CCNF at the 2018 Showtacular

This year for the first time, the Showtacular — made up of the NEAOBA and Empire halter shows along with the Showtacular Fleece Show — was pushed back a couple of weeks to the second weekend of November. While this was done so as to get away from a scheduling conflict with the world-famous New York Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, it did mean that we were in Syracuse during a period in the calendar when the threat of winter weather would be even more pervasive. Now I am a big proponent of the idea that if we’re all going to freeze our you-know-whats off anyways, then it is definitely preferable to have some of the fluffy white stuff on the ground covering up the brown and grey of the Northeast. My enthusiasm wanes however when we are hours away from home base with a 32′ livestock trailer and, through no one’s fault but our own, still lacking snow tires on our truck! Luckily, it all worked out though. At least heading back east we only saw a few localized snow squalls, particularly as we were finishing up on Sunday but nothing of any consequence. In the end we made it over the hills and through the woods between Albany and home (Peru, VT where Bromley Mountain is located is consistently a mini snow belt) drama-free in time for dinner Sunday evening.

Our fall show teams have always been smaller and more sane than the crew that goes out with us in the spring time. This year the magic number was 20, almost all of them yearling holdovers from the team that did so well for us at Futurity back in April, plus one token 2 year old, sweet Priam (that’d be him on the left). The humans walking in circles with said animals were yours truly, along with my better half, our youngest Max, as well as our friends Dave Serino and Sue Monat along with Sue’s granddaughter Emma, who had in theory just come along for the sights and sounds of the show but found herself getting drafted nonetheless. While we would normally have been able to show that many animals with just 3 or 4 handlers, the format of this particular double show with the two halter events overlapping on Saturday, meant that there was the potential for extra logistical silliness. With as many warm bodies as we had — most of us grizzled vets of the show circuit — it was all pretty straightforward though. Jen and Max stuck to showing females, while Dave and I handled the boys, as Sue and Emma stepped in wherever was needed, all the while ferrying animals out to us whenever there wasn’t time to run back to our pens between classes. All good.

What to say of our results? No real surprise, the song remained very much the same for the Elixir-Matrix Majesty axis, which really has — with some key support from Sub-Zero and Precocious — been at the forefront of most of the good stuff we’ve been up to for 3+ years now. One vital and interesting exception to that rule though this time around was the appearance of a Mo (MFI & KVR’s Mint Mo Money) kid in the winner’s circle multiple times: CCNF Snow King. The young fella, who bares the burden of his great-great-grandsire’s name, is the maternal son of CCNF Elizabeth, one of the top EL daughters in our program. All told, Snow King accounted for the White Reserve Championship in all three events (Empire halter, NEAOBA halter, and Showtacular fleece) to go along with the overall Judge’s Choice award from the fleece show! Not bad results at all for an aspiring young Herdsire that we’ve really had our eye on and believed in since he first hit the ground in the summer of 2017. I guess the next step will be to see what he can really do the summer of his 2nd birthday?

I do want to give a quick shout-out to the brand spanking new Expo building at the NY State Fairgrounds that the Showtacular was hosted in this year. Prior to last weekend, the best building we had ever shown in over the course of our now 21 years in this business was the decidedly swanky equestrian center in New Gloucester, Maine where the original New England Coastal Classic (which eventually mutated into today’s NEAOBA Alpaca Fall Spectacular) was held. If you were in the riding arena at those Maine shows and not stuck in the flooded tent adjacent to it, you know of what I speak. While the food at this new joint in Syracuse could use some work (ok, it was frankly pretty ghastly), the new Expo building for it’s facilities and lighting — produced by hundreds of overhead LEDs — blew the previous title-holder out of the water. Good luck hiding dark or light primaries from the judges in those conditions boys and girls: it just ain’t gonna happen! Perhaps AOA would like to come truly east with the Nationals? With all due respect to the mighty PA Farm Show facilities in Harrisburg, they now legitimately have a better building for putting on a national level show in Syracuse.

Ok, enough blabbering on. Without further ado, below are our results from all three events at the Showtacular!

CCNF Championships, Specialty Awards, & 1st Place Finishes at the 2018 Showtacular, Syracuse, NY

Empire Alpaca Extravaganza

CCNF Valyria (CCNF Moonshadow x CCNF Elixir) – Judges’ Choice Huacaya Female

CCNF Lyanna (CCNF Dorianna x Snowmass Matris Majesty) – Champion Fawn Huacaya Female

CCNF Sovereign Legacy (CCNF Luna Majesty x CCNF Elixir) – Champion Fawn Huacaya Male

CCNF Amalthea (Chatham Lancaster’s La Boheme x CCNF Elixir) – Champion Light Huacaya Female

CCNF Valyria (CCNF Moonshadow x CCNF Elixir) – Champion White Huacaya Female

CCNF Sweet Sollemnia (Sugar Snow x CCNF Elixir) – Best Bred & Owned Huacaya Female

CCNF Dark Storm (CCNF Love Dove x Snowmass Matrix Majesty) – Reserve Champion Fawn Huacaya Male

CCNF Idris (CCNF Mechlin x CCNF Centurion) – Reserve Champion Light Huacaya Male

CCNF Rosalva (CCNF Eternal Rose x CCNF Elixir) – Reserve Champion Light Huacaya Female

CCNF Snow King (CCNF Elizabeth x MFI & KVR’s Mint Mo Money) – Reserve Champion White Huacaya Male

Cas-Cad-Nac Farm LLC (CCNF Amalthea, CCNF Sovereign-Legacy, CCNF Valyria) – 1st Place, Breeder’s Best 3

CCNF Elixir (CCNF Amalthea, CCNF Sovereign-Legacy, CCNF Valyria) – 1st Place, Huacaya Get of Sire

CCNF Fauna (CCNF Noisette x Snowmass Matrix Majesty) – 1st Place, Dark Brown Yearling Huacaya Females

CCNF Lyanna (CCNF Dorianna x Snowmass Matris Majesty) – 1st Place Dark Fawn Yearling Huacaya Females

CCNF Sovereign Legacy (CCNF Luna Majesty x CCNF Elixir) – 1st Place, Dark Fawn Yearling Huacaya Males

CCNF Dark Storm (CCNF Love Dove x Snowmass Matrix Majesty) – 1st Place, Medium Fawn Yearling Huacaya Males

CCNF Lucretia (Delicate Lace x CCNF Elixir) – 1st Place, Light Fawn Yearling Huacaya Females

CCNF Amalthea (Chatham Lancaster’s La Boheme x CCNF Elixir) – 1st Place, Beige Yearling Huacaya Females

CCNF Idris (CCNF Mechlin x CCNF Centurion) – 1st Place, Beige Yearling Huacaya Males

CCNF Priam (CCNF Pristine x Snowmass Matrix Majesty) – 1st Place, White 2 Year Old Huacaya Males

CCNF Valyria (CCNF Moonshadow x CCNF Elixir) – 1st Place, White Yearling Huacaya Females

CCNF Nyaden (CCNF Nymph x CCNF Centurion) – 1st Place, Multi Yearling Huacaya Males

CCNF Archer (CCNF Amanda x CCNF Elixir) – 1st Place, Bred & Owned Dark Yearling Huacaya Males

CCNF Paramour (CCNF Prima Majesty x CCNF Elixir) – 1st Place, Bred & Owned Dark Yearling Huacaya Females

CCNF Sweet Sollemnia (Sugar Snow x CCNF Elixir) – 1st Place, Bred & Owned Light Yearling Huacaya Females

CCNF Undeniable (CCNF Pachelbel x CCNF Defiance) – 1st Place, Bred & Owned Light Yearling Huacaya Males

NEAOBA Alpaca Fall Spectacular

CCNF Lyanna (CCNF Dorianna x Snowmass Matris Majesty) – Champion Fawn Huacaya Female

CCNF Sovereign Legacy (CCNF Luna Majesty x CCNF Elixir) – Champion Fawn Huacaya Male

CCNF Amalthea (Chatham Lancaster’s La Boheme x CCNF Elixir) – Champion Light Huacaya Female

CCNF Sweet Sollemnia (Sugar Snow x CCNF Elixir) – Best Bred & Owned Huacaya Female

CCNF Sage (CCNF Jasmine x Snowmass Matrix Majesty) – Reserve Champion Brown Huacaya Male