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Magic March Magic By Meagan Browne-age 16 Golden Browne Llamas Phelan, CA
Ok people, I have a story to tell. On March 15 2007…are you listening? Ok, just testing you, making sure you were paying attention. On March 15 2008 LASC hosted the second annual April Magic llama show. -poke- C’mon people, you caught that one right? Ok, now I think you’re listening.
So seriously, it was the second March Magic Llama Show. A couple years ago it actually was April Magic, but LASC started a new show instead, since April Magic was too muddy. This year we had the show at the LA County Fairgrounds, where they have the LA County Fair every year. Of course, during the show there was no Fair, and it looked so different without tons of people walking around shopping at vendors etc. There was a bird show going on, but I won’t get into that. So back to the llamas, since that’s what you guys bought this newsletter to read about anyways!
Even though there weren’t any classes that day, almost everyone arrived on the 14th, , just to set up their pens and stuff. A lot of the youth were in school that day so only their parents came to set up. I think Jeremy, Sarah and I were the only youth there for the majority of the day. Who are they you ask? Well, Jeremy and Sarah are a couple of my friends who are both really tall, and I mean it when I say tall. The day was sort of slow, and Sarah and I spent most the time just hanging around and talking, while Jeremy played a video game. My 16th birthday had been the week before and Tracey, Sharon and Joyce gave me a cute card and a green shirt with a shamrock on it (perfect!) that Tracey made, and a nice pair of P.J.s plus a tasty Birthday Cake! Thanks again you guys! My little family and I ate some really good hamburgers with the Wallace’s and Joyce. Later that evening Elise arrived with her daughter, Jessie. I had to go shortly after, since I was staying at home at night and it was a long drive with traffic. When I arrived the next morning, my friends, Bridget and Dylan were there, so that made me happy, since seeing friends is the reason I come to shows anyhow. By the time the show started, lots more kids had come. Kyle and his little brother Austen came plus Megan, (it was weird saying hi Megan, lol), plus Katherine and Matt (a cool kid who’s dad makes the best honey ever!). We all watched with mixed emotions as they set up the obstacles, a few kids saw them and positively thought of how easy they would be, while others, like myself, did some jaw-dropping, since there were some crazy things out there. Let’s just say that the obstacles here were far harder than at any other show. I for one was wishing for the good old days when the bridges were short and the duck-unders tall. It seemed that even the juniors had some tough stuff ahead of them. The only ones that seemed completely calm and uncaring were the llamas. The first class was PR, which was unusual since Obstacle is usually first, but oh well. The juniors got to go first, and they all did really well, especially considering the course.
There wasn’t much re-arranging done on the course for the Intermediates, but the judge did try to make the obstacles harder, like making them do things a different direction.
Then came the seniors, which is Bridget, Dylan, Sarah and I. Just looking at the course was freaky, but the walkthrough made it even worse. The judge must be secretly left handed, because she made us do a ton of obstacles holding our llamas in our left hand. It felt weird for all of us doing that, but somehow we managed. Needless to say, none of us did everything perfectly, but we did survive.
The next class we had to do was obstacle, and it was just as hard, if not harder! The Senior course was unreal. One of the obstacles was backing up over a bridge! I mean, who’s ever heard of backing up over a bridge!!?? None of us did that super, but Bridget did pretty good compared to the rest of us.
The last course was Pack, and it was the easiest by far. Dylan and I didn’t want to get our shoes wet so we asked the judge if we could go to the side, and predictably we ended up having to walk on the side of the obstacle while holding the llama in our left hand. Bridget didn’t like that too much, but she did good anyways. It was late, cold and everyone was tired, but we still had once more class, Youth Judging. We shivered through that, and then they FINALLY announced the placings. It was the boys’ day, and Matt won grand for the Juniors, Jeremy got grand in Intermediates, and Dylan for the Seniors. I came in Reserve Grand for Seniors, and was satisfied, even surprised since I didn’t do so hot in my opinion. But it’s what the judge thinks that counts right?
One more thing, that night there was an amazing catered dinner! The food was really good and everyone had a great time talking and being able to relax for the first time all day. There was a fashion show too, but I wasn’t there for that since I had to get home, due to the fact that it snowed at my house! That was cool, since I’ve been waiting for snow all winter.
The next day, the first class for the youth was Showmanship. Though it’s not the greatest class ever, it sure beats Youth Judging. The Seniors went last, again, but at least we got to watch the Juniors and Intermediates. Then we finally went, and it was a rather interesting class. Apparently we were good, because the judge said it was really hard to place us. We even had to do extra things like switching llamas! In the end, Bridget was placed first (she had the best answer to the question), and Dylan got second, I got third and Sarah fourth.
Shortly after that they started the youth performance classes, and it was a great relief to see that the courses were far easier than they had been the day before. We breezed through all three classes, and of course we did a lot of left-handed obstacles, but it was much better than the day before. The llamas were a little restless since they were ready to go home, but they did the obstacles anyways, being loyal friends to their tired handlers. In the end, the placings were much the same as the day before, Mat got Grand for Juniors, Jeremy for Intermediates, and I got Grand for Seniors instead of Reserve, while Dylan got Reserve. It was close though, and everyone did really well. There was one more class however, the Jackpot. They decided to do one for the youth, and so in the end most all the youth competed in it, but it took some prompting to get some of them to do it. The obstacles were actually easier than the ones on the first day, but since the llamas were all tired and ready to leave, it added a level of difficulty. My llama Checkers was certainly ready to leave, much like myself. Bridget won that class, and with it a nice bit of money. Jeremy came in second, despite all his complaining about having to stay for it (aren’t you even a little glad you did it now?), and he made some money too. I came third and got a nice thirty-five dollars out of it. March Magic was a really fun and I look forward to it next year! |
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