Articles by Wes about Classic 2000 Llamas:

A llama is a llama is a llama. "Noooooot"!!! Can you imagine what it would be if all dogs were alike? All dogs are different and there are many breeds. Also there are many types of llamas. A golf pro wants a club for every spot on the course that his ball might fall. Some clubs will drive far and some are short distance clubs. So are there different kinds of llamas, and even on an average pack trip - long distance llamas are the kind we want. As far as I'm concerned there is no place for a short distance llama on a mountain pack trip.

We may think we are only in for a short hikes but a storm can move in (any time of the year) that will sometimes force us to travel ten miles on a three mile day. If you only have a three mile llama - "you're sunk". I have been in such storms several times. You might run into a washed out bridge or trail that forces you to go many extra miles. This doesn't mean there is only one kind of pack llama.

In the Classic 2000 directory I have defined ten llama types - five of which make excellent pack animals. Most other types are slugs and shouldn't be used for packing. There is a gray area where llamas may qualify on mostly level ground or picnic hikes but not on longer pack trips (especially in the mountains). Some llamas will not cut it on a ten miles a day mountain course but will do ten miles on a relatively level trail. (Those are sometimes referred to as "Family Packers").

Llamas can be defined as structural types and they can also be defined as blood line types. Poncho Via is the greatest bloodline I have found for producing sound athletic packers. I've found a high percentage of Sitting Bull progeny to be inadequate packers because of their bulky waddly build. Via / Black Thunder crosses are exceptional. Many great horse breeds were started with one stud or a few similar working studs. The Thoroughbred (very similar in build to Black Thunder) is narrowed down to three original studs, and the Morgan horse to one stud owned by a man named Morgan.

Two llamas may look just alike but one has it and the other one doesn't. Many people call this heart but I think it is determined most often by structural differences that are not surfacing. Many of these weak llamas will have a waddling, inefficient gate, even though they look good. That is why blood lines are also important. Similar type llamas from different blood lines may perform differently.

Throughout history there have been a few great studs that consistently produced winners. Other horses, dogs, or llamas may look like the winners but they are not from the winning blood lines and haven't got what it takes.

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