4-H Llama/Alpaca Department 
Judging Time: 8:00 am
Friday, July 17th

RULES: Read pages 21-24 regarding General Animal/Exhibition Rules. The 4honline animal enrollment is due May 15 annually and FairEntry July 6, 2026.

 

TERMS & CONDITIONS of Lease and Show Eligibility:

  1. Alpacas/Llamas must be owned by May 15 or lease agreement must be uploaded to 4-H Online by May 15.
  2. Members leasing their animals must fill out the Indiana 4-H Animal Lease Agreement Form before the May 15th deadline. This can be found on the Putnam County, Purdue Extension website ,or copies can be sent by your superintendent.
  3. 4-H members MUST have their animal enrollment form completed online by May 15th to exhibit an animal at the Putnam County Fair or the Indiana State Fair.
  4. A maximum of 7 head of either llama or alpaca combined will be allowed per 4-Her. 4-Hers must select one animal for costume class. 4-Hers may show no more than 2 animals in each of the performance classes.
  1. Intact males 18 months and older are restricted from being shown by a Junior youth in any class due to safety concerns.
  2. Intact males 24 months and older are restricted from being shown by ANY 4-Her in any class due to safety concerns.
  3. Alpaca/Llamas are not to be unloaded or entered in the barn until the superintendent does a visual health check. Please refer to rule #12 in the General Animal Project/Exhibition Rules with any concerns.
  4. Health rules as provided by the Indiana State Board of Animal Health will be followed.

 

Fair Items:

  1. Alpacas/Llamas will be housed in a tent during the county fair.
  2. Barn Clean-Up will occur the last day of the fair.
  3. All stalls and pens must be kept clean by exhibitor with all pens being kept cleaned and all gates taken down or awards will be withheld. 
  4. Animals must have clean water available at all times.
  5. Animals are not permitted to be near food vendors or commercial tent!  Animals MUST be kept out of the food court and commercial tent at all times.
  6. Alpacas/Llamas will not be in the livestock auction. 
  7. Llama/Alpacas release will be early Friday morning, July 24th from 12:01 am- 8 am and final release time will be early Saturday morning from 12:01 am-8 am. All livestock and tack must be gone by 8 a.m. Saturday.  If you are exhibiting at Indiana State Fair and require early release, you must receive approval as stated in General Animal Project/Exhibition Rules.

 

Class Rules:

  1. The 4-H Llama/Alpaca Show will be on Friday, July 17th.
  2. Llama’s and Alpaca’s will participate in combined classes based on exhibitor age. Except halter, where they will be shown separately, by animal age.
  3. Suggested dress attire for youth showing alpacas/llamas: attire should be neat, conservative and appropriate for the class. No opened toed or heeled footwear will be allowed.

 

Costume:

  1. You must present a 5 sentence maximum story to the barn superintendent that goes along with your costume prior to the start of the costume class.
  2. Your story will be read as you exhibit your costume.
  3. A Grand and Reserve Champion Costume will be selected

 

Performance:

  1. Each performance class will be separated by age of the exhibitor.
  2. 4-Hers may show no more than 2 animals in each of the performance classes. If going for the overall award, points will follow the placings of a single animal across all classes.
  3. A high point individual, across all age divisions, will be recognized for each of the following Obstacle, Pack, PR.
  4. An overall junior, intermediate, and senior performance champion will be award based on total points accumulated for an animal from the pack, PR, and obstacle courses . 
  5. An overall performance champion and reserve champion will be selected.
  6. The Performance Champion Award will be determined by the highest total combined points from 3 classes. Obstacle, PR and Pack. In case of a tie, the Obstacle class points will be the tiebreaker. The second tiebreaker, if needed, will be the PR class points. A chart taking class numbers into consideration will be used for tabulations.
  7. Assistance/coaching from outside the ring will not be permitted.  Judges will be notified of this rule prior to the show,and points may be deducted. 

 

SEE PAGE __21__ FOR THE PUTNAM COUNTY 4-H GROOMING GENERAL RULES 

SEE PAGE__23__FOR THE PUTNAM COUNTY 4-H SHOWMANSHIP GENERAL RULES

 

Halter Class Guidelines

  1. Halter classes will be judged based on the conformation of the animals in the class as viewed from the front, rear and the side, while in motion and at rest.
  2. All first and seconds in each category (non-breeder, female, male and alpaca) will return to be placed for Champion and Reserve Champion for that division. Champions from each division will return for Best of Show.
  3. Dam and Cria class is considered 1 entry for 2 animals. Please ensure the dam is properly enrolled in 4-H online and Fairentry. The cria must be under 5 months old and still nursing.
  4. All Dam and Cria entries are released at the conclusion of the show.
  5. The animals’ age on the day of show will be used to determine appropriate class.

 

Halter classes will be divided as follows:

Llama Non-Breeder

5 months- < 2 years

2-3 years

3 years and up

*3+ class is subject to be split at the superintendent’s discretion, if number of entries warrant a split 

 

Llama Females

5 months– 14 months

14 months– 3 years

3 years and up

 

Llama Males

5 months– 18 months

18 months-24 months (over 18 months shown only by Intermediate and Senior)

 

Alpacas

Males & nonbreeder

Females

  • The superintendent reserves the right to combine classes as necessary

 

Dam & Cria

The superintendent reserves the right to combine the llama and alpaca Dam and Cria classes if necessary


Alpaca and Llama Show Order (Courses may run consecutively)

Halter Class

Showmanship

4-H Llama/Alpaca Obstacle Course

4-H Llama/Alpaca Pack Class

4-H Llama/Alpaca Public Relations Class

Llama/Alpaca Costume Class (may be on a different day based on the fair schedule)

Leaping Llama/Llama Limbo (no sign up on fair entry, but it must be an animal within the 4Hers livestock 4H online animals).

 

Overall Llama/Alpaca Exhibitor  

Supreme Champion Point System: Every 4-H member is eligible to compete for the Supreme Champion and Reserve Supreme Champion award. It is awarded to the members achieving the highest points for the entire project. Points are awarded based on activities completed throughout the year and during the fair. Points will be awarded to the following classes and activities: Showmanship, Halter, Obstacle, Public Relations, and Pack. Points will also be awarded for 2 of the following 3 activities/classes based on the 4-H member’s highest placings: Poster, Fleece Craft, Costume. 4-H members may choose to compete in all 3 activities, none of them, or any number in between. Only one exhibit per activity/class in the following: Poster, Fleece Craft, Costume and Showmanship. Obstacle, Pack, and Public Relations may have up to 2 animals per exhibitor. The point system below will be used to determine the Supreme and Reserve Supreme Champion.

 

Show Points other than halter

  • 1st place    20 points
  • 2nd place   18 points
  • 3rd place   16 points
  • 4th place    14 points
  • 5th place    12 points
  • 6th place    10 points
  • 7th place    8 points
  • 8th place    6 points
  • 9th place     4 points
  • 10th place+  2 points
  • Champion. 6 points
  • Rs. Champion    3 points
  • Previous Round Robin winners that represented the Llama Barn will receive the equivalent points of winning Champion Showman.

Halter Points

Participation       5 points

1st place            3 points

2nd place           2 points

3rd place           1 point

Champion          4 points

Rs. Champion    2 points 

 

In the case of a tie, the following will act as tie breakers:
1. Showmanship
2. Poster/Fleece/Costume

3. Performance scores

4. Run-off Quiz