CCNF at the 2023 AOA National Fleece Show: Quietly Making A Statement

In case we hadn’t learned it beforehand, the past year taught us the hard way that we should never take anything for granted. While the tragedy of losing Jen’s dad, Rod Croft, prematurely last December has been balanced out somewhat by watching our now adult sons truly start to spread their wings in both life and love (college graduation with panache for Max, a new job, home, and a wedding on the horizon for Sam and his beloved), when things do go south, one is quickly reminded that tomorrow is never promised. To be clear, we are fine, but there is no doubt that after recent events and family illnesses, we are holding those we love and hold dear just that little bit closer.

It was that psychological and life-priority reset that led us to only participate in the single halter show event (yes, yes, I know it was technically multiple shows) last spring in Harrisburg, PA, the Alpaca Jamboree. And right now, while we look at the calendar for the year ahead, we’re thinking that, as chance would have it, that show run by our friends at Alpaca Show Management in the spring of 2024 is also likely to be our next in-person event as well. It’s funny how when a lot of the noise goes away — or more to the point, you learn to screen it out — suddenly things become clear. We’re feeling reasonably Zen about what lies ahead. We are masters of our own ship and all of that.

To steal some lines from that movie classic, Office Space, “We’ve noticed you’ve been missing a lot of halter shows lately, Ian and Jen!?”

Well, I wouldn’t say we’ve been missing shows.

Well, that’s all well and good, smarty-pants CCNF, but how exactly are you planning to remain visible? That is a fair question. The short answer is that we’re still working that out. We’ve been doing this gig for 26 years now, and we have come by both our trophy collection as well as our scar tissue, honestly. For the foreseeable future, we will continue to attend some halter shows if and when they jive with our schedule (spoiler alert: neither AOA Nationals nor Futurity in 2024 does). And look, I will be the first person to tell you that on a good day, there are few ways to better market an individual alpaca or the breeding program that animal comes from than a well-run and competitive halter show. Though for any number of reasons that I have neither the energy nor the desire to get into here, shows of that caliber have unfortunately been on the decline.

The National Fleece Show, though, still seems to attract enough entries and competition that it remains a worthwhile measuring stick…win or lose. My better half claimed after last year’s Fleece Nationals that she was finally ready to throttle back the crazy just a bit, having skirted and shipped in 68 fleeces to last year’s event and, in so doing, collecting, amongst other things, the farm’s 10th consecutive Heirloom Fleece Cup. We didn’t feel like she (or our breeding program) had a lot left to prove after a run like that one, you know? As anyone in competitive sport could tell you, sometimes it’s psychologically easier to summit the mountain the first time than to hold that position thereafter. Then Jen started going through the 2023 fleece clip in May and June, and what happened, of course, was that she fell in love with our animals and their fleeces all over again. And really, over two and a half decades, that’s at the crux of the matter for both of us: first and foremost, we love breeding and working with elite alpacas. Jennifer did ultimately constrain herself in relative terms: she only sent in 42 fleeces this year (we’ve got to crawl before we walk?). That she did so while handling the tail-end of our condensed birthing season and also dealing with my mother-in-law Mary’s bout with the tick-borne disease, Anaplasmosis (for those unfamiliar – it’s Lyme’s Disease’s easier to contract and more lethal cousin), just makes it that much more impressive. I’ll let our fleece show results below speak for themselves. We march onward. More soon, take care, everybody.

2023 AOA National Fleece Show, Burlington, KY – CCNF Championships, 1st Place Winners, & Specialty Awards

Cas-Cad-Nac Farm LLC – 2023 AOA Heirloom Breeder Cup, Huacaya Fleece

CCNF Amadea (CCNF Amalthea x Irish Meadow’s Elite Max) – Judge’s Choice Huacaya Female

CCNF Camden (CCNF Campana x Irish Meadow’s Elite Max) – Judge’s Choice Huacaya Male

CCNF Sovereign-Legacy (CCNF Luna Majesty x CCNF Elixir) – Spirit of the Fiber Industry Award, Huacaya Male

CCNF Amadea (CCNF Amalthea x Irish Meadow’s Elite Max) – Best Crimp, Huacaya Female

CCNF Amadea (CCNF Amalthea x Irish Meadow’s Elite Max) – Best Brightness, Huacaya Female

CCNF Camden (CCNF Campana x Irish Meadow’s Elite Max) – Best Brightness, Huacaya Male

CCNF Bataclan (CCNF Daliance x CCNF Elixir) – 1st Place, Huacaya Get of Sire (CCNF Kimiko, CCNF Prince of Wales, CCNF Tenacity)

CCNF Luna Majesty (CCNF Moonlight x Snowmass Matrix Majesty) – 1st Place, Huacaya Produce of Dam (CCNF Sovereign-Legacy, CCNF Lunar Quinton)

CCNF Marais (CCNF Margaux x CCNF Bataclan) – Champion Brown Huacaya Female

CCNF Antigone (CCNF Dreadnought’s Andromeda x Irish Meadow’s Elite Max) – Champion Fawn Huacaya Female

CCNF Rosanna (CCNF Rosalva x CCNF Sucrose) – Champion Light Huacaya Female

CCNF Camden (CCNF Campana x Irish Meadow’s Elite Max) – Champion White Huacaya Male

CCNF Val-Alpine (CCNF Nymeria x Red Granite’s Val D Lsere) – Reserve Champion Brown Huacaya Female

CCNF Okoye (CCNF Capuchin x CCNF Elixir) – Reserve Champion Fawn Huacaya Female

CCNF Amadea (CCNF Amalthea x Irish Meadow’s Elite Max) – Reserve Champion Light Huacaya Female

CCNF Bolivar (CCNF Bellicosa x CCNF Bataclan) – Reserve Champion Light Huacaya Male

CCNF Daredevil (CCNF Elicia x CCNF Bataclan) – Reserve Champion White Huacaya Male

CCNF Lux Aeterna (CCNF Prescience x MFI & KVR’s Mint Mo Money) – Reserve Champion White Huacaya Female

CCNF Valiant (CCNF Valyria x Irish Meadow’s Elite Max) – Reserve Champion Multicolor Huacaya

CCNF Marais (CCNF Margaux x CCNF Bataclan) – 1st Place, Huacaya Brown Female Juveniles

CCNF Val-Alpine (CCNF Nymeria x Red Granite’s Val D Lsere) – 1st Place, Huacaya Brown Female Yearlings

CCNF Antigone (CCNF Dreadnought’s Andromeda x Irish Meadow’s Elite Max) – 1st Place, Huacaya Fawn Female Yearlings

CCNF Rhaeynera (CCNF Lyanna x CCNF Bataclan) – 1st Place, Huacaya Dark Fawn Female Juveniles

CCNF Sovereign-Legacy (CCNF Luna Majesty x CCNF Elixir) – 1st Place, Huacaya Fawn Male Mature

CCNF Amadea (CCNF Amalthea x Irish Meadow’s Elite Max) – 1st Place, Huacaya Light Female Two-Year-Olds

CCNF Kalani (Gemstate’s Kashmira x CCNF Bataclan) – 1st Place, Huacaya Light Female 36 Months+ (D/E combined)

CCNF Rosanna (CCNF Rosalva x CCNF Sucrose) – 1st Place, Huacaya Beige Female Yearlings

CCNF Veracity (CCNF Reina x CCNF Bataclan) – 1st Place, Huacaya Light Male Two-Year-Olds+ (C/D/E combined)

CCNF Camden (CCNF Campana x Irish Meadow’s Elite Max) – 1st Place, Huacaya White Male Juveniles

CCNF Dovid (TGF Morning Dove x CCNF Priam) – 1st Place, Huacaya White Male Yealings

CCNF Kimiko (CCNF Khiara x CCNF Bataclan) – 1st Place, Huacaya White Female Yearlings

CCNF Lux Aeterna (CCNF Prescience x MFI & KVR’s Mint Mo Money) – 1st Place, Huacaya White Female Juveniles

CCNF Snow King (CCNF Elizabeth x MFI & KVR’s Mint Mo Money) – 1st Place, Huacaya White Male Mature

CCNF Solaria (CCNF Marisol x CCNF Bataclan) – 1st Place, Huacaya White Female Two-Year-Olds

CCNF Tenacity (CCNF Reina x CCNF Bataclan) – 1st Place, Huacaya White Male Two-Year-Olds

CCNF Valiant (CCNF Valyria x Irish Meadow’s Elite Max) – 1st Place, Huacaya Multicolor Male wo-Year-Olds+ (C/D/E combined)

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