allyson and bryan

And the Winning Llama Is... /


It fell apart early for me and Shirley Anne.

Robyn, Bryan, Ruth and I left Lllama Lookout before sunrise on Saturday, herding our four competing llamas into the back of the van (and the four corresponding humans into the front.) As we traveled the hour's ride from Governor's Bay to Sheffield, Robyn prepped us with pre-show tips and previous years' ancedotes. The girls would be judged on form, including their walk, head position, and back straightness; they'd also be judged on coats and on musculature. We three apprentices spent most of the ride in silence, thinking through our previous week's instruction and privately hoping our llamas would prevail. Our van was the first to arrive at the show, and as we unloaded our animals and corraled them into their pens, it began to rain. (This was the first ominous sign for me and Shirley Anne, as her best asset is her unique spotted coat, which I'd spent hours the day before de-burring and combing and shining.) After setting up shop, we resumed grooming and waited for our class to be called to competition.

At last, we were summoned at 9:30 a.m. Shirley Anne and I approached the ring with the five other young female llamas, my heart beating fast and a simple mantra repeating in my head: "Please behave. Please behave. Please behave." There was initial confusion: Which llama should go first? Do we follow bib number order? Should all llamas of each owner stick together? It was all the delay Shirley needed, really -- I could feel her tense up and start to pull away. I tried to keep her calm while remaining seemingly aloof, lest the judge see a skittish animal before we even made it into the ring... But it was too late. Shirley Anne caught one of her hooves in the flimsy plastic fence circling the competition area, and she began to truly panic. The more Shirley kicked, the more the plastic wound around her ankle, snaking up her leg and coming dangerously close to dragging us both to the ground. I struggled to hold on to the lead rope for what seemed like eternity, while the other owners ran over and hurridely worked to untangle Shirley's leg before the two of us toppled. They succeeded, but the damage was already done. My llama would not regain her cool in time. Two minutes later, I smiled bravely as the two of us walked twice around the ring. We followed the judge's instruction, striding towards her, away from her, and around again as I tried to control my charge. Then I lined up with the competition and awaited the final decision. First place was awarded, then second, then third... I grimaced and accepted what I knew to be my fate before we even stepped into the ring: Shirley Anne, consolingly dubbed a "flashy female" by the discriminating judge, placed sixth in the 2006 Malvern A&P Association Junior Female Llama class. Sixth, out of six.

Bryan also placed last in his Senior Female Llama class -- third out of three, despite doing a marvelous job at walking his gal, Serendipity. Personally I think we both were robbed. Robyn placed third with her llama, and Ruth came home the big winner, scoring a second place ribbon with Peace Flower.

You can watch Bryan walk his llama here. (This movie is much smaller than the Zorb one so it should download okay.)

On the bright side, Shirley and I received a pretty pink ribbon for sixth, one that perfectly matched the pink long-sleeved t-shirt I wore for the occasion. And of course, the county fair (and the week of training that proceeded it) was an super-fun experience I'll never forget. Finally -- and you know how I love this one -- I was photographed a number of times with Shirley Anne by a local reporter who later asked for all my vitals for his story (and didn't seem to mind that we'd placed dead last.) We haven't tracked down the resulting newspaper spread quite yet, but we're working on it. If you've seen me with a spotted llama on a copy of the Sheffield Press or the Canterbury Gazette, please shoot me an e-mail. You know how I love the celebrity lifestyle.

After the judging was over, Bryan and I walked around the non-animal parts of the fair, observing woodcutting competitions, ogling very large tractors, and eating New Zealand-style hotdogs. Then we watched a llama vet explain how to spot biting lice on our animals, participated in the final Grand Parade, and helped to break down wooden animal pens. The Llama Lookout van pulled back into Governor's Bay exactly 12 hours after departing.

We left the Lookout for good the next morning, and now we've just arrived on the west coast of New Zealand via the Tranz-Alpine, a cross-country scenic train ride that takes four hours. I was truly sad to leave our new friends and to say goodbye to Shirley Anne. I mean, I'd like to think she developed a tiny bit of fondness for me. Meanwhile, Bryan and I spent nine nights in a caravan, replenished the budget a bit, and experienced a true New Zealand lifestyle at its very best, in a special week before one of the biggest days of the year for a lovely family who cares for llamas. I'm so grateful for that. Oh and of course, for getting my picture in some paper, somewhere in New Zealand.

stars, they're just like allyson @ 11:58 AM  

..........