Friday Evening, October 3, 2008 at 7PM
Jeff Skinner - Hobby Horse Farm
"Alpaca Training and Handling for Show Ring Success"
Do you present your alpaca to its best advantage in the show ring? Do you feel confident and calm as you walk into the ring, knowing your alpaca will be on its best behavior for the judge? Do you know what to do if it isn’t? Do you know what the judge is looking for as they watch your animal walk, observe it profile, front and rear and when they go over its body and fleece? Do you know how to strike that winning pose when the judge is making their final decisions?
If you want to feel cool, calm and collected and show off that wonderful alpaca on the end of your lead, come spend some time with Jeff Skinner and he will share some of his knowledge, experience and handling tips to help you have show ring success! Bring your questions with you!
Jeff has refined his training and handling skills over 30 years of showing Hobby Horse Samoyed dogs, horses and alpacas! He has trained and conditioned all of the Hobby Horse Alpacas - winners of well over 100 championships at national level shows all over the US! Jeff has trained alpacas for a number of other farms as well as teaching showmanship to many of our friends and colleagues. He has trained and handled the championship line of Hobby Horse Samoyed dogs - breeder and/or owner of 53 AKC Champions!
Saturday Morning, October 4, 2008 at 9AM
White Violet Farm Alpacas
Getting Ready: Processes and techniques for basic fiber preparation.
The basic steps to getting your fiber ready for processing or to produce a final product:
--what is a usable fleece? Length, condition, quality.
--Skirting fleece. How and how much?
--Washing fleece. What to use, where and how to do it.
--Carding fleece. What is it? Options for carding by hand or machine.
Saturday Afternoon, October 4, 2008 at 2PM
White Violet Farm Alpacas
Fleece is Ready, but Ready for What???
Now that the fleece is ready, what comes next?
--Making choices about your end product. What is possible?
--Deciding where to send your fiber--or how to process it yourself.
--Yarns and roving. Weights and styles of yarns and roving.
--Spinning, weaving, needle and wet felting , fiber portraits.
White Violet Center started its Fiber Program when storage space ran out to store all the fleece and it became clear that they needed to learn how to use the beautiful, fluffy fleece from their herd of fifty! They quickly took up spinning and attended workshops on how
to wash, skirt, card and process alpaca fleeces. A lot of book knowledge quickly turned to hands on learning by doing. That was 1999. By the summer of 2000, White Violet Staff were spinning, knitting, felting and selling finished products. In 2001, they won their first blue ribbons at a fiber competition. Many more have followed from AOBA shows and local fiber arts shows. White Violet’s award winning staff include:
Jean Fuqua SP, spinner, weaver and knitter who also runs the fiber projects at White Violet Center and is the Associate Director; Maureen Freeman CSJ, Acting Director of White Violet Center who specializes in felting; Ann Sullivan SP, Former Director; Sister Ruth Johnson, the artist in residence who felts beautiful alpaca portraits and Candace Hack, environmental educator and volunteer coordinator at WVC who is skilled in all the fiber arts and continues to win awards for her yarn. This team regularly offers workshops in fiber arts at White Violet Center at St. Mary of the Woods, IN.
Saturday Morning, October 4, 2008 at 10:30AM
Michel LÉVY, D. V. M.
Associate Professor
Purdue University Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences
Dr. Levy spent the first part of his life in France and was a DVM Graduate of the University of Liege in Belgium. He was going to work exclusively with small animals, but saw the light during his junior year in Vet School and chose to study large animals. After completing an internship in food animal medicine and surgery at the University of Montreal, Quebec and a residency in large animal internal medicine at Tufts University and University of Florida he practiced for a short time in France and Quebec. A Diplomat of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine he has been at Purdue Veterinary Teaching Hospital for many, many years. His area of interest has been internal medicine problems of all large animal species including small ruminants, llamas and alpacas, as well as helping veterinary students become excellent veterinarians and serve their communities. He will be sharing with us information about parasite and parasite resistance in alpacas.
Saturday Afternoon, October 4, 2008 at 12:30PM
Tim Sheets – Heritage Farm Suri Alpacas
Big Farm Marketing on a Small Farm Budget
Tim Sheets along with his wife Beth have been raising suri alpacas at their North Central Indiana farm for 5 years. The mission of their farm is to value the past and breed for the future. He currently serves on the marketing committee of the Indiana Alpaca Association and has developed websites for their farm and the AAA group. Working full time as a pharmacist at a major pharmaceutical company in Indianapolis, Tim does not have a lot of time to spend marketing their alpacas. From the beginning of their alpaca operation, Tim has studied and implemented numerous effective marketing techniques while not spending a lot of time and money. He believes that small alpaca farms can compete with larger farms if they use the right marketing tools.
Sunday Morning, October 5, 2008 at 10AM
Doug Young – Kaleidoscope Alpacas
Anatolian Guard Dogs
Doug has been training and exhibiting Dandie Dinmont Terriers at AKC events since 1972. Operating as Montizard Dandie Dinmont Terriers, he has produced numerous Champions as well as Best in Show, Group and Specialty winners. He has instructed dog obedience training classes since the mid-1970's and continues to do so today. With a lifetime spent living and working with dogs, the idea of using LGDs to protect his and Kate’s alpacas was an easy decision. The motivation in obtaining the services of a Livestock Guardian Dog was the same motivator that prompts others to do the same - the need to provide protection to their investment in Alpacas on 24 hours a day basis. His partner is Kathleen Mayer who has been raising and exhibiting Anatolian Shepherds at AKC events for the past nine years operating as Tamoora Anatolians. With a focus on breeding dogs that are as comfortable in the show ring as they are protecting livestock, Kathleen has produced a line of dependable working dogs that are in great demand. Many of the dogs bred by them are currently working as livestock guardians protecting everything from alpacas to goats, to chickens throughout the United States and Canada.
When not working with their animals, Doug is a professional educator and trainer on a wide variety of personal and professional development subjects, with the focus on leadership skills development. Their alpaca farm name is Kaleidoscope Alpacas and is located in the gently rolling foothills of Ohio southwest of Columbus, Ohio. Currently there are five adult working Anatolians at Kaleidoscope with two additional puppies-in-training.
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