INTERPRETATIONS OF TERMS:

“exhibit” means an alpaca or a fleece, as the class in which the exhibit is competing requires.

“exhibitor” means the  registered owner of the alpaca or the fleece.

“immediate family” includes spouse, descendant, parent, grandparent, sibling, step relative, in law, business partner, employer or employee and persons in relationships to any of the specified here.

“judge” means the person appointed by the show management  to judge classes.

“association representative” means the person appointed by the show management.

“show management” means the body under the auspices of which the show is being conducted.

“convenor” means the person responsible for the organization of the show.

“chief steward” means the person who is responsible for the conduct of the show (may also be the convenor)

“fleece steward” means a person who is responsible for assisting the fleece judge in one or more of the following capacities: placing fleeces in their appropriate classes, fleece weighing, and recording the judges remarks and scores on the show score sheet.

“inspection steward” means the person responsible for inspecting alpacas prior to the commencement of alpaca judging.

“alpaca show schedule” means the conditions of entry, classes, notice of show and show entry forms prescribed by the show management for the conduct of shows.

WARNING!
This document in its entirety  is under copywrite by Maggie Krieger Consulting Ltd. Dated  19th June 2000. Should you wish to copy it please contact     mkriegeralpaca@saltspring.com    or   (250) 537-9446 for permission prior to doing so.

ALPACA SHOW RULES

The following rules pertain to the responsibilities of the four major groups involved in the preparation and conduct of the show; show convenors, judges, stewards and exhibitors.  For a full understanding of the show rules, all persons involved in showing should familiarize themselves with all the material.

RULES FOR SHOW CONVENORS

1. A show should be organised by the show management team/convenor according to procedures set down in the show schedule, as per the Show Rules

2. The show convenor shall ensure that alpacas and fleeces are entered and exhibited in the correct sections as determined by the show management.

3. The show management /convenor shall ensure that a show catalogue is printed that records each class, and details of every alpaca and fleece entered as exhibits. This catalogue to be given  free of charge to every exhibitor, with extra copies made available for spectators at the show, other than exhibitors.
 

RULES FOR JUDGES

1. A judge shall avoid accepting an invitation to judge alpaca classes at more than one show in an area within a period of six months; except in the case where no other judge is available.

2.  A judge who, after agreeing to judge alpacas or alpaca fleeces at a show, receives an invitation to be the overnight house guest of any alpaca owner just prior to the show,  shall make appropriate enquiry to establish whether that person intends to exhibit or handle alpacas or alpaca fleeces at that show, and shall decline the invitation if the person does so intend.

3. The judge shall not exhibit alpacas or alpaca fleece at any show at which he or she is judging both alpacas and fleece.  However, a fleece judge may enter alpacas in halter classes at a show provided that he/she is judging only fleeces at that show.  An alpaca judge may enter fleeces at a show provided that he/she is judging only halter classes at that show.

4. The immediate family of a judge may not exhibit alpacas at a halter show where the related judge is officiating as an alpaca judge.  However, they may exhibit fleeces at that show. The immediate family of a judge may not enter fleeces at a show where related judge is officiating as a fleece judge. However they may exhibit alpacas  in halter classes at that show.

5. On arrival at a show the judge shall proceed immediately to the show management office. No person other than a show official or show steward shall speak with the judge before judging commences.

6. A judge must not view the official show catalogue prior  to or during judging and show management must ensure that no opportunity arises for the judge to see the show catalogue.  The judge shall refuse to examine any catalogue that comes to his/her attention by any means until judging is completed.

7. No person shall accompany the judge into the judging ring except persons appointed for that purpose by show management.

8. The judge may direct the immediate disqualification and removal from the judging ring of any exhibit whose handler addresses or attempts to address the judge while the class is being judged, except in response to a request from the judge.

9. The judge may in his/her absolute discretion direct the removal of an alpaca or person from the competition on the grounds of bad conduct.

10. The judge may in his/her absolute discretion direct the chief steward to remove an exhibit from the judging ring on the grounds of unsoundness or being unfit to compete.

11. A class that has been judged shall not be re-judged.

12. The decision of the judge is final and no protest shall be made in relation to it except on the grounds that a judge has committed a breach of these rules.  Any protest must follow proper procedures as laid out elsewhere in these rules.

13. A judge may protest against an exhibitor in the case of an alleged infringement of these rules by lodging a written protest to show management within 24 hours of the event.
 
 
 

RULES FOR STEWARDS

1. A Chief Steward, Inspection Steward or Ring Steward may not exhibit alpacas at a show at which they are officiating as a steward.  A Fleece Steward may not exhibit  fleece at a show where he/she is officiating as a score sheet recorder, working with the judge.

2. Stewards shall perform the official alpaca inspections, in a timely manner, before the commencement of judging.

3. Stewards’ Inspection checklist

The steward’s checklist for the inspection of alpacas shall include:
(a) general health and soundness e.g. checking for lice
(b) correct colour and age for class entered
(c) disqualifying faults (refer to alpaca breed standard)
jaw abnormalities (superior and inferior prognathism)
 polydactylism
 syndactylism
 for males, lack of one or both normal testicles in scrotum
 fused ears (short, stubby ears or ears fused at the tips)
 banana ears
 no tail, short tail or abnormally bent or kinked tail
 fleece length for huacayas  minimum 75 mm (3”) and maximum l50 mm (6”)
 fleece length for suris minimum 75 mm (3”)
 no shaping or clipping e.g. poodle/lion clips
(d) correct identification number either ear tag or microchip, must be verified on the day of
the show.  Failure to do so will result in disqualification
 

4. During the official inspection, the only persons present for the inspection of an alpaca will be :
The exhibitor or his/her nominated representative
The Inspection steward
A person recording/validating the inspection information.
 
 

5. The chief steward shall reclassify an exhibit entered in a class for which it is not eligible for age, sex or colour immediately on becoming aware of the irregularity at the time of inspection.

6. With the exception of sex divisions, classes may be combined at the discretion of the Chief steward and Judge.

7. The chief steward or ring steward may disqualify an exhibit on the grounds of :

i. its handler being incorrectly attired.
(Organizing committees in individual countries may define their own dress code providing it projects an image of uniformity and professionalism.  There will be no stud/ranch/farm, personal logo or identification displayed on either alpaca or exhibitor.)
ii.  the exhibit being infested with lice, or other communicable diseases determined by the onsite Veterinarian at time of registration.

8. No identification of prizewinning alpacas will be made prior to Supreme Champion Award. Spectators shall refer to the show catalog for identification of exhibits. (On going show results shall be recorded immediately after tabulation on a results board at ring side in a position that is not visible to the judge. This tabulation shall include the name of the owner of the alpaca, farm of origin and identification of alpaca as related to the show catalogue, alpaca name [optional].)

RULES FOR EXHIBITORS

1.      At any show an alpaca is ineligible to compete if:
a) it is not registered in a register kept by the appropriate body for each individual country.
b) its identity cannot be verified to match the registration certificate.
c) it is of suri type entered in a class for huacaya alpacas.
d) It is of huacaya type entered in a class for suri alpacas.

2. An alpaca must be entered and exhibited in the name of the registered owner.

3.    An alpaca is disqualified from competition at a show if:

a) the judge has a share of ownership in, or stands to make any financial gain from, the alpaca.
b) the alpaca during the six months prior to the date of the show has:
i. been boarded or agisted on a property under the said judge’s control
ii. been purchased from the said judge.
iii. been trained by the said judge.
Note:   disqualification in b) above does not extend to an alpaca that  has been under the control of the judge for mobile mating purposes.

4.  A person who, during the six months prior to the show, has received from or paid to the judge any fees or other remunerations in respect of alpacas (with the exception of mobile mating) is disqualified from exhibiting at that show.

5      An exhibitor, or his/her nominated representative who is unavailable to assist with the inspection of his/her alpaca (s) at the designated inspection time  may be disqualified.

6. No person or exhibit shall enter or exit the judging ring after judging of a class begins, until judging of that class has been completed and awards for that class have been presented except with the consent of the judge, or at the direction of the judge or chief steward.

7. In the case of prize winning exhibitors and their alpacas, all shall remain in the judging ring until the completion of the Judge’s comments.

8. The handler of an exhibit in the judging ring shall remain with the exhibit until judging has been completed unless the Judge authorizes a change of handler or removal of the exhibit from the judging ring due to the handler’s inability to control the alpaca.

9      Handlers shall be neatly attired and well groomed according to the dress code established by the show management committee in each country.  There shall be  no identifying stud/farm/ranch or personal logo displayed on either handler or alpaca in the show ring.

10.   Every exhibitor, alpaca handler and groom of alpacas at a show shall behave respectfully toward judges, show officials, other persons involved in alpaca classes and the general public during the show.
 

PROTESTS AND DEALING WITH MISCONDUCT

1. Conduct that may be considered prejudicial to the industry may include but not be limited to:
i. a demonstration of dissatisfaction with a judge’s decision, including refusal to accept an award or throwing an award on the ground,
ii. altercations with officials or participants,
iii. abusive or foul language in public and mistreatment of an animal.
2.  Judges who are the target of abusive language and under whom an exhibitor refuses to follow their instructions, as well as being insulted with any suggestive language, gestures or request should report directly to the Chief Steward or Show Convenor who shall then follow the appropriate disciplinary steps as set up by the official show organisation of the country.
3. Exhibitors who have a complaint, protest, criticism, comment or suggestion shall direct all or any of the preceding concerns to the Show System Grievance Committee of the country organisation as follows:
             i. Must be in writing and signed by the exhibitor who has an issue to be dealt
       with.
                       ii. A rational and complete description of events that transpired must be
            included as well as stating names of those witnessing the transgression if
       possible and who would attest to the fact that such an act of misconduct
                    occurred.
 2. Any signed complaints, protests, criticisms, comments or suggestions must be postmarked within 15 days after the scheduled closing of the approved show and shall be held in the strictest of confidence.
3. A fee of $50.00 must accompany all written complaints, protests, criticisms, comments and suggestions.
4. Anonymous letters of any critical intent will not be accepted or read.  They will be ignored.
5. All signed complaints, protests, criticisms, comments and suggestions will be reviewed by the Show System Grievance Committee (SSGC) of that country and replied to by the SSGC in as efficient a manner as possible.
6. All written and signed decisions handed down by the SSGC shall be final and absolute.
7. Disciplinary Action will be required by the SSGC as necessary to deter further misconduct and to give incentive to others within the industry to maintain as high a level of integrity as possible. Any disciplinary action may include, but may not be limited to, the following:
 a.  Show Management
   i.  Written warning
               ii.  Denial of future show approvals
 b.  Judges
       i.   Written warning
   ii.   Removal from Approved Judges’ List
 c.  Exhibitor
   i.   Written warning
   ii.   Points and or awards revoked
   iii.  Denial of eligibility to participate in any approved
          show or event.
 d.  Handlers
   i.   Written warning
   ii.   Denial of eligibility to participate in any approved
         show or event.

COLOUR CLASSIFICATION

An alpaca is to be shown in the appropriate colour class, when it is predominantly that colour. The alpaca will be disadvantaged, at the judge’s discretion, if it has any other coloured fibres present. E.g spots or any other colour markings.
White inculdes pure white or cream.
An alpaca is to be shown in a fancy class if it has an unusual or striking distribution of two or more colours over the blanket area. E.g. Appaloosas, pintos. Alpacas with tuxedo fronts to be included in the fancy class.
All colour classifications shall be determined by the colour classification that is designated to the alpaca at time of registration in the registry of the country of residence.
A predominantly grey alpaca is to be shown in a grey class, whether or not it has any other coloured spots present, and any colour variations will be assessed at the judges discretion
 

HUACAYA SHOW CLASSES

Section l: Junior male 6 months and under 12 months
White
Fawn
Brown
Grey/roan
Black
Fancy

Section 2: Junior female 6 months and under 12 months
White
Fawn
Brown
Grey/roan
Black
Fancy

Section 3: Intermediate male 12 months and under 24 months
White
Fawn
Brown
Grey/roan
Black
Fancy

Section 4: Intermediate female 12 months and under 24 months
White
Fawn
Brown
Grey/roan
Black
Fancy

Section 5: Senior male 24 months and under 36 months
White
Fawn
Brown
Grey/roan
Black
Fancy

Section 6: Senior female 24 months and under 36 months
White
Fawn
Brown
Grey/roan
Black
Fancy

Section 7: Mature male 36 months and over
White
Fawn
Brown
Grey/roan
Black
Fancy

Section 8: Mature female 36 months and over
White
Fawn
Brown
Grey/roan
Black
Fancy

HUACAYA CHAMPIONSHIP AWARDS

Champion Junior female
Reserve Champion junior female
Junior champion male
Reserve champion junior male
Champion Intermediate female
Reserve Champion intermediate female
Champion Intermediate male
Reserve champion intermediate male
Champion Senior female
Reserve champion senior female
Champion Senior  male
Reserve champion senior male
Champion Mature female
Reserve champion mature  female
Champion  mature male
Reserve champion mature male

SUPREME CHAMPION HUACAYA
 

SURI SHOW CLASSES

Colour classifications
White – pure white or cream
Light – all colours ranging from Light fawn through the full range of fawns (dark fawn included) and light browns , including grey.
Dark  - Dark brown shades through to fading black and black
Fancy - has an unusual or striking distribution of two or more colours over the blanket area. E.g. Appaloosas, pintos. Alpacas with tuxedo fronts to be included in the fancy class.
All colour classifications shall be determined by the colour classification that is designated to the alpaca at time of registration in the registry of the country of residence.
 

Junior male 6 months and under 12 months
White
Light
Dark
Fancy

Junior female 6 months and under 12 months
White
Light
Dark
Fancy

Intermediate male 12 months and under 24 months
White
Light
Dark
Fancy

Intermediate female 12 months and under 24 months
White
Light
Dark
Fancy

Senior male 24 months and under 36 months
White
Light
Dark
Fancy

Senior female 24 months and under 36 months
White
Light
Dark
Fancy

Mature male 36 months and over
White
Light
Dark
Fancy

Mature female 36 months and over
White
Light
Dark
Fancy

SURI CHAMPIONSHIP AWARDS

Champion Junior  male
Reserve champion junior male
Champion Junior female
Reserve champion junior female
Champion Intermediate male
Reserve champion intermediate male
Champion Intermediate female
Reserve champion intermediate female
Champion Senior and mature  male ?
Reserve champion senior and mature male ?
Champion Senior and mature female
Reserve champion senior and mature female

SUPREME CHAMPION SURI

JUDGING CRITERIA – HALTER

In the show arena, alpaca judging is scored as follows

   Fleece          60%
   Conformation       40%
All alpaca entries shall be scrutinized for eligibility of entry by a fully trained show steward.

Alpacas shall be judged according to the International breed standard.

.FIBRE/FLEECE CLASSES

1. Fleece preparation.
All fleece exhibits shall be the blanket portion only, and shall be skirted of all short, stained and any fibre that does not conform to the quality of the blanket area. Contaminants such as vegetable matter and short cuts shall be removed. Poorly prepared fleeces shall be compromised at the discretion of the judge.

2. Age categories shall be as follows.
i. 6 to under 18 months.
ii.18 to under 30 months.
iii.30 months and over.
These categories shall not apply in the composite class where the halter class age categories will be substituted.

3. Composite class exhibits.
All composite class exhibits shall be eligible to enter a fleece show after they have been judged for the composite class. Therefore all composite class fleece judging shall take place prior to the commencement of judging of  the  fleece classes.

4.Judging criteria.
Suri and Huacaya fleeces shall be judged for the following criteria:
1. Fineness and handle.
2. Character and style.
3. Uniformity of fleece: colour, micron and length of staple.
4. Brightness (Huacaya) and Luster (Suri)
5. Lack of medulation.
6. Impurities, stain and tip damage
7. Clean fleece weight.

Fleece score cards.

Fleece score cards shall be provided for the judge by the show convener and shall be formatted individually for Suri and Huacaya fleeces. Each exhibit shall have its own score card and the score card shall remain with the fleece at all times. Identification shall be the official exhibit number issued by the convener at the time the exhibit is delivered for judging. No other identification shall be allowed on the score card or the fleece exhibit.
 
 

Huacaya	score	SURI	score
Fineness and Handle	25	Fineness and Handle	25
Character and style	15	Character and style	15
Uniformity of fleece		Uniformity of fleece
colour 5		colour 5
micron 10	20	micron 10	20
length of staple 5		length of staple 5
Brightness	5	Luster	10
Lack of medulation	10	Lack of medulation	5
Impurities, stain and tip damage	5	Impurities, stain and tip damage	5
Clean fleece weight	20	Clean fleece weight	20
Total Score	100	Total Score	100

All score cards shall be signed for verification by the judge after the scores have been tabulated.
The convener shall also provide the judge with class working sheets, formatted as follows:
 

Huacaya fleece scoring - judges work sheet.
Show:_______________________________Date:_________________
Class #___________________
 

	Ex#
Fineness and handle	25
Character and style	15
Uniformity of fleece
colour                  5
micron                  10	20
Staple length        5
Brightness	5
Lack of medulation	10
Impurities, stain and tip damage	5
Clean fleece weight	20
TOTAL SCORE	100
Fleece weight
Fleece age
Amortized

Judges signature:_______________________

Work sheets shall be the property of the judge but may be photocopied for the records of show management.

5. Fleece fineness judgment.
The revised fibre fineness chart as determined by Cameron Holt shall be used to tabulate fibre fineness
Scores where a guideline is needed. (don’t have the revised one yet)

6. Clean fleece weight points.
Clean fleece weight points shall be awarded according to the revised clean fleece weight chart as determined by Cameron Holt. (don’t have a revised one yet)

COMPOSITE CLASS

This class will comprise of two sections which must be competed in to become a composite class winner.  Halter class rules shall apply in the areas of fibre type, gender, age divisions, colour groupings and ideal colour groupings.  The exception will be fleece length – see animal preparation. Fleece class rules shall apply for the fleece section of the class

Emphasis guide:
Conformation only of the shorn alpaca shall be judged in the show ring
Fleece shall be judged in stand-alone fleece classes held specifically for the alpacas entered in this class category.

Animal preparation:
Fleece length – other than top-knots and tails, alpacas must be completely shorn with a maximum of l inch on the cheeks, neck, legs and blanket.

Point allotment.
The following scoring system shall be used for the composite class.
1. The class placing awarded to the alpaca in the shorn section of the composite class shall be the point allotment for that section of the composite class. E.g. 1st place is allotted 1 point, 2nd place is allotted 2 points etc.)
2. The class placing awarded to the alpaca in the fleece section of the composite class shall be the point allotment for that section of the composite class.
3. 1. and 2. score will be added together for the alpaca exhibited, with the lowest scoring accumulation winning the class.
4. The fleece scoring the lowest placing score in the fleece section shall break all ties.

Sires Progeny Class
(Both Hucaya and Suri breeds are eligible to enter this class.)
The class is for  three progeny by one sire.
Entry is made in the name of the sire.
Progeny may represent both sexes, but not geldings.
The sire is not shown with this group entry
The progeny do not have to be owned by the owner of the sire or by the same owner.
All entries must be fully fleeced.
All entries must have been shown in their appropriate halter class.

Dams’ Progeny Class
(Both Hucaya and Suri breeds are eligible to enter this class.)
The class is for two progeny from same dam.
Entry is made in the name of the dam
Progeny may represent both sexes, but not geldings.
The dam is not shown with this group entry
The progeny can be from the same or different sires
All entries must be fully fleeced.
All entries must have been shown in their appropriate halter class.
 

OTHER CLASS OPTIONS

The IAJS does not recognize any other class categories as this time. Should  show managers  or convenors wish to include any other class in a show, they may certainly do so providing that the treatment of the alpacas is completely humane at all times. Classes such as gelding, costume  and performance classes are not recognized as breeding classes and therefore may be held but it must be made clear through announcement in the show catalogue and publicly at the show that these are not IAJS recognized classes. They are being held as stand alone exhibition classes.