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Your Q's and My A's - Ask The Judge -
Fleece
Q. Just for my understanding, what is
fading fawn?
A. “Fading Fawn” refers to an alpaca who
is fawn in color but their color is
darker along the top of their back and
lightens as you move down toward their
belly. This is described in the rulebook
in the color rule section, but the word
“fading” is not used in the book
anymore. The change needs to be gradual.
If the change is abrupt they would be
classified as a multicolor.
Q. When you are judging, in your verbal
comments, do you equate what you are
feeling and seeing to a finished
product, i.e. fabric, yarn, outerwear?
I am hearing the judges talk about the
fiber on the animal, but I never hear
what that means in the overall scheme of
things after shearing and processing?
Can you relate , for example, that fiber
(that is on the your web page, the white
with all the crimps, looks like merino)
to what a finished garment might be
like? What does crimp mean to a piece of
fabric? What does lustre have to do with
the finished appearance of a garment?
Does bundling equate to loftiness of a
finished shawl? Would be good to know
what dispensation of the fiber that you
see on the hoof might mean to a finished
product. How does it all fit
 together?
A. As to your question- Yes, I
often do comment on how a fleece will
look in an end product. Usually when I
do it is to point out the luster of
brightness that I have noticed while
judging. I think that one of the most
significant trait of both huacaya and
suri alpaca fleeces that differentiate
them from other types of wool is the
brightness and shine.
As far as how crimp equates to a
finished product I think that one thing
I have noticed and have discussed with
other judges is that we often see many
of these traits as being linked.
Usually, when we see well expressed
crimp we also find a bright fleece with
very organized staples and greater than
average density as well as fineness.
Obviously, not every time, but very often
these traits are found together. The
fleece shot that you mention from my
male Lucent Gold is a good example. A
quick glance at the picture you notice
the crimp, but he also has a very bright
fleece with great staple formation and
extreme density.
Thanks for your question. Let me know if
you have more. Photo you refer to is of
Chase Tavern Lucent Gold, a future
herdsire on our farm.
Q. Which alpaca would place higher in
the show ring - one with tight, short
amplitude crimp or one that exhibits
bold, high amplitude crimp? For the
benefit of discussion all other
characteristics between two competing
animals are the same - density,
fineness, conformation. Is it personal
preference or should breeders make
breeding decisions toward one or the
other?
A. First,
everything else is never equal. In a
comparative judging system such as the
one AOBA uses for halter judging,
characteristics of the alpacas are
always different. Unless you have been
in the ring with a judge while they are
judging a class of 15 white huacayas
this may be hard to understand. Also,
without at least a picture it is very
hard to answer. The way my brain works
when I am judging depends so much on
visual assessment.
If your example were both males and I
were choosing a male to breed to my
females I guess it would depend on the
qualities of my individual females.
Sorry that I cannot answer your question
more directly.
Q. What if my fleece is felted or cotted
and I want to show it in halter class
(still on alpaca) or fleece classes?
A.
You may find, especially in young males,
they do jump on the back of each other
from time to time investigating their
manhood. In doing this, they may felt or
cot the back rump area of their friend's
fleece. This is ok. You can attempt to
pull it back up but we know in any
species, boys will be boys and we are
looking at the entire fleece not just
this one area. In suris, as the locks
grow, they can become felted. Do not
attempt to break these apart. We can do
this in the ring and will evaluate the
fleece accordingly. In huacayas, a
felted or cotted fleece can sometimes
correlate to not enough staple
definition or character to the fleece
but also can be an indicator of
fineness. Again, don't touch it, let us
look at it in the ring.
Fleece Classes -
The above applies to halter classes.
Fleece classes are another issue. Larger
pieces of debris should be removed but
again, don't get concerned about tiny
flecks of vegetation here and there.
Please remove any needles, bailing
twine, sticks and pieces of wood from
your fleece - these are some of the
items I found in fleeces while judging
AOBA National Fleece Show in 2005.
Obviously these fleeces needed more
skirting and points were deducted in the
score because of this.
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