MOUNT GILEAD — Whether hula hoops, fold-out chairs and orange traffic cones are part of the natural habitat for the llama wasn’t the point.
Showing its abilities and temperament as well as the relationship developed with the animal by its exhibitor was the objective of the Morrow County Fair event held Tuesday, said judge Cindy Ruckman.
While fairgoers might be more familiar with 4-H and FHA members walking cows, pigs and sheep around an arena floor, spectators at the llama competition saw the product of months and sometimes years of similar work by the exhibitors and their families, Ruckman said.
Kelsey Bosh, a member of the Morrow County Livestock Lovers 4-H Club, working with 13-year-old Zeb, won half of the llama events, including the public relations, pack and costume classes, three of the four so-called performance classes conducted at the fair.
Ruckman said the performance classes, which also include an obstacle course, demonstrate the work the participant has done with the llama and the abilities of llamas to learn from experience.
“It really shows the relationship the exhibitor has with the animal, and that’s what 4-H is all about,” she said. “If your llama trusts you and learns you’re not going to put it in jeopardy, they’re amazing animals.”
Bosh shared Ruckman’s enthusiasm for the llamas, which serve as pets, guard animals for sheep herds, pack animals and show projects.
“We’ve had them pretty much my whole life,” said the 16-year-old Northmor High School junior who’s shown llamas the past five years. “They’re fun to play with.”
In his first time showing a llama, Derick Graham, 11, a member of the Happy Hemstitchers and Haymakers 4-H Club, won the halter class with his 1 1/2-year-old llama Camille.
His parents, Donny and Rhonda Graham, of Mount Gilead, said they purchased the llama to guard their pygmy goats from coyotes and dogs. After showing pigs and pygmy goats at previous fairs, their son decided to exhibit Camille this summer.
“She’s been very flighty,” Rhonda Graham said. “He really worked hard with her.”
The event ended with the costume competition, audience members watching as llamas dressed in a hat and necktie, as a cowboy, a soldier and a cheerleader strolled the tent-covered arena.
Ruckman, who has 115 llamas on her Mount Vernon farm, said while providing fun for spectators the costume class demonstrates the work the exhibitors have done with their animal.
“The reason for the costume class is to show how much our llamas love us and put up with us,” she told the crowd. To wear costumes, particularly those that involve the head, face or hooves “goes against instinct.” She said the calm displayed by the llamas in the competition showed the excellent work the exhibitors accomplished in desensitizing their animals.
Ruckman said the competition also is a testament to the brainpower of the animal.
“They’re amazingly intelligent,” she said. “That’s why they’re such good guards. They don’t get caught off-guard.”
Reporter John Jarvis: 740-375-5154 or jjarvis@nncogannett.com