The British Alpaca Futurity 2011

The British Alpaca Futurity 2011 will be held in Exhibition Hall Two at Stoneleigh Park near Coventry on March 11 and 12, 2011.

The Futurity oranising group is made up of The Alpaca Stud, Classical MileEnd Alpacas, Bozedown Alpacas, EP Cambridge UK, Langaton Alpacas and Alpacas of Wessex.

British Alpaca Futurity 2010—
Wrapping Up

Two hundred and fifty of the best alpacas in the UK were shown at the British Alpaca Futurity held at the National Agricultural Centre at Stoneleigh Park on February 26th and 27th.

This, the first show of the season, was a resounding success and also featured one of the largest shorn fleece shows in the country with over one hundred and forty alpaca fleeces entered.

The show classes, judged by Jude Anderson from the USA, continued for both days whilst the British judges Tim Hey and Rob Bettinson judged the brand new Fleece show, and the Craft competition was judged by spinner Jean Field and Photography and Art by photographer Chris Agar.

Alpaca breeders from Finland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, France and Spain travelled to the UK for the show—the fourth British Alpaca Futurity. The Futurity has a different format from all other shows in the UK with the progeny of nominated stud males being shown. The suri and huacaya Show Champions are not shown: they win because more of their progeny have won places than any other herdsire.

An online ‘silent auction’ took place over the two days with seven specially selected alpacas for sale that could be viewed at the show or on the website www.britishalpacafuturity.com. The best price realised was £15,000 for EP Cambridge Battle Cry.

There were a series of workshops and seminars. The haute couture feltmaker Liz Clay’s workshop was so popular it had to be run twice whilst spinner Jean Field had a full house and the American photographer Doug Herrmann found himself with a large audience of enthusiastic snappers. The eminent veterinarians Ahmed Tibary from the USA and Claire Whitehead from the Royal Veterinary College concentrated on pregnancy, birthing and the health of very young cria.

There were one hundred and fifty people for the celebration dinner on the Saturday evening that also featured a fashion show, champagne reception, prize draw and the prize giving. The featured charity was the Quechua Benefit which helps the families of Peruvian alpaca farmers and is building a residential school.

The Futurity Huacaya champion was Bozedown Talisman of Bozedown Alpacas, the Suri Champion was Accoyo Bulleyman of Moonsbrook Alpacas, the Junior Herdsire award went to Alpaca Stud Suri Phoenix of The Alpaca Stud, and the Most Successful Small Breeder was won by Melford Green Alpacas.

In the shorn fleece show the champion huacaya fleece cup was won by EP Cambridge UK with the fleece of an alpaca now owned by Houghton Hall Alpacas. The Champion Suri fleece cup was won by Ian and Rachel Waldron of Langaton Alpacas.