Alpacas The Farmers' Country Showdown

Across the country, thousands of farming families work

tirelessly around the clock.

Urgh!

Stop arguing, girls!

Give over.

SHE WHISTLES

But there's one day each year...

Ay!

..when they get to leave the daily routine behind.

Right, here we come, Dorset.

These are show days...

A very, very warm welcome to the show.

..when they come together as a community...

APPLAUSE

..to showcase the fruits of their labour...

I just love showing my girls off.

..and try to win prizes for their breed champions...

Smashed it.

..and award-winning produce.

That's really nice cheese, that.

It was very good, darling.

There will be highs...

That's what we want to see - red. Red is the best.

..and lows...

She's not happy enough to go.

..for the dedicated farmers who give everything to walk away a champion.

Fingers crossed!

Over the last ten years,

a new type of livestock has started appearing on the fields of Britain.

More pet-like than anything,

the gentle woolly South American alpaca have made a huge impact on

the farming landscape.

Today, we're meeting two families who started farming later in life,

but are at the forefront of this next big thing.

Jean McDonald and Stuart Ramsey and Barbara and Paul Hetherington are

getting ready to show their prize animals at this year's

Westmoreland Country Show.

They may be new to the farming game, but their hopes are high.

Come on then. Come on.

The wild rolling hills of the Eden Valley in Cumbria have traditionally

been sheep farming territory.

But Barbara is changing all that...

22.

Come here. Come on, good girl.

..with some help from her engineer husband Paul.

We'll just close him in, if you could, please, Paul.

For them, it all started with an exotic trip.

We went out on holiday to Peru, where we saw some alpacas,

so we came home and we thought, "Hmm, we've got quite a few acres.

"We'll maybe get an alpaca or two."

So they bought four alpacas as pets

and, from the day they arrived, Barbara has been smitten.

I think there's very few people who own alpacas

who don't become addicted.

They've got such individual personalities

and become very trusting,

but you have to earn that trust

and I think that's what makes them quite exciting.

Are you sunbathing?

You're so friendly, aren't you?

Good girl. There.

Barbara was so taken by them that she quit her job as a nurse

and decided to set up an alpaca farm.

Come on, girl!

To the amazement of her husband,

eight years on, Barbara now has 180 of them.

I didn't see it as the business going as big as it has done.

All credit to Barbara, she's done very well.

Come on. There we go.

And as her three children have now grown up and left home,

she regards her charges as her extended family.

I know each and every animal.

A white alpaca with a tiny touch of black around its eye or something.

Yeah, they are not alike to me.

Just 85 miles north, in the Scottish Borders,

there's a smaller alpaca farm with much the same love story.

No, that's not yours.

When Jean McDonald retired after 42 years as a pharmacist,

she was on the lookout for a new challenge

and, while visiting a country show, she found just that.

Husband Stuart, who runs a water treatment plant,

was happy to support her dream.

We fell into alpacas by accident.

Basically, they had a package of four boys they were selling

and I bought them - or we bought them.

They already had a few acres of land,

which became home to their new additions.

And, in the space of five years, Jean has gone from four alpacas...

..to a herd of 26.

We got four, then we got another two and it just kind of snowballed.

Then we got some girls and then we thought,

"Well, maybe we should start breeding."

And, since then, things have just grown.

But, for both families,

the big challenge now is how to make their living out of their livestock.

They have only been farmed in the UK for two decades,

even though their magnificent wool

has been prized for thousands of years.

However, centuries of breeding with other species, such as llamas,

means that their wool is no longer as perfect as it once was.

But if you can breed a pure alpaca, it can fetch up to £30,000.

So, back in Cumbria,

Barbara works hard to manage her breeding programme.

Put your ears forward.

A perfect alpaca is so valued that

she buys in premium males from around the world.

This is Samurai, he's a stud male.

We just brought him in from New Zealand.

He arrived in May.

He's about to be mated with their female - Snooty-Boots.

Skipping there.

-OK.

-Just catch you up.

Where are you? There you are. Hello. Marvellous.

The male's cry...

ALPACAS CRY

..will help the female to produce eggs.

When you buy a breeding alpaca from the other side of the world,

expectations are high.

We usually just let the boys stay for about ten minutes,

ten to 12 minutes, and then we'll take him back to his paddock.

Come on, good boy. That's enough.

All they can do now is cross their fingers and hope for the best.

Aside from the breeding,

the other big chore is to look after the babies,

or cria as they are known,

but this former nurse revels in it.

We weigh every day for the first week.

Very important, that first weighing,

because we need to make sure that the cria

has had its colostrum from its mum.

This one was born at 2.15 yesterday.

A little girl. She was 8.1 when we weighed her when she was dry.

She's... It's got plenty of life, hasn't she?

It has. 8.2 I'm going to say.

She's put on 100g, that's fine, just overnight.

So delighted this is a little girl.

It's the third girl in a row for Anaria.

And, again, one of our star lines.

Her last three cria have all been champions.

Come on, good girl.

The new-borns are very demanding

and thankfully Paul is around at the moment to step in to help.

Come on. This is Hip-hop, who we are bottle-feeding.

We are using full fat goat's milk,

which is the closest thing you can sort of get to alpaca milk.

Normally, after we have bottle fed them a couple of times,

they'll go to their mothers looking for milk,

but Hip-hop never kind of got that relationship with her mum.

So we're having to bottle feed her now.

And the aim of all this hard work is to breed

more champions like this one.

This is Beck Brow Explorer,

he's actually the boy who's made our business what it is today.

He's the sire of many, many champions.

Done us proud.

Barbara's horde of prizes show she's already on the right track

and hopes are high for this year's show.

Two hours to the north,

Jean and Stuart are also grappling with this passionate hobby that has

grown into a business.

26 alpacas cost a lot to feed and care for.

To help fund the farm,

they've decided to design their own alpaca wool products.

Processed fleece, it has the quality of cashmere, so it's very,

very soft to touch, but it's harder wearing.

But setting up a fashion label is not as easy as it sounds.

Realistically, you get a scarf made up, you've got to be charging £150.

It's a lot of money.

I'm sure down in London it would go like that,

but up here in the Borders it's a bit more difficult.

Determined to succeed,

Stuart's turned to other ideas of what to do with their livestock.

There is a meat market, which is just starting out.

The top restaurants are looking for alpaca.

But there's one slight hitch...

-I'm a vegetarian.

-A vegetarian and I wouldn't be here I think,

if I did eat it, so...

The need to diversify to survive on the farm

inspired one very left of field idea.

Stuart and Jean soon found there was quite a demand for alpacas to be

ring bearers on people's special days.

We had these lovely alpacas in these pictures from the day I got married.

-That's brilliant, though.

-That's a really good one.

-Yeah.

-They just lifted the mood as well because of the rain, like...

-That's a nice...

-That's a lovely one.

-That's a lovely shot as well.

-That's a lovely picture.

-Yeah.

I mean, you can see, really, from Mark's face...

-Yeah...

-..and my face, like, we just loved every moment

and they are really friendly and gentle as well

-when you're feeding them the carrots.

-Yeah.

-Fantastic.

-Much appreciated.

Thank you.

Hiring out for weddings made them think differently

about their alpacas and they soon hit upon another big idea.

Right, if you just want to come through.

Jean and Stuart have started to

take alpaca treks through the beautiful Scottish Borders.

Right, we've got a selection of alpacas here to choose from.

Bendrago is the fawn one. He's a lovely boy.

I always say to people when they come, you know,

"What made you want to come and do an alpaca trek?"

And invariably about 98% of people say, "I love alpacas."

But even these gentle creatures have a touchy side.

They can kick, they don't kick very often,

so just don't touch them on the bottom...

and don't let one boy sniff the other one on the bottom in front -

or else the leg will come out.

With warnings in place, the trek heads off up the hillside.

Everybody OK?

We are here for a vacation and we have alpacas at home,

that's why we've said, "Let's go on an alpaca trek in Scotland," right?

But after the steep climb, everyone needs a break.

Ginger ninjas.

Three years he's been up there.

Once back down, it's time for a few well-earned carrots...

and Jean's party piece.

So gentle.

Although it's not as easy as it looks.

LAUGHTER

It was great. It's something that I never imagined I would do.

And he was well-behaved.

Jean is working hard to build her farm.

But the main aim is still to breed award-winning alpacas.

Back in Cumbria, Barbara's countdown to the show is on.

She can't take 180 alpacas with her, so it's decision time.

Come on, girls!

Come on!

I don't think there would be an alpaca industry at this point

without shows. At the moment,

the prices the alpacas fetch are really based on how well

they're doing in the show ring.

We like to try and win.

One of the main reasons I like to show is it feels like you're getting

approval that you're making the right breeding decisions.

The shows are getting more and more competitive,

so it's more and more difficult to win the top prizes.

Top champions can earn thousands as breeders,

but who will they take?

Alpacas come in 22 shades.

There are black, brown,

grey and all the whites.

Some are big, others are small.

Some are even shaggy.

The perfect alpaca probably doesn't exist.

Lots of us will think we have it,

but there's always something to improve upon.

Never know where you're going to find a cat. Come on.

After months of careful consideration

and a final good look round, Barbara has her show team.

She selected a good range of colours and ages,

but some of these girls are still pretty new to performing in public.

They're doing OK, these three girls,

but they're not any of our champions.

We're just taking some different females to see how they do.

-Come on.

-With help from friend and fellow alpaca keeper Kim,

Barbara's also chosen the boys she wants to take to the show.

In you go.

And there's one she is particularly hopeful about.

The brown boy is On The Money.

That's probably my best hope and we're hoping we'll get the

Brown Championship Male with him.

You shouldn't count your chickens, but he's done well in the past.

Now all Barbara can do is hope she's made the right decisions.

Come on, boys.

You can only do your best. So, yeah, we're always a little nervous.

Paul is there to support, but leaves it all to her.

When it comes to the alpacas, Barbara's the boss.

Come on!

She's very, very good.

She was a sister in an intensive care unit, so she had a very,

very good job, a very responsible job.

To give all that up to breed alpacas was definitely a gamble,

but it's one that has paid off and now we're doing very well.

She's got a very successful business.

Much like Barbara, back in Scotland,

Jean and Stuart are also getting ready.

No, no, no, no.

The most important thing to do is to get the alpacas used to being on a

halter so they can be led around the show ring.

And Hejira's a bit rusty.

Maybe we should have done a bit of practising!

Hey? Yes.

Despite their herd being small,

Jean and Stuart's alpacas have already won prizes

at shows up and down the country.

Good girl.

For a small breeder, the shows have been very successful for us.

I think we've been punching a little bit above our weight, really.

We've just been really lucky with our breeding

decisions have paid off.

We are getting firsts and seconds and champions.

As their farm has been well represented on the show scene,

Jean and Stuart have been up against Paul and Barbara before

and, in tomorrow's show, they will have an alpaca in the same category.

Two of our alpacas are in competition with Barbara.

-They are in the same class.

-They are in the same class as Barbara's.

As one of Barbara's, yeah.

So we've only been up against them once and got beaten,

but we'll see what happens in the second fleece,

but I think I'll put my money on them, but don't tell them!

We'll definitely win!

-OK.

-That's a joke, by the way!

But there's a lot to do before the competition begins.

Stuart still needs to gather these potential winners

and their son Kieran is on hand to help.

Come on, Caolila. Come on, my darling. Clever girl.

And Jean is worried one of their best chances

may be kicked out because she will be deemed the wrong colour.

We have one which we're taking as a grey female,

but we're not sure that she'll be passed as a grey female.

If she isn't passed as grey,

she could be disqualified or moved into a different category,

leaving them with only two in the competition.

Hejira! My goodness, you are being grumpy.

Thankfully, one thing neither family will have to worry about is a huge

amount of grooming to get these woolly bundles a prize at the show.

It's absolutely against the rules to shampoo.

If you shampoo the alpaca, then you will be disqualified from the ring.

We can trim the top knots here and the main reason for that is so that

they can see, cos sometimes the fleece does grow over their eyes,

but she's fine. If there's anything dirty under the tail,

we can cut that away, but other than that

she has to go to the show however she turns up that morning!

It's finally time for both families to head off to the show.

All year round they've been building up to this day.

Right. Come on. In you go.

Barbara and Kim get the females on first.

Well done!

They have to separate them from the males,

so they remain calm on the journey.

Two down. Good boys, well done.

Now her boys are loaded up.

Come on.

Come on, darlings. Good girl.

All loaded and they're off.

Next stop, the Westmorland Show.

The Westmorland County Show is beginning to stir.

At over 200 years old,

it is one of the longest running

and biggest one-day shows in the country

and a huge event for the UK alpaca community.

As dawn breaks, the alpaca tent is already a hive of activity.

Jean is feeding her animals and there is much to be done.

I must get their numbers sorted out and get them eventually put on them.

I then have to think about...

I have to get the catalogue to see where we are in the running order.

Nice to see you, Caroline!

As well as showing, Barbara is also today's chief steward...

She's entered in mid-fawn.

Yes. Thank you.

..while Stuart will be helping to run the ring.

-Good morning.

-This means he has to check all the alpacas in.

586.

Yeah, solid beige.

717.

Around 35,000 alpacas are registered in the UK.

-Yes, that's fine.

-Though, thankfully, not all are here today.

I think there's about 85, 90,

so we've got to get it done within the next 45 minutes.

So it's a little bit hectic this morning, but it always is.

Today's judges are Jay Holland, who is training up Jo Bridge.

To become an alpaca judge under the British Alpaca Society,

we're required to go through a series of courses

and it takes us at least four years

and six apprenticeships before we qualify.

You have to be around alpacas to really get into alpacas.

They're calming, they take the stress away from life.

Everything has to be done at their pace.

I'm an insurance broker that had a midlife crisis

and went into alpacas, what do you want to know?

With the first judging rounds approaching,

the big challenge of the day is to make sure all the alpacas

are in their correct colour category.

So out comes the colour chart.

See the light, do you want the judge to check it

-because the light in here is pretty bad?

-Yeah, that's fine.

But the overcast weather is making the tent dark,

so the alpacas have to be taken outside to check their colour.

He's a light brown.

-He is. Brown.

-Light brown.

-Brown.

-OK.

It was close.

Jean's big worry is her alpaca Mischief Maker.

She wants her to be accepted as grey,

but the dim light means the stewards haven't been able to agree

on what colour she is.

So a steward takes her out into the light to be assessed.

Oh, are you all right, sir?

I can't see any black in there.

He's got very dark skin.

They've got no black fibres, no brown fibres.

Lights.

Decision is made.

Mischief Maker can't compete in today's grey category.

She will have to go into the whites.

We won't actually take her in the ring in the light class because we

already have two females in the light female class,

and she probably wouldn't do particularly well in the light class

because our other girls are so much better than her.

But you just have to live with these things.

You just accept them.

That's the rule, so you just accept the rules.

OK, I think we're nearly ready to go.

As competition time approaches,

the show is officially opened to the public.

Over the next few hours, around 30,000 people will get a true taste

of the countryside and its industry.

Is it nine o'clock yet?

Yes. Have we got a mic anywhere?

Despite the ominous skies, Barbara, as chief steward,

still needs to address the alpaca owners.

Good morning and welcome to sunny Westmorland Show.

I'm going to hand over to Mr Jay Holland,

who is our judge for today and he's being apprenticed by Mrs Jo Bridge.

-Thank you.

-Good morning, everybody.

Thank you for coming. Thank you for inviting Jo and myself here to judge

the alpacas today.

We've got the ring steward, who is about somewhere.

I think Stuart is ring steward with us here today,

so he's going to be your best friend in the ring for the entire day,

as opposed to Jo and I,

who are probably going to be your worst enemies.

Thank you all very much again and we'll see you in the ring.

Finally, they are ready.

But just as the alpaca owners are getting set for the first category,

the Great British weather decides to work its magic.

And a classes start as the heavens open.

Well, the weather hasn't been very kind to us.

The rain is quite persistent here.

This rain couldn't have happened at a worse time.

You can't show them out there in this

because they get soaking wet and the judge can't see the proper qualities

of the fleece because it just becomes a soggy mess.

So, after all their preparations,

there's a chance the farmers won't be able to show at all.

We're going to give it another half hour or so,

hope the weather picks up,

it's forecast to, and we'll just start a little late.

But the rain does anything but let up, and just gets heavier...

..and heavier.

It's a bit wet for everyone, isn't it?

Yes, it's too wet. We'll start inside.

They're only small classes.

So, this is going to be the collecting ring just here.

Barbara's putting a plan in place.

The rain is just getting worse.

We've got a lot of alpacas to judge,

so were going to do the first classes of grey and black

inside the tent.

But the next problem is the judges will need as much light as possible

to examine the fleece.

She also has an idea for this.

Any helpers, please?!

Just to take the tent sides down, thank you.

So it's all hands to the pumps.

We're going to put the show ring at this end of the tent,

at least for the first few classes, while the rain is so hard.

So we'll open it up, so we can have some daylight for the judges and it

will all be lovely. It'll be fine.

The side is quickly opened up and the tent fills with light...

..and wind.

It's going to blow everything away now,

but that's fine. We alpaca breeders keep going, whatever the weather!

Oh, here come the judges.

Finally, this year's alpaca competition can begin.

Years of careful breeding and selection have all led up to this.

The alpaca is primarily a fleece animal,

that is to say we use the fleece for all manner of things,

so most of my marks and my awarding goes to the fleece.

Judge Jay will be looking for animals with good bone structure,

including strong and straight legs, and a straight back.

But it's the fleece that attracts the majority of points.

It must be an even, consistent colour and be made up of strong,

yet fine strands.

The show industry with the alpacas is what makes it a business.

The pedigree is what makes them sought after.

They're what creates the prices, really.

And everyone's very competitive

and when you win they want a little bit of that!

Because Barbara still needs to keep an eye on the rain situation,

her friend Kim is stepping in to help with showing today.

-Nice and quiet, OK?

-OK.

Her first entrant is her beloved brown Tutu.

She's up against four others.

Good girl.

Barbara's put a lot of her energy into this alpaca.

A win would show her she's on the right track.

See, that's just unhappy on its back leg because of where it is.

Yeah, I think it is, yeah.

But, with alpacas, it's all about the quality of fleece.

Turn her a little bit, so we can use whatever natural light

-we're getting.

-Absolutely.

-OK, thank you.

-Thank you.

Our pleasure.

Well done.

-This one...

-He's got... He's an interesting one.

This is an interesting class.

Decision time.

-We're done.

-Do you want me to rosette them?

Thank you. I've got to remember this now.

OK, so we're going to go from this side.

Thank you.

After what looked like an uncertain start, Tutu takes first place.

Hello.

Just as an ecstatic Barbara had hoped for.

-Thank you, congratulations.

-Thank you very much indeed.

Well done, Tutu.

A smashing little brown female, well-deserved of a first.

Good brightness, lovely soft handle,

lovely uniformity of colour throughout.

And that's not the end of the accolades.

These are the only brown females,

so we're going to award the championship to...

our first place alpaca, so congratulations. Congratulations.

-APPLAUSE

-Thank you very much indeed.

-Thank you, well done.

-Thank you.

It's a great start for Barbara and Kim is particularly chuffed.

First, it's brilliant, and it doesn't matter

that it's not your alpaca.

It's just so scary being in that ring,

but when they point and they go "first", it's like...

Well done, Tutu, she was great.

Yeah, really, really good.

We will be celebrating probably down the pub tonight.

My friend's staying, so we both like a glass or two of wine,

so I think it's well-deserved and always a hard run-up to the show.

Back in the tent, the wet hasn't dampened their enthusiasm.

Alpaca fans are pouring in and the judgings are in full swing.

There's no rest for Barbara, as she prepares for her next entry.

So this is Beck Brow On The Money -

he is my hope of the day.

He's won couple of championships before, but, as I said,

there's always competition here. You're not going to be sure about,

haven't seen them in their second fleeces, so fingers crossed.

And into the ring they go.

As the judges check the fleeces,

one of Barbara's rivals seems to have an issue with colour.

-Interesting.

-Interesting.

Judging has to stop while they check the all-important chart.

I'm just going to go and compare it to the animal.

It's close.

If he's in the wrong class, he will be disqualified.

-It looks too dark to be there.

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

It's close.

But his colour is good to go and, finally, Barbara can present.

16 months, sheared end of May.

Oh, good boy! That's it, fantastic, thank you.

Is this a new trick you've taught them?

-Yes!

-Sat like a dog!

Come on, stand up.

-That's it.

-Thank you.

-Thanks.

OK, right.

I'm going to go, yeah, one, then two, three, and four.

Yeah, that's it.

Where is my man?

I've got no hesitation in placing the championship on this alpaca here

first today. Beautiful alpaca.

Thank you.

-Very worthy championship. Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Beck Brow On The Money is a little pet of mine and the fact that he got

the male brown champion and was very highly commended,

so that's what I wanted and a good day.

The alpacas are not the only animals in competition today.

Across the show, there's a whole range of farmers hoping to do well.

In another corner of Westmorland,

there is one farming family who are real veterans.

This is the Robinson family and they've been exhibiting at the show

for 140 years.

Today, 75-year-old Henry,

his son James and grandson Robert

are showing their prize shorthorn cattle.

The family are a wonderful example of where alpacas

could end up one day.

They set up Stickley Farm

just a few miles from the show site in 1875.

I'm the fifth generation, Robert the sixth and Dad the fourth.

We farm just under 300 acres and we are carrying probably more stock

than we ever have done.

It's hard work.

but so long as you lo... People like it, though, they love it.

You can have some real rubbish days.

You know, I can have some horrendous days,

but then, when you get fantastic summer's mornings,

you're getting the cows in at five, six o'clock in the morning,

when everyone else is in bed, the sun is shining,

the swallows are flying around the cows' legs,

you wouldn't really want to be doing much else.

This picture was taken by James' great-grandfather Henry in 1914.

And this is the farm just over 100 years later,

with Henry's descendants still working the land.

You've got to grow to survive. You can't...you can't just stay,

you've always got to be trying to improve everything.

COWS MOO

We've always milked cows here, but every farm used to milk cows and

every farm used to have chickens and pigs and grow crops and everything,

but you have to specialise really to survive.

And the Westmorland Show has been

a big part of the family business for generations.

The family started showing there 141 years ago

and we've been going virtually ever since.

It's a day out, but we don't get to see much of the show!

We're working all the time.

We are almost part of the furniture down there now, so it is good.

Westmorland Show is one of the best that there is in the country really

for focusing on agriculture.

It's definitely a farming show.

A farming show for the public to enjoy, though.

The Robinson family's legacy is something that the alpaca farmers

aspire to, but there's a huge industry to build first.

Back in the tent, things are looking a little brighter,

so the judges decide to take a risk on the weather.

-If we're going to go out, go out.

-Do it now, shall we go now?

-Go out?

-Yeah.

-Go out?

-Shall we?

-Go out?

-Yeah, go out, go out. Yeah, we are out.

We're going to go to the main ring outside, please.

With the sun poking through the clouds,

it's time for the next category

and this is the one where Jean and Barbara finally go head-to-head.

We all want to win and do our best,

but I think the smiles are genuine, and there's a lot of new people

coming into the industry all the time,

and we like to see them do well.

Do I look nervous?

Barbara has just one animal in competition, while Jean has three.

But the alpacas' lovely personalities

can sometimes turn to stubbornness.

Come on.

-Oi, oi, oi.

-That's not the language is it, really?

LAUGHTER

Sorry!

-Thank you.

-Thank you!

-OK.

-Thank you.

Jean and Barbara are strong business allies, but also rivals in the ring.

With the judges still deliberating,

they know only one of them can walk away with the prize.

And, finally, a decision has been made.

I'm listening, watching and learning.

OK...

Please.

And Jean has won first place.

Congratulations, well done.

Not only that, but her other alpaca has taken the second prize.

But after her triumphant morning,

Barbara has to make do with fourth place.

We are awarding the Championship,

which will go to our first place number 40, so congratulations.

It's a great result for Jean, who's only been showing for six years.

Brilliant result, yeah. Really good result.

Can't be anything else when you get first and second

and then you get the Championship as well.

While Barbara is philosophical.

She did more or less as I expected.

I thought she would come third or fourth, somewhere around there.

And actually, second, third and fourth

were all sired by our own stud male Beck Brow Goldmine,

so, er, it was nice that clients did well as well.

HORSE WHINNIES

The afternoon continues with a series of other awards...

Thank you very much, thank you. Congratulations.

..culminating in the overall champion.

APPLAUSE

Jean comes a very respectable second.

And, once again, Barbara has to settle for fourth place.

However, it's a strong result for both

and another feather in the cap for their breeding ambition.

We're not averse to a glass or two of bubbly.

Both girls did really, really well.

They'll get apple for a change instead of carrots.

The Westmorland one-day Show is coming to an end for another year.

Thousands of people have passed through its gates

and enjoyed the best that the countryside has to offer.

And for the alpaca owners, it has been well worth all the effort.

We were ecstatic with the results.

We couldn't have asked for anything better.

It's nice to let people see what we're breeding.

A number of people have come up and, not only congratulated us,

but wanted to see what we're breeding,

so it's all good for our business.

A great day overall. Didn't win the overall Championship of the show,

but we won four colour champions, so we're very happy with the day.

The weather's not been the kindest. We're all a bit muddy.

Despite the hiccups, it's all been smoothed out and a good show.

I think everyone's enjoyed it.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you and thanks for all the help.

-And say well done, alpacas.

-Cheers!

-Cheers, everybody.

LAUGHTER