Professional Alpaca Show Handling

Do you show your alpacas (both Suris and Hucuayas)? If you do, are you able to go to all the shows you would like to during a year?  Do you have that one special young guy or girl you just know could win at the Futurity or Nationals or GWAS, but you just cannot get there?

If, you do not show, why not?  Are you concerned that you do not know what you are doing, so you are afraid to show? Maybe, you don’t have any way to get to shows, or you don’t think you can afford it?

Mountain Sky Ranch has a solution for all of the issues above, and any others that you might have that are hindering your ability to show as much as you could or should.  We are initiating a professional handling service to exhibit your show stock for you at 10 to 15 prominent shows around the country!!

Services Mountain Sky Will Provide

We will do everything for you:

• Help you assess the performance quality of your animal(s).
• Complete all the show entry process.
• Transport your animal(s) to and from shows with our state of the art equipment.
• Board your animals at Mountain Sky Ranch when we are not on the road in our bio-secure, show sensitive (eg. Weed limited pastures) accommodations.  Your animal(s) will be isolated with the rest of our show string (by sex) to minimize health and stress issues.
• Carefully feed your animal(s) a fleece quality enhancing diet with the highest possible quality grass hay and appropriate natural, scientific supplements.
• Conduct any needed training for improved showing performance. His includes daily animal handling.
• We are not a large ranch and we will know your animal(s) intimately as they were our own.
• Conduct any appropriate grooming and show preparation to enhance performance
• Show your animals in a professional manner giving them the best possible opportunity to perform their best.
• Market your Alpaca(s) and your farm for you to prospective customers or breeding relationships.  When people come to our Mountain Sky show stall area they will see your ranch promoted and you will gain the advantage of being a part of the Winning Mountain Sky Team.
• Care for your animal(s) at all times with utmost attention, care and professionalism just the same way we care for our own animals.

If you have customized desires for your animal(s) we will do our best to accommodate them. We will have a limited number of animals that we show and personal service has always been our trademark.

Why Is Mountain Sky Qualified to Professionally Show Your Alpacas

Who are we and why should you trust us with your valuable and precious alpacas? We are Deb and Wayne Dorband.  We proudly operate a variety of businesses involving sustainable agriculture and ranching (Mountain Sky Group, LLC). We founded Mountain Sky Ranch in 2006, when we purchased an incredible 160 acre property in the shadow of Rocky Mountain National Park, in Northern Colorado.  Our little valley has been said by many to be much like the Andean antiplano where our incredible alpacas originated.

We have been hobby ranchers for almost 35 years.  During that time we have competitively shown horses and dogs and have raised livestock of many different species (cattle, sheep, goats, poultry, etc.). We both have biology degrees and have worked professionally in the environmental field for many years.  Dr. Wayne has a PhD in ecology and has worked with animals professionally his entire career.

We have seriously competed with sporting dogs for 36 years.  We have been fortunate to have owned, trained and handled nationally ranked retrievers and Pointing dogs. We have also owned a pet store and operated two different boarding kennels through the years.

In 2007 we began to research sustainable livestock options for the Ranch, and after many hours of work we decided upon alpacas as one of the cornerstone species for the ranch.  We purchased the first animals for our herd at the ranch from our friends Ron and Denise Haines at Daybreak Criations in 2008, and we were in business.

We have learned a great deal over the last couple of years, and have decided to specialize as a show/breeding/genetic improvement ranch.  We have been out on the show circuit over the last two seasons, and have seen a niche in professional handling and showing, so that is the direction we have chosen to take.

We feel our extensive dog competition experience coupled with our rich animal husbandry experience and passion gives us the right mix of skills to serve you well.

We have also recently partnered with Al and Jude at Pucara International in Oregon and Australia to undertake a number of alpaca genetic improvement strategies, and they will be helping us evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of our show string as we strive to help you the best we can to enhance the performance of your animals.

What Are The Details of Mountain Sky’s Professional Show Handling Service

Costs and Tentative 2010 – 2011 Show schedule:

Boarding is $3.50 per day per animal.  Show handling and travel costs are variable as listed below based primarily on the locations of the shows (distances from our CO location) and stall costs.  Show dates include travel dates from our ranch or from a previous show site when we stay on the road for multiple shows.*

• Mid America Alpaca Show (Topeka, KS), Oct. 28 – Nov. 1. $
• Fall Fest Alpaca Show (Loveland, CO). Nov. 5 – 7, $
• Alpacas in the Ozarks (Fayetteville, AR) Nov. 25 – 28, $
• Amarillo Alpaca Show (Amarillo, TX), Dec. 9 – 13, $
• Alpaca Blast Off (Oklahoma City, OK), Jan. 21 – 23, $
• MOPACA (Kansas City, KS), Mar. 25 – 27, $
• Minnesota Alpaca Expo (Minneapolis, MN), Apr. 8 – 10
• The Futurity (Grand Island, NE), Apr. 14 – 16, $
• Northwest Alpaca (Pasco, WA), Apr. 21 – 23, $
• GWAS (Denver, CO), Apr. 28 – 30, $
• CABA (Seattle, WA), May 6 – 8, S
• AOBA Nationals (TBA), May 19 – 21, $

* All dates and costs are approximate and are subject to change, please contact us for specific and accurate information.

Entry fees will be billed at cost as will any necessary vet charges or special medication costs.  We can arrange to pick up your animal(s) upon special request for a negotiated charge.

Individual animal handling fees when Mountain Sky does not board or house your animal at shows are $50 per show.

We believe if you calculate your costs to take one or a few alpacas to medium distance shows (500 – 700 miles from home) you will see our costs are considerably lower.  For example gas costs to a show 600 miles away would be ~$360.  Additional wear and tear on your vehicle would be ~$50.  Lodging costs for 3 nights would average $240 on the low side, and meals and other travel costs (entertainment, snacks, impetuous buys, etc) would average $120 for a show weekend.  Finally, stall costs, feed costs, entry fees and other miscellaneous showing costs would average $175.  Adding these conservative calculations up you can see how your individual or small group of alpacas will cost ~$940 per show weekend.  Compare that to the costs above for the medium distance events we will be attending.

Animal Delivery and Quarantine

We require that your alpaca(s) be delivered to our ranch three weeks prior to a show for biosecurity purposes.  We will quarantine (isolate) our new show string (males and females separately) to insure there are no contagious diseases that will impact any animals already at the ranch.  This is a critical rule.  We will not take any animals to shows that have not been in our quarantine program for the three week time period.

Following each show trip we will also quarantine our show string from the general population at the Ranch.  This isolation will provide our show animals with added bio-security from diseases that might be present in our herd in general. You may pick up your animal(s) anytime after we return from a show and perform any type of quarantine you would like yourself.

During our quarantine we obtain routine fecal samples and analyze them for any parasites in our on-ranch laboratory.  We perform other health checks during quarantine also.

What Do You Need to Provide with Your Alpaca(s)?

Prior to bringing your animal(s) to Mountain Sky Ranch you will need to obtain a vet clearance.  We will also need your ARI registration information.  Most importantly bring with you a great attitude and optimism.

Substantial Benefits of Mountain Sky Showing Your Alpacas

There is probably not one single benefit of Mountain Sky showing your alpacas. However, the combination of many benefits adds up to an overall benefit that is much greater than the sum of individual benefits. This synergy could be dramatic and valuable for your alpaca business.  These individual benefits include:

• Greater exposure for your animals and your brand than you could have attending limited local shows.
• The ability to own and show alpacas without having the burden of caring for them day to day.  Having absolute confidence they are getting the best of love and care.
• Enjoying shows without the stress and nervousness of handling the animals yourself.
• Networking with and marketing your brand to other clients in the Mountain Sky show Program.
• Participation in a Unique nutritional care program that may improve the fiber quality of your animals.
• Learning first-hand about the many elements of sustainable agriculture from the professional staff and partners of Mountain Sky Ranch.
• Learning how to show alpacas more effectively yourself.
• Showing your animals broadly for lower costs than you would incur just taking one or a few animals to shows yourself.  We can spread the costs of showing among 16 – 20 alpacas and thus greatly decrease lodging, stalls, and travel costs for each individual animal.
• Meeting many other really cool people who are also part of the Mountain Sky Show Team.

Next Steps

1. Contact Wayne or Deb at 303-495-3705 or email to [email protected].
2. Visit our web sites at www.mountainskyranchllc.com , www.mountainskygroup.com or www.mountainskyalpacas.com.
3. Contact us and schedule a visit to the ranch.
4. Visit with us at any of the shows we attend.
5. Act fast to join our Mountain Sky Show Team as we will have a only a total of 16-18 Team Member slots, and only two spots for each color/age category. Suris and Huacayas will be a part of our team. We would love to have you on our team, and we know you will not regret it.