pack!  That should be interesting, I should start training him for that soon!

T in halter at the 2012 Hoosier Llama Show.

As usual, Ralph is also just doing novice performance.  He has to show against all the llamas, but that's okay since he can definitely hold his own!  Unfortunately the state fair doesn't have alpaca halter classes, and he can't show with the llamas in theirs.

Ralph in novice pack at the 2012 Hoosier Llama Show.

And last but not least, Kara.  I debated about showing her in adult showmanship, as she is currently better looking than T, but she is a lot harder to get squared up.  So she'll just be in halter (medium wool 2-yr-old female) and bred and owned female, in addition to the 3 novice performance classes.  She probably doesn't stand a chance in performance, but I want to see how she does in the ring.

Kara in halter at the 2012 North American International Livestock Expo.

Overall it should be a great show, I'm so excited!!

Llamas: the "Green" Lawn Mowers!

I don't really consider myself lazy, but I guess in some respects I am.  Or maybe I'm smart!

Last year when the lamas grazed their pasture too low, I started letting them graze in other areas, inside a pen made from stall panels.  It was a lot of work to move the panels and walk the lamas out there every day, but they really enjoyed being able to graze.

The gang grazing late last fall.  I'm a firm believer in grazing for as long as possible!

Early this spring I continued the practice, before I would let the lamas back on their own pasture.  I moved them to a different spot though...around my garden!  We'd been having problems with groundhogs, so I wanted to keep the grass low around the garden fence.  Originally I set up the pen on the outside of the garden, but occasionally I moved it to the inside.

The gang in their pen next to the garden fence (on the outside).

Duque and T in their pen on the inside of the fence.

Over time I've begun to realize that it is fairly easy to bush-hog the grass on the outside of the fence, but the inside is much more difficult.  The ground is so uneven that it has to be mown with the push mower (it is also too narrow for the tractor in some spots), which is a lot of work!  Last week I set up the pen on one side of the garden (on the inside), so that the lamas could eat some of the really tall grass.  It has been too hot recently to let them out there, but tomorrow they're going back!  Hopefully they can graze during the day this weekend too.

Kara and T grazing inside the garden fence (within a pen too).

Before we moved to a place that had 2 unruly dogs, we used to stake the llamas out in the front yard to graze.  It is great training, and less to mow!

Duque staked in the front yard back in Indiana.  It is also a great way to dry llamas after washing, but without them getting dirty!

I did start stake training T and Kara this spring, but within the confines of the garden.  If a llama hasn't been stake trained before, you can't simply tie them out and leave them, they must be supervised.  T did really well, and Kara only twisted herself once!  Unfortunately it isn't safe to let them graze on a stake outside of the garden here, too many stupid dogs!

T and Kara grazing while staked in the garden.

Temptation

I've been good this week, but I've wanted to be so bad!  This week has been full of temptation...

First I saw an ad for 3 free female alpacas in a nearby town (I actually know the farm).  A few days later I found another ad for free pet/fiber quality male alpacas (I know this farm too).  I would love to have more alpacas...  As much as I prefer llamas to alpacas, alpacas produce so much more fiber (at least on average).  I do eventually plan to get 2-3 more alpacas to raise for fiber, but I managed to talk myself out of considering adding more right now.

My first 3 fiber alpacas.  Unfortunately the two white ones were fairly brainless so they were sold after a couple of years.

The third temptation was the LFA sale this past weekend.  For the first time in years, I really wasn't super interested in any of the llamas in the regular sale, but there was a male in the claims futurity that I would have loved to bring home!  He is a gorgeous paint, half Argentine, with multiple halter and fleece winnings.  Just what I'm looking for!  Again, lucky for me I have ABSOLUTELY no business buying a breeding male right now.  I just don't have room.

These temptations, especially the LFA sale (and also seeing tons of pictures from the ILR Gathering show the same weekend), have really given me the bug to start a breeding herd again.  I want nothing more than to be able to get back into breeding and selling (and showing!) llamas!

My goal for my breeding herd in the past was always to breed the all-around llama...personality (and training), conformation, and fiber.  Not to toot my own horn, but I think I've done pretty well.  (I guess this is a good time to mention that Kara (Autumn Hill's Karakoram) was entered in her first 2 shorn fleece classes in the past 2 weeks, and she won a Grand Champion Double Coat (The Fiber Frenzy) and a Reserve Grand Champion Double Coat (ILR Gathering)!!  So proud of my girl, and my breeding program!)

Kara's fleece from last year, right before shearing.

When I start a breeding herd again, that is still going to be my focus.  I don't expect to have performance champions (though I have raised one!), but I want my babies to have a handleable personality, so with extensive training they could be!  I'd love to have halter champions (and have raised several who have gotten champions in halter, one even got enough to be an ALSA Halter Champion!).  And of course I want fine, single coat fleece, but this one I'm going to step up a notch.  I'm sick of having beautiful fleeces, but only getting 1 pound of prime fleece per animal!  As a fiber farm, animals need to produce more fleece to make it profitable.  I also happen to love thick bone structure in a llama, so my plan is to introduce some Argentine bloodlines into my herd in the future.  Argentines have extremely dense fiber, capable of producing 5+ pounds of prime fleece (and often are single coat).  Adding thick bones would just be a plus!

The pride and joy of my breeding program, Autumn Hill's Khatadyn.  He finished his ALSA Halter Champion!

Autumn Hill's Charity, multiple fleece and youth performance champion.

Autumn Hill's Rainier, winner of multiple fiber and halter champions and some great performance placings too!  He's also Kara's full brother.

I really can't afford to get several full Argentine llamas (even in the future), so my plan is to get an Argentine male and a couple heavy wool North American females (and maybe even a heavy wool NA male too).  I've heard that Argentines can increase fiber on their crias in just one generation (even 25% Argentine llamas can have thicker fiber), so I think that might be the way to start and make it more reasonable.

I fully intend on Kara being one of my cornerstone females in a future breeding program.  She has interesting bloodlines, and represents 2 of my favorite llamas from my past breeding program.  She hasn't been in the halter ring in almost 2 years (!), but she did very well at her first 2 shows as a juvenile.  I'm really hoping she will impress the judges when she gets back in the ring this fall.  And of course her recent fleece placings are very encouraging.

A terrible picture of Kara.

I also have high hopes for another representative of my former breeding program, and it hasn't even been conceived yet!  I'm not sure I've announced this here yet, but I'm getting a baby llama in 1.5-2 years!  I've regretted selling May (Little May Flowers) since the day she left our farm almost 8 years ago, and I finally decided to do something about it.  I'm going to "rent" May for the next year...any day now she will be bred to a gorgeous ALSA Halter Champion male, and hopefully have a fabulous baby in about a year.  Once the baby is weaned, I will bring him/her out to my farm in NY.  I'm really excited to have a relative of April (Alder Crest April Showers) in my breeding herd again, and I think the dad will add some great traits to the cria (one of his crias was an ALSA National Champion in halter).  Needless to say I hope the baby is a girl, but a male would actually be okay since it will be completely unrelated to Kara.

May definitely has a lot of great traits to pass on to a cria.

Who wouldn't want a cria related to this beautiful girl (April)??

Autumn Hill's Blazing Starr, May's first cria and one of my best production to date.

Unfortunately, even though I have all this completely planned out (I even know what farms I'm going to "shop" at!), I don't think it will be happening any time soon.  My barn is just not set up for a larger herd, so it all will have to wait until we either move or build a new barn.  I'm definitely itching to get started though!

Definitely my best group of crias ever!