CCNF at the 2024 Alpaca Jamboree

Did I touch the box containing the ashes of my friend, CCNF Elixir, for good luck as we left our house early on Wednesday morning, April 3, to head to Harrisburg and the 2024 Alpaca Jamboree? I did, indeed. These superstitious tendencies run deep, particularly on my paternal side, so I was just leaning into that. Elixir still abides: just nowadays, it happens to be in my mudroom cubby instead of the Main Barn.

Did that touch of Elixy’s box swing the scales of fortune in the following days? Well, it certainly didn’t help with the completely full XL cup of coffee that exploded into my lap on arrival at the Farm Show complex early Sunday morning. That, kids, is why you always travel with an extra set of show clothes. Good or bad portents aside, it’s not a mistake — the coffee and its not-quite-fully-on-lid — I will make twice. Like all halter shows we’ve attended since our first timid step into a show ring back in 1999, we had some ups and downs at the Jamboree and its three separate shows (PAOBA Breeder’s Showcase, NAAS, and the Empire Spring Show), but it was likely the presence of Elixir’s genetics — amongst others — throughout our team, rather than the superstitions and wistfulness of his old handler, that paid dividends.

This was our first time out at a physical alpaca show event since last year’s Jamboree, and after 27 years of breeding alpacas, given where our minds and hearts had been lately — namely confronting the loss of a parent, while also watching a dear friend do the same, and considering our priorities in that light — that felt about right. Those of our colleagues in the alpaca business who wish to pound the pavement, attending five or more events per year (which, with the multi-show format that is so common nowadays, can quickly add up to 15+ shows) should do so. There is/was a time and a place for everything. All things being equal, we are happy with where we stand.

That said, the weekend in Harrisburg still managed to produce so many different storylines and narratives for us that it’s impossible to choose just one. To wit:

Lunar Quinton and his full-kid sister, Neytiri, were both on the team representing the fifth and sixth (and final) versions of their much-vaunted cross. As written about on the blog prior, Quinton also left us to carry the family torch elsewhere. On the heels of a three-banner performance, he literally went home with his new owners from the Jamboree. It marked only the second time we had ever sold someone from that sibling group.

The arrival — with authority — of the first two CCNF Reign Dancer crias: CCNF Bellieveitornot (sorry, Susan Johnson…but at least he’s full value for your record-keeping annoyance?) and CCNF Citadel.

The young son of 2x Futurity Champion CCNF Idris and CCNF Electra — she who, like her paternal sisters and stable mates, Prescience and Kalani, never made it into a halter ring, courtesy of the pandemic, but is remembered by fleece nerds as the JC female at the 2020 AOA National Fleece Show — the little tank of a male we named CCNF Mjolnir.

The slightly belated arrival of the CCNF Snow King kids. Suffice it to say, he will be getting some more work.

The continuing show success, and more importantly, development, of our co-owned Herdsire, StrongShepherd’s Juno, who was shown by our friends at his birth farm(s).

Last but not least, there was the small matter of this being the 2nd year in a row at this event that one of our dominant team members was an Elite Max son out of an Elixir (yes, him again) daughter. It is also interesting that the aforementioned dams of both males (Campana, in the case of Camden last year, and Amalthea, in the case of Amador, this time around) came out of maternal lines with SuperNova in the background. Experience tells us that none of that is likely to be a coincidence. Camden, for his part, was disappointingly left at home in Vermont, still looking gorgeous — and decidedly perplexed at being left behind as we loaded his yearling buddies onto the trailer — but with a tender fleece break mid-staple, courtesy of a weird growth spurt. Adolescence: it moves in weird ways sometimes, but Cam is fine now and certainly has bigger fish to fry here coming up this summer of his 2nd birthday. Though beige instead of white, his paternal brother and cousin, CCNF Amador, decided he’d carry the weight of the family line this time around: 3 Championships and 2 JCs later, it’s safe to say he got the job done.

We won some, we lost some, and we got to spend 4 days with some of our favorite humans. It was good. CCNF 1sts and Championships from the Jamboree listed below by show. Names on the pictures below appear magically if you hover over them, btw. Onward. 🙂

CCNF Amador
CCNF Bellieveitornot
CCNF Oriflamme’s Polly
CCNF Alarra
CCNF Mjolnir
CCNF Citadel
CCNF Mariabella
CCNF Lunar Quinton
StrongShepherd’s Juno
CCNF Sovereign Tenor
CCNF Neytiri
CCNF Strata-Gem
CCNF Rivage
CCNF Prince of Wales
CCNF Lux Aeterna

PAOBA Breeder’s Showcase, 4/5/24

CCNF Bellieveitornot (CCNF Bellinda x CCNF Reign Dancer) – Judge’s Choice Huacaya Male

CCNF Alarra (CCNF Lyanna x CCNF Bataclan) – Champion Brown Huacaya Female

CCNF Bellieveitornot (CCNF Bellinda x CCNF Reign Dancer) – Champion Brown Huacaya Male

CCNF Lunar Quinton (CCNF Luna Majesty x CCNF Elixir) – Champion Fawn Huacaya Male

CCNF Amador (CCNF Amalthea x Irish Meadow’s Elite Max) – Champion Light Huacaya Male

CCNF Mariabella (CCNF Marisol x CCNF Bataclan) – Champion Light Huacaya Female

CCNF Citadel (CCNF Capuchin x CCNF Reign Dancer) – Reserve Champion Brown Huacaya Male

CCNF Neytiri (CCNF Luna Majesty x CCNF Elixir) – Reserve Champion Fawn Huacaya Female

CCNF Oriflamme’s Polly (CCNF Oriflamme x CCNF Snow King) – Reserve Champion White Huacaya Female

StrongShepherd’s Juno (Majestic Meadows Cecelia x Man In The Moon’s Ganymede) – 1st Place, Brown Yearling Huacaya Males*

CCNF Citadel (CCNF Capuchin x CCNF Reign Dancer) – 1st Place, Brown Juvenile Huacaya Males

CCNF Alarra (CCNF Lyanna x CCNF Bataclan) – 1st Place, Light Brown Juvenile Huacaya Females

CCNF Bellieveitornot (CCNF Bellinda x CCNF Reign Dancer) – 1st Place, Light Brown Juvenile Huacaya Males

CCNF Lunar Quinton (CCNF Luna Majesty x CCNF Elixir) – 1st Place, Fawn Yearling Huacaya Males

CCNF Neytiri (CCNF Luna Majesty x CCNF Elixir) – 1st Place, Dark Fawn Juvenile Huacaya Females

CCNF Amador (CCNF Amalthea x Irish Meadow’s Elite Max) – 1st Place, Light Yearling Huacaya Males

CCNF Mariabella (CCNF Marisol x CCNF Bataclan) – 1st Place, Beige Juvenile Huacaya Females

CCNF Rivage (CCNF Isola x CCNF Angiolo) – 1st Place, Beige Juvenile Huacaya Males

CCNF Prince of Wales (CCNF Elizabeth x CCNF Bataclan) – 1st Place, White Yearling Huacaya Males

CCNF Oriflamme’s Polly (CCNF Oriflamme x CCNF Snow King) – 1st Place, White Juvenile Huacaya Females

CCNF Strata-Gem (CCNF Diadema x CCNF Snow King) – 1st Place, White Juvenile Huacaya Females

Empire Alpaca Association Spring Show, 4/6/24

CCNF Amador (CCNF Amalthea x Irish Meadow’s Elite Max) – Judge’s Choice Huacaya Male

CCNF Alarra (CCNF Lyanna x CCNF Bataclan) – Champion Brown Huacaya Female

StrongShepherd’s Juno (Majestic Meadows Cecelia x Man In The Moon’s Ganymede) – Champion Brown Huacaya Male*

CCNF Lunar Quinton (CCNF Luna Majesty x CCNF Elixir) – Champion Fawn Huacaya Male

CCNF Amador (CCNF Amalthea x Irish Meadow’s Elite Max) – Champion Light Huacaya Male

CCNF Mjolnir (CCNF Electra x CCNF Idris) – Champion White Huacaya Male

CCNF Bellieveitornot (CCNF Bellinda x CCNF Reign Dancer) – Reserve Champion Brown Huacaya Male

CCNF Mariabella (CCNF Marisol x CCNF Bataclan) – Reserve Champion Light Huacaya Female