IAO Rules

Preamble:

The International Alpaca Odyssey show was originally created to bring the International Show Rules to North American Alpaca breeders in an active setting. The founding members of the IAO committee believed that the International Show Rules needed to be utilized in such a way that the North American Alpaca Industry could see and experience those rules first hand and then adopt those facets of the International Rules that made sense for our industry moving forward. At the heart of the IAO managing committee's motivation was to be an idea house and proving ground for new innovative show rules that could possibly benefit the North American Alpaca Industry as a whole. Moving forward, now that a majority of the facets of the International Rules have been adopted into the North American Alpaca Judging Systems, IAO managing committee feels its time to showcase a brand new set of Alpaca Judging Rules for the North American Industry to experience first hand, at the 2010 IAO show.

As an industry we acknowledge that while it is important for continued improvement in our national herd in pursuit of a commercial fiber market, there needs to be equal recognition for the alpaca that is serving the existing small processor market today and into the future. The basis for the new set of rules is the idea that the current North American Alpaca herd can be seen as two sectors. One sector is focused on breeding goals whose outcome is the best possible alpaca for large-scale fleece production to a commercial mill. The other sector is focused on our current cottage industry model where it is the value of today's fleece to the cottage industry processor [hand spinner to the mini-mill].

There exist in the world alpaca industry a number of quality breed standards. Each year the show will choose a set of established breed standards to judge to. The choice of breed standard will be published with the exhibitor entry forms. Ranking of traits in the IAO rules will supercede any rankings listed in the breed standards.

Commercial [Large Processor]: The Commercial Show Division is focused on those attributes of the sound alpaca, which will be of benefit to a future commercial grower supplying alpaca fiber to a North American commercial mill industry. This division shall be judged on fleece traits valued in commercial fleece processing with emphasis on fineness and uniformity. Fineness is important because the most elite products are made from the finest fleece and thus command the highest $ per kilo. Uniformity, for the North American herd is paramount, to reduce the cost of sorting the fleece as North American labor costs are higher. Conformational structure will remain a significant emphasis, as the fiber producer cannot afford ill health and ill thrift in a commercial herd. The color divisions within this judging system are based on the projected color groups that commercial fleeces will be sorted into.

Cottage [Small Processor]: The Small Processor Division is focused on those attributes of a sound alpaca whose fleece will be valued in our Cottage/Craft Market, as it exists today. This division shall be judged on fleece traits valued in small processor fleece processing (hand spinners, hand processors mini-mills, etc), with no judgment on uniformity of color. Fine fleeces with excellent handle and brightness are those that are in demand by today's small processor. Since all colors are valued equally in the Small Processor marketplace, the color divisions will not be yarn based but base fleece coat color.

Commercial [Large Processor]:

HALTER SHOW Commercial

JUDGING Halter Show Commercial

3 judge panel
Consensus judging
All Judges will be accredited in a nationally recognized judging system
And chosen for the best judging skills and highest ethical standards

The fiber attributes are ranked as follows:

Fineness
Uniformity/Consistency of micron
Uniformity/Consistency of color
Uniformity/Consistency of staple length
Brightness (Huacaya)/Luster (Suri)
Lack of Guard Hard
Density
Character (Huacaya)/Style (Suri)

CLASS FORMATION Halter Show Commercial

All classes shall be organized by Color Groups, Breed, Gender and then Age.

Color Groups

Bright White GROUP - Fleece color: Bright White
Cremello GROUP - Fleece colors: White, Solid Beige Light Fawn (any fleece that is colored on the top line, but white mid-side is classed as Cremello),
Fawn GROUP - Fleece colors: Medium Fawn, Dark Fawn
Brown GROUP - Fleece colors: Light Brown and Medium Brown
Dark GROUP - Fleece colors: Dark Brown and Bay Black
Black GROUP - Fleece color: True Black
Grey/Roan GROUP - Fleece colors: Fawn Grey, Rose Grey, Silver Grey, blanket shall be a uniform shade of grey

*Any alpaca who is deemed to be not solid colored may move to the Small Processor division OR may remain in the Large Processor division with the knowledge that the alpaca will be disadvantaged, at the judge's discretion. The entire alpaca is evaluated for consistency of color.

Compliance checking will be at the discretion of the exhibitor. Color checking shall conform to the ARI color chart except for Bright White and Cremello. There will be trained compliance checkers available for use at exhibitor request. These trained compliance checkers will have samples of Bright White and Cremello. Exhibitor is solely responsible for exhibiting their alpaca in the correct class AND the correct Show Division. Any alpaca in the incorrect color class will be disadvantaged, at the judge's discretion. Any alpaca not meeting the fleece minimum will be disadvantaged, at the judge's discretion.

BREED

Huacaya & Suri

GENDER

Male & Female

AGE

Weanling: Age 6.5 mo to 13 mo
Yearling: Age 13 mo to 19 mo
Prime: Age 19 mo to 27
Adult Age 27 mo to 40
Mature: Age 40 + (females must have registered offspring)

(For the 2010 IAO show (May 15th 2010) min date of birth for Weanling Age shall be 11/1/2009)

HALTER CLASS RULES Commercial

Classes will be organized by Fleece Color.
Classes may be combined within a Fleece Color GROUP.
Championships will be organized by Fleece Color GROUP.
Class sizes will be a maximum of 20; When class size exceeds the maximum 20 it shall be split equally by birth-date - oldest to youngest.
Classes of 15 or more shall be awarded ribbons to 8th place, less than 15 shall be awarded ribbons to 6th place.
Alpacas will be judged 60% fleece & 40% conformation.
All classes are full fleece and must have a min of 3" of staple length

Color Championships:

One Championship class per Breed, Gender, Color Group.
Championship awards shall state Commercial Color Champion and Commercial Reserve Color Champion.
Minimum number to award color championship shall be 20 Huacayas or 12 Suris per Color/Gender.
All first and second place alpacas in their respective breed, gender and color group shall reenter the ring to compete for the color championship

Supreme Champion

All entries that place Color Champion shall be eligible for the Supreme Champion award. One Award per Gender/Breed.

Production Classes:

Get of Sire: 3 progeny from at least 2 different dams. One group per sire.
Produce of Dam: 2 progeny from different sires.
Breeders Production Best: 4 entries - most consistent in all attributes, conformation & fleece. Any sire, any dam.

Display Halter Classes:

Best Head: One award per Breed/Gender.

FLEECE SHOW Commercial

JUDGING Fleece Show Commercial

2 judge panel
Judge will be accredited in a nationally recognized judging system
And chosen for the best judging skills and highest ethical standards

The fiber scorecard is as follows:

Fineness		15
Uniformity/Consistency of micron		15
Uniformity/Consistency of color		10
Uniformity/Consistency of staple length		5
Brightness(Huacaya)/Luster(Suri)		15
Lack of Guard Hair (Huacaya/Suri)		10
Fleece Weight		15
Character(Huacaya)/Style(Suri)		10
Impurites, stain and tip damage		5

CLASS FORMATION Fleece Show Commercial

All classes shall be organized by Color Groups, Breed and then Age. ** Gender is not considered in the fleece classes.

Color Groups

Bright White GROUP - Fleece color: Bright White
Cremello GROUP - Fleece colors: White, Solid Beige, Light Fawn (any fleece that is colored on the top line, but white mid-side is classed as Cremello
Fawn GROUP - Fleece colors:), Medium Fawn, Dark Fawn
Brown GROUP - Fleece colors: Light Brown and Medium Brown
Dark GROUP - Fleece colors: Dark Brown and Bay Black
Black GROUP - Fleece color: True Black
Grey/Roan GROUP - Fleece colors: Fawn Grey, Rose Grey, Silver Grey, blanket shall be a uniform shade of grey.

Breed groupings

Huacaya & Suri

Age groupings

Weanling: Age 6 mo to 12 mo
Yearling: Age 12 mo to 18 mo
Prime: Age 18 mo to 36 mo
Mature: Age 36 mo +

FLEECE CLASS RULES Commercial

No Maximum class size for Commercial Fleece Show.

Classes will be organized by Fleece Color.
Classes may be combined within a Fleece Color GROUP.
Championships will be organized by Fleece Color GROUP.
In order for a fleece to achieve a first place award in a class the judge must award a MINIMUM score of 60 points. If no fleece in a class accumulates the minimum of 60 points, the class shall begin with a second place award.
The exhibitor shall be solely responsible for claiming their fleeces at the end of the show.
Fleece must be from the most recent shearing of the alpaca.
Fleeces with less than 3 inches staple length shall be disqualified.
Fleeces older than 14 months since shorn shall be disqualified.
Maximum fleece length:
- Weanling Class: There is no maximum staple length for this age category.
- ALL OTHER AGE CATEGORIES - maximum of 6.5 inches Any fleece that exceeds maximum staple length will be disqualifie
.

Color Championships:

No minimum number competing in order to be awarded color or reserve champion.
One Championship class per Breed, Color Group. These fleeces will have to have achieved the minimum score of 65 to compete for color champion.
All first and second place alpacas in their respective breed and color group shall compete for the color championship - highest score wins.
Championship awards shall state Commercial Color Fleece Champion and Commercial Reserve Color Fleece Champion.

Supreme Champion

All entries that place Color Champion shall be eligible for the Supreme Champion award. One award per Breed. These fleeces will have to have achieved the minimum score of 70 to compete for supreme.

PRODUCTION FLEECE CLASSES Commercial: Fleece must have shown in the commercial division fleece show.

Get of Sire:

3 individual progeny from at least 2 different dams. One group per sire.

Score Card

Average of the 3 progeny scores for

Fineness
Uniformity/Consistency of micron
Uniformity/Consistency of color
Uniformity/Consistency of staple length
Brightness(Huacaya)/Luster(Suri)
Lack of Guard Hair (Huacaya/Suri)
Fleece Weight
- Consistency of Character(Huacaya)/Style(Suri) across 3 Progeny 15 points

Produce of Dam:

2 individual progeny from different sires. One group per dam.

Same score card as Get of Sire, with the avg of the 2 progeny.

Most Uniform Breeding Program:

4 entries. For each of the 4 entries, total the Fineness, Handle, and the 4 Uniformity Scores. Then average the totals from the 4 entries. Highest average total score wins. Ties broken in Fleece Attribute order.

Small Processor[Cottage]:

HALTER SHOW Cottage

JUDGING Halter Show Cottage

1 judge panel
Judge will be accredited in a nationally recognized judging system
And chosen for the best judging skills and highest ethical standards

The fiber attributes are ranked as follows:

Fineness
Uniformity/Consistency of micron
Brightness (Huacaya)/Luster (Suri)
Uniformity/Consistency of staple length
Lack of Guard Hard

CLASS FORMATION Halter Show Cottage

All classes shall be organized Color Groups, Breed, Gender and then Age

Color Groups

Light - hue of the overall blanket fleece is light colored, or white based (based on a mid-side fleece view where the sample is beige or lighter on the ARI color chart)
Medium - hue of the overall blanket fleece is medium colored or fawn based (based on a mid-side fleece view where the sample is light brown or lighter, light fawn or darker on the ARI color chart)
Dark - hue of the overall blanket fleece is dark colored or brown/black based (based on a mid-side fleece view where the sample is black or lighter, medium brown or darker on the ARI color chart)
Grey/Variegated - hue of the overall blanket is grey (matches any of the ARI color chart grey colors) - or a mix of colors that does not match a single color on the ARI color chart

Compliance checking will be at the discretion of the exhibitor. There will be trained compliance checkers available for use at exhibitor request. Exhibitor is solely responsible for exhibiting their alpaca in the correct class AND Show Division. Any alpaca in the incorrect color class will be disadvantaged, at the judge's discretion. Any alpaca not meeting the fleece minimum rules will be disadvantaged, at the judge's discretion.

Breed groupings

Huacaya & Suri

Gender groupings

Male & Female

Age groupings

Weanling: Age 6.5 mo to 13 mo
Yearling: Age 13 mo to 19 mo
Prime: Age 19 mo to 27
Adult Age 27 mo to 40
Mature: Age 40 +

(For the 2010 IAO show (May 15th 2010) min date of birth for Weanling Age shall be 11/1/2009) HALTER CLASS RULES Cottage

Class sizes will be a maximum of 12; when class size exceeds the maximum 12 it shall be split equally by birth-date - oldest to youngest.
Ribbons shall be awarded to 6th place.
Alpacas will be judged 60% fleece & 40% conformation.
*all classes are full fleece and must have a min of 3" of staple length

Color Championships:

No minimum to award color championships.
One championship class per Breed, Gender, Color Group.
All first and second place alpacas in their respective breed, gender and color group shall reenter the ring to compete for the championship
Championship awards shall state Small Processor Color Champion and Small Processor Reserve Color Champion.

Spinners Dream, Breed

All entries, regardless of Gender, that place, as Champion shall compete for Spinners Dream. Judge may choose from among all the color champions in breed.

Display Halter Classes:

Best Head: One award per Breed/Gender.

FLEECE SHOW Cottage

JUDGING Fleece Show Cottage

1 judge panel
Judge will be accredited in a nationally recognized judging system
And chosen for the best judging skills and highest ethical standards

The fiber scorecard is as follows: *A 1 oz portion of the fleece will be spun beforehand and scored.

Fineness

Uniformity/Consistency of micron

Brightness(Huacaya)/Luster(Suri)

Uniformity/Consistency of staple length

Lack of Guard Hair (Huacaya/Suri)

Fleece Weight

*Spinning Score

Spinning Score Card:

Ease of Preparation: Cleanliness Lack of second cuts Lack of guard hair		(5)
Ease of Spinning Fineness Handle Uniformity of staple length		(10)
Hand feel, softness & appearance of resulting yarn Handle Brightness Uniformity/Consistency of micron		(10)

CLASS FORMATION Fleece Show Cottage

All classes shall be organized by Color Groups, Breed and then Age. ** Gender is not considered in the fleece classes.

Color Groups

Light - hue of the overall blanket fleece is light colored, or white based (based on a mid-side fleece view where the sample is beige or lighter on the ARI color chart)
Medium - hue of the overall blanket fleece is medium colored or fawn based (based on a mid-side fleece view where the sample is light brown or lighter, light fawn or darker on the ARI color chart)
Dark - hue of the overall blanket fleece is dark colored or brown/black based (based on a mid-side fleece view where the sample is black or lighter, medium brown or darker on the ARI color chart)
Grey/Variegated - hue of the overall blanket is grey (matches any of the ARI color chart grey colors) - or a mix of colors that does not match a single color on the ARI color chart.

Breed groupings

Huacaya & Suri

Age groupings

Weanling: Age 6 mo to 12 mo
Yearling: Age 12 mo to 18 mo
Prime: Age 18 mo to 36 mo
Mature: Age 36 mo +

FLEECE CLASS RULES Cottage

Fleeces with less than 3 inches staple length shall be disqualified.
Fleeces older than 14 months since shorn shall be disqualified.
Maximum fleece length: - No Maximum
Class sizes will be a maximum of 12; when class size exceeds the maximum 12 it shall be split equally by birth-date - oldest to youngest.
Ribbons shall be awarded to 6th place.

Color Championships:

No minimum to award color championships.
One championship class per Breed, Color Group.

Color champion minimum score 65

All first and second place alpacas in their respective breed, gender and color group shall compete for the championship - highest score wins. Championship awards shall state Small Processor Fleece Color Champion and Small Processor Fleece Reserve Color Champion.

Fleece ~ Spinners Dream Breed

All entries that place Color Champion shall be eligible for the Fleece ~ Spinners Dream Breed award. One award per Breed. These fleeces will have to have achieved the minimum score of 70 to compete. Judge may choose from among all the color champions in breed.