Ann Howe on the North Somerset Show 2016

Well!  That was a day that was!

I am gentle and calm and have been promoted to Senior Show Llama.  Yesterday, I took my little sister Loupin Staines and brothers Kilpeck Castle and Durrington Walls to the North Somerset Show.  Let me tell you all about it.

Early in the morning, our people put Loupin and me in the front of the chariot, and our brothers travelled behind.  We weren’t allowed any hay on the journey as this would make us untidy and we were going to a beauty pageant after all.

I went to Somerset a couple of years ago, but my little sister and brothers hadn’t been to a show before and as you can imagine, they were awestruck by all the activity, noise, llamas, and pigs that were again put right next to us.

Our people helped us out of the chariot and took us to our pens as soon as we arrived.  What a lovely surprise!  My dear old sister Belas Knap was there with young Mulfra Quoit.  It was great to catch up and find out how they have been getting along at their new home.

It started dry and after our lovely female person had groomed us we were ready for the catwalk.  Now, the point about a catwalk is that the young llama should walk along it, turn and come back again.  The judge will ask the llama and person to walk in a circle and ‘Stand’ on command.  Pretty easy, really, you would think.  Durrington thought otherwise and felt it much more fun if he jumped and bounced around the ring.  Sometimes he leapt so high in the air I though he was a kite on a string.  I think Durrington’s tactic of bouncing around quite put young Kilpeck off his stride and when the two stood side by side the nice judge decided Durrington had edged the competition.  Winning a class, means you have to walk around again in the Championship and I’m not sure our male person was looking forward to this.

There was then a parade of the older male llamas and a fine fellow from Monmouthshire was awarded first place.

Wee Loupin was next up and she acquitted herself oh so well!  Her coat bounced in the breeze and she looked immaculate.  The nice judge said she was ‘very nicely turned out’ and had no difficulty in awarding Loupin Staines a lovely big blue rosette just like Durrington’s.

Mulfra Quoit was up against some stiff competition from Gloucestershire, but her well developed physique was just what the judge was looking for and she won her class.

The final Show Class was for the older females and I was entered in this against several local llamas.  I didn’t mind that I was awarded a lovely yellow rosette for being third as my gorgeous sister Belas was awarded blue.

And then the class winners each entered the ring for the judge to make her choice of Supreme Champion.  All the llamas walked around in a circle and Durrington performed so much better.  He was a little star.  Loupin was just lovely.  But there could be no complaints that an older llama won the Supreme Championship, and I’m so delighted that Belas Knap has walked off with this twice in the last three years.

Later in the day we tried out an obstacle course.  The little ones hadn’t seen one of these before but trying something new is good.  There was a line of poles to weave in and out of, a high jump and a low wire with noisy stuff tied to it.  Some of us handle some of these things better than others, but finding out that new experiences aren’t necessarily really scary is a good thing.

We could relax during the afternoon with our tasty hay nets.  I was pretty hungry I can tell you.  Lots of people came up to talk to us and we allowed ourselves to be stroked on the necks.

When we got home, our people contacted their friends in Shropshire where Hetty Pegler and Marden now live to tell them the good news that their daughters had each won their classes at the Show.

More news from Golden Valley Llamas soon