It is mysterious how llamas can win your heart so fast when they don't really enjoy being petted. One of the problems with the judgment of most llama packers is that they have fallen in love with the first llama they have packed with, or one of the first five, so they think that llama is the best type. It's kind of like marrying the first girl that you date or having your own child in a competitive sport when you are watching, of course, your child is the best. I have packed with enough different llamas that I can be objective about what a good pack llama is and a type that is inadequate. It's not that I didn't like the ones that were inadequate because I can only think of 1 or 2 llamas out of 300 that I have had experience training and packing with that I am not particularly fond of. All the other llamas, the 298, I have loved them all.

When you are with the llamas in the mountains it is such a one on one experience with you taking care of the llama and him packing the weight that you quickly gain admiration and respect for the llama you are packing with. They have so long been used for this activity that they are a perfect natural companion in the mountains. But there are those llamas that have also given me a hard time, those that have laid down on me, those that have quit on me, those that have spit on me. Those llamas I love too. Because I really believe that 999 times out of a 1000 those llamas had pretty good reason for what they did. The problem was mine not theirs. Llamas quit on me because they are tired and exhausted not to be honorary. This can be caused by your inadequate loading and saddling, inadequate equipment that you put on them, or their inadequate structure which causes them to tire quickly. But llamas always give their best.

We were trimming nails on 50 llamas a couple of days ago and I have one female that has been a habitual spitter since she was a baby (I didn't get her until she was about 3 years old) and she is terrified of people because of the way she was handled. Well I took her and trimmed her nails first so she wouldn't have to watch us doing it to the other llamas. When I caught her and we started working on her she spit on me repeatedly but I don't blame her for it because I know that she is just afraid. One of my part time employees, that was helping with the project, told me that he thought I took it very well because I didn't get angry with the llama and don't dislike the llama for it.

Sometimes I even wonder why I like Rocky, probably one of my best pack llamas. Rocky attacked me one day in the corral when I was catching and haltering another llama. My other pack llama Zeus has always been lively, wild and hard to get calmed down and was giving me a little trouble getting him haltered. Rocky, being in the same catch pen, thought he would give me some help and was coming over and chest butting Zeus on the rear end while I was trying to halter him, which was kind of a hinderence to me. I lost my patience with Rocky and slapped him on the nose with the halter rope and told him to get back. Rocky doesn't take any guff from man nor beast. Rocky is small in stature but big in pride, strength and fight. Soon after I slapped him on the nose with the halter lead and told him to get back he squared off with me to challenge me in a fight. I stood my ground with Rocky because I didn't want to show him any fear and moved a couple of steps toward him telling him to move back. Rocky moved in closer to me too and had one definite advantage, his spitting capability. Rocky spit in my face ten times in rapid succession. My glasses were so covered with spit that I couldn't see. I was ready to box Rocky on the nose if he tried to come in and chest butt me and knock me down. But both of us stood our ground, neither one of us daring to take a step closer while I was being blinded by his spit. Then I stepped back a step and Rocky stepped back at the same time and turned side ways. I decided that what I needed to do was catch him first because my catching Zeus was getting him upset. At the moment he wasn't ready I jumped in and grabbed a hold of his neck. He struggled a little bit and I relaxed my arms to show him I wasn't mad. Then he stopped and let me halter him and our confrontation was over. I understand and respect Rocky because he doesn't automatically accept my dominance because I'm human. Rocky just wants to be treated fairly. Now that I understand him better and he understands me better I think we will get along fine.

I will never forget the first purchase of my first llama Flanagan. Flanagan was a pretty appaloosa llama only a year old at the time. I know now that Flanagan was an ideal pack llama type and I was just lucky then to select a good pack llama, like Flanagan, for my first llama from a picture I had been sent in the mail. Flanagan was medium height and weight and had plenty of leg and correct structure to be extremely athletic and tough as a pack llama. I trained Flanagan to pack and found that he was a very good pack llama in the lead of a string even when he was two years old. Flanagan was never big (probably about 44" high at the withers) but he packed more than his share of the weight. Flanagan as a good public relations llama because he was calm, he liked people and in crowds he would stand still while the kids touched him and mauled him and petted him. I sold Flanagan when he was about three years old (he now lives in Idaho Falls, Idaho) and my wife hasn't forgiven me yet.

The second llama I purchased was Inky. I also purchased Inky from a picture. He was a small, black, curly woolled llama with frozen ears. Inky was only five months old when I bought him. I have a little friend that helped me train llamas when I got my first llamas named Nathan Stinger, we call him Bubba. He and Inky were such a beautiful sight! Watching little Bubba lead little Inky with his little training pack on filled with couch pillows. Inky now lives somewhere in Montana and his owners are extremely happy with him.

Then there was Alexander and Wellington. Alexander and Wellington were white llamas of medium size with gray cheek patches. Later I bought another brother of theirs that was also white with gray cheek patches that I called Bro. All of these llamas had the nice medium structure, good elevation and athletic ability that I have found to be very desirable in pack llamas. Even the larger llamas, I have found, should be more lanky than they are beefy. They should be more like a basketball player than football player. They should be more like an airplane than a train. They should be more like a boat or a canoe than like a car or a truck. Alexander, Wellington and Bro had the stream line characteristics and all were eventually excellent pack llamas. Alexander definitely did not want to be petted and on a couple of different occasions spit, lightly, on people that petted him beyond his limit of irritation. Alexander would stand still for a ten year old child to saddle him. He was never any trouble on the trail. He loved to go. A four year old child could lead him on the trail. He just didn't care to be petted very much.

Wellington was a timid brother and was also very excellent on the trail and was soon my wife's favorite llama on the trail. After incurring the wrath for selling Flanagan I have sworn that I will never sell Wellington and he will always be a part of my herd. Wellington is timid and lovable and because of his timidity will never step on your heels but he also will never tighten the lead rope. Wellington was a habitual complainer during his first couple years of packing about being tired. You could almost set your clock by him that he would lay down after two miles and complain because he thought we were going too far. Wellington's second year of packing I gave him some extra conditioning to try to prepare him for the hard work and he ended up being one of my super packers. Wellington is medium sized and I used him as the model for my medium sized pack llama. Because of his athletic ability he can be in the back of a string of llamas and never tighten the lead rope. He is always watching for obstacles on the trail and will run up on the llama in front of him and get some extra slack so that he can get through the obstacle without tightening the rope. On my "Pleasure Pack Into Hell Hole" Wellington was one of the llamas that never got heat stress or got tired because of his extreme athletic ability.

Cimeron and Quito were two 8 month old llamas that I bought on my first llama buying trip. Cimeron was a pretty little caramel colored llama that on his first pack trip continually walked on our heels because he was handled to much prior to being weaned. Quito was also a pet. Even though these llamas grew up into big, delightful pack animals to this day they still have a problem with walking on the handlers heels. I can contribute it to being handled too much before being weaned. There is a natural aloofness in llamas that is frustrating when you want to pet them or trim their nails but is beneficial to you in other ways because they aren't always hanging around being a nuisance when your in the corral or when you are leading them in the mountains. They will not walk on your heels because of this natural space they want to have around them. By destroying this space using the T.E.A.M. technique or too much handling before the llamas are weaned you create a llama that will walk on your heals in the mountains and will be a continual nuisance in that respect. There is a fine line between too much bonding and not enough. Llamas are definitely easier to handle if they are handled in the first couple of days after they are born. But if you over do it and handle them too much beyond that point, until after they are weaned, they become a nuisance. Cimeron and Quito were the first two llamas The Llama Connection ever sold. They were sold to a lovely lady in Pocatello, Idaho, that gave them a lot of love and care. She bought them the first week I had them home. They grew into two full sized, big pack llamas with excellent conformation and structure. When they were about 2 or 3 years old the lady that bought them to pack wanted me to train them for her and I just cried in my heart because I had sold them. Because of their overly friendly nature they were always kind of hard for her to handle because they would kind of push on her and step on her and things like that and she was very awkward dealing with the problem. I took the two llamas in on trade about a year ago for a female. Now she has a female that had a beautiful baby boy for her and we bred her back to Quito. I am also using Quito as one of my main studs because his conformation is so great. Quito is what I call the Ccara or the power type llama. He has big bone and muscling in his fore arms and legs yet Quito only weighs 360 lbs. because he is stream lined and not too deep in the body. He has a good balance, length of fore leg and depth of girth. The depth of girth, in my findings, should be noticeably less than the length of fore legs for the llama to be athletic and a good mover and worker in the mountains. Big llamas with a deep chest and short legs tire quickly.

McBritches was also in that first group of llamas and I thought he was the best. McBritches was also a very tall, big boned llama with a very elegant air about him. Such a proud and noble look McBritches had. If McBritches had a previous life I am sure he was a prince because he has the pride of nobility. McBritches had wide set fore legs and big boned, straight front legs. His front legs were straight as horse legs and dealing with horses in the past I thought this was right. I was disappointed to find McBritches tired more easily on the trail than he should have. My biggest, best llama was always holding up the herd because he always wanted to stop to rest often. I now attribute that to McBritches front legs being too straight which made the pacing gait awkward for him and his front legs being too wide set apart indicating a weak shoulder structure.

Valentino and Augusto were also brothers like Alexander, Wellington and Bro. Valentino was a wonderful little friendly bull dog. Augusto won the Grand Champion at the Deshutes County Fair in 1987 and had fantastic balance. Valentino had a big heart and a friendly nature. Augusto was also friendly but had more elevation and leg and it was a lot easier for Augusto to get over down fall, creeks and boulders. Valentino and Augusto were the two llamas that I took on my first legitimate pack trip. Our family went up to Cabella's Lake in Copper Basin, Idaho. My llamas were afraid of creeks and water but with a couple days training before the trip they quickly got accustomed to it. McBritches was along on that trip and he stopped often to rest and was holding up the crew. I unhooked McBritches lead and learned that he followed the pack string better unhooked than he did with the assistance of the lead rope. When we reached the lake I was very surprised to look around and see McBritches standing in the lake to cool his feet after being terrified of the water five days prior. This was one of my first indications in my learning how quickly llamas learned. Valentino laid down often on the trip to the lake and generally gave me trouble. Valentino was supposed to be an experienced trained llama while his unexperienced brother did fine. Later I took Valentino and Augusto on an archery hunting trip where we had to drop down 2000 feet off a high peak to where we crossed a river and went about another mile to our designated camp site. Valentino again gave me trouble. I was also having trouble with my packing equipment because I bought the cheapest I could find. Llama people just told me packing with llamas was easy they didn't tell me about any problems I might incur. After about the third time Valentino's saddle went up over his neck and I had to straighten it out. He laid down and refused to go. I made a rump strap out of a shirt and some straps so that the saddle wouldn't go up over Valentino's neck but he was still unimpressed and stayed laying down on the ground. There was no way he would budge. I could here the river so I knew in another two or three hundred yards the hard part of the trip would be over but Valentino didn't know that. In desperation I unhooked his lead rope and went on with his brother Augusto. Valentino was resolved not to move and laid there until he saw Augusto almost going out of sight then his neck stretched about a foot longer than it's normal length, his ears perked up and he hummed saying don't leave me you guys! Then jumped up and came on the run. I have ended up using this technique several times training llamas that refuse to go. It works often because of their strong herd characteristics. However I have had to go back and catch llamas that couldn't care less if you left them or not. Valentino followed Augusto on up to the camp without any lead rope on and did fine as soon as we reached the level trail. It was the next day that I realized that I had gotten Valentino's and Augusto's names mixed up and Augusto was the experienced llama not Valentino.

Shaninko was also in the first bunch of llamas I bought, a twelve year old male. Shaninko had been shown a lot when he was younger and had been used as a stud for several years. He was medium sized, had fairly good balance and enough leg on him to pack and a very gentle nature. His problem was that he wanted to fight with or breed every llama that he came in contact with. After mixing the males together in my corral at home Shaninko got over the desire to fight all the time but every time I got new geldings in he would get them down and try to breed them. Shaninko was twelve when I purchased him and when he was thirteen I gelded him which immediately solved the problem of him trying to breed all the new llamas that I bought. I used Shaninko as a pack llama for three years and sold him to a guy in Utah that still uses Shaninko today (at 17 or 18 years old) and he is still doing a fine job.

Dito was also a llama that I sold. Dito was also in the first bunch of llamas that I bought. He was kind of a weird looking, long, tall, gangly llama with a hump back. Several years later I realized that Dito was probably the best llama out of the first bunch. Being slightly humped back doesn't hurt their ability to pack and definitely gives them a strong back. Sometimes it makes it a little harder to keep the saddle from going forward or backwards because the middle of their back is a little high. Llama people talk about a straight top line but being slightly hump backed is way more favorable over being sway backed. Llamas should naturally slope down in the hips slightly to give them strength in their rear end. Most llamas you can't see the slope in the hips because of the wool and high set tail but by running your hand down their back you can feel that they slope down there. Dito was the first llama I ever saw with tipped ears, which I found out was not uncommon in llamas. Luckily he didn't walk on his ears so it didn't effect his packing ability.

The first llamas I ever packed with belonged to some friends of mine, they were named Groucho and Levi. They got a real bargain on these two llamas but neither one of them are packing today. Groucho was a good sized, well built, stream line pack llama. He was an excellent pack llama a few years but then developed lameness. This probably happened because he was gelded too young. Levi was small, slight of build and never could quite cut the mustard and keep up like they wanted him to. I remembered my "Introduction to Llamas" while I helped take Levi and Groucho for walks and helped train them to pack. Those are wonderful memories. I enjoyed many wonderful pack trips with my friend, Groucho and Levi. It was because of my friend and his llamas that I initially fell in love with llama packing.

Then there was Snowcap, Whitey and Sam I Am. Snowcap and Whitey quickly found a home in Jackson, Wyoming. After a couple of years I took Snowcap back in trade and now he lives in Montana. Sam I Am quickly won my heart with his friendly disposition and his excellent bone and structure. Sam I Am's mother produced many wonderful pack llamas for me. This is when I first became totally aware that some bloodlines in some females had tremendous influence on their offspring and how good they would be as pack llamas. I ended up buying all my young males from this herd for several years and observed the difference in the different family lines and how their characteristics effected their packing ability. From Sam I Am's mother, that line, I got several excellent pack llamas and for years had never seen Sam I Am's mother. On a trip to Oregon I finally got the opportunity to go and take a good look at her. I was disappointed to see that she had fairly small bones and had weakness in her pasterns. Sam I Am, now at 8 years old, is starting to show the weakness that his mother had which I was unaware of when he was 2 years old. I have gotten other llamas from that line, but farther down, that did not inherit the pastern weakness. A nephew of Sam I Am that is also of the Sitting Bull and Poncho Villa lines ended up being one of my studs and has produced some wonderful offspring. It is interesting that a female with frail bones produced and had the genetics for large llamas with big bones and well balanced structure. However the weakness in the pasterns came back to haunt me and some of her immediate offspring. Her grandsons and granddaughters didn't seem to inherit those weaknesses but we might see some that pop up sometime down the line. There are often trade offs in breeding. There is no perfect llama and no perfect blood line but we should do the best we can to keep undesirable genetics out of the blood lines.

Rascal was also a wonderful pack llama but I also didn't know until after I got him that he had low riding pasterns. He tired easily in the front end because of this. One time going down a steep hill Rascals front legs buckled and he went down. For a few minutes he couldn't get up because his front legs were so rubbery and exhausted. Rascal was a good pack llama on level ground and going up hill but on long down hill stretches he tired quickly and needed more rest stops.

Huckleberry was a nice big llama that soon found his home in Jackson, Wyoming. Huckleberry was not as high priced as the other llamas because he seemed to be too big in the body and a little bit light boned to me and didn't quite have the muscling that he should. Huckleberry's new owner bought him quickly because of his beautiful color. He was easy to handle and a game pack llama that was never a really adequate pack llama in my opinion because of his bulky body and awkward gait. It was with Huckleberry that I started looking at the llamas gait and tried to avoid llamas that had a waddling, duck like gait.

Another llama came from that group named Something Jack that was the biggest llama I had ever seen at the time. He was bought by somebody who fell in love with his tremendous size. He ended up not being a good llama from the packing stand point because of his bulky size, he tired too quickly. Many of theses things, why the llama didn't work out, I learned or figured out in later years.

Colonel Custer was in the Sam I Am blood line and now lives in Soda Springs, Idaho. He inherited the strength in bone from Sam I Am's mother and the elevation from the Poncho Villa line and none of the defects. He has been a tremendous pack llama. I have a picture of Colonel Custer packing out a 6 point bull elk when he was 2 years old. His owner told me that that fall he had packed 160 pounds on Colonel Custer for two or three miles getting out the elk meat. This is something I certainly don't recommend but it demonstrates Colonel Custer strength, endurance and willingness to work. No llama will do that without proper conformation and structure. Packers talk about heart in llamas but I have found that most llamas have heart. If they don't want to pack and go it is because they are lacking in some kind of structural efficiency and strength.

I was really excited about Gun Smoke when I first brought him in because he was so gentle, easy to handle and good sized for a two year old. Gun Smoke and his half brother Flopsy quit growing when they were two years old and didn't reach adequate size for packing. Most of my llamas have grown until they were around four. In later years I realized that Gun Smoke was excessively cow hocked and had enlargement of the hocks or joints possibly caused from inadequate structure and irritation in the hocks. I sold gun Smoke as a packer but took him back later and gave the people credit for another llama. Gun Smoke eventually became a sheep guard.

Bonus was another Gun Smoke brother that seemed small to me when I first bought him and was reluctant to lead. Later I realized that Bonus wasn't small he was quite short cuppled and actually was plenty high in the withers to be a good pack llama. He was sold to a packer in Fort Hall, Idaho. Later I took Bonus back in trade because of his aggressive nature toward new llamas that my friend purchased. He became very territorial of his pasture and wouldn't accept any new llamas there because he thought that was his territory. Back in my pasture, where he was the new llama, he was not aggressive. This sometimes happens with llamas. I gelded Bonus to try to curb his territoriality and used him to pack a summer. He was sold and resides in Seattle, Washington, where he is a successful pack llama.

I always thought the Gus II was a human trapped inside a llamas body. He had an extremely intelligent look and was very tame and unafraid of people. He was also aggressive toward other llamas. I had to keep Gus II in the stud pen away from the geldings because when they had their heads down eating or something he like to blind side them with a cheap shot and knock them down. Then he would run off and act nonchalant like it was done by some other llama. Gus II was medium sized but extremely athletic. When fighting with other llamas he could jump up in the air and turn 180 degrees while in flight and land pointing the other direction. He was an extremely regal animal and turned out to be an excellent pack llama. He now lives in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

? lives in Boise, Idaho, and belongs to my nephew. He is an extremely good pack llama in the full size range. ? never did quite get his growth and ended up being wide in the chest and had a little bit of a wobbly gait. However he seems to be doing fine as a pack llama. Samson remained quite small and is noticeably shorter in the front end and the hips. His owner observed that going down hill is hard for Samson more so than his llamas that have a level back or that are as high in the withers as they are in the hips. One time while bush whacking down a steep hill Samson lost his footing and rolled over front wards down the hill.

Hector came from the Poncho Villa and Sitting Bull lines and also is the nephew of Sam I Am. He inherited the strength in bone and sleek structure of a good pack llama without any of the deficiencies from the Sam I Am line of weak pasterns. I used Hector for a stud for many years and have many wonderful offspring from him. To prove him as a worthy stud I used him as a pack animal when he was 2 years old. Hector packed 80lbs. and kept up with the average pack llama at that time because of his structural efficiency. As I bought llamas, trained them, used them, sold them, took them back and sometimes sold them again as sheep guards, I slowly learned what made pack llamas successful and what made them inadequate as llama packers.

Expo was a llama I sold as a weanling that never did get much size but has been a delightful pack llama because of his good balance and good athletic ability.

There was the Lone Ranger, who we called Kemosabi, who looked quite knock kneed when he was a youngster. When he grew up and was around 2 years old his chest and body grew to the size of an adult then his legs didn't seem as knock kneed as he did as a weanling and yearling. I found this to be true in many llamas. Quite often those that looked quite knock kneed when they were yearlings are pretty sound structurally. I have grown to believe that being slightly turned in at the knees and turned out at the toes in the front end is a normal llama structure and is advantageous to the pacing gait that is natural to the llama.

Then I had a chance to buy Buckaroo. He weighed 530 lbs. When I first saw Buckaroo I thought I just had to have that monster llama and that he would be a great pack animal. Buckaroo taught me more about the nature of llamas and what it takes to be successful in llama packing. He was probably 150 lbs overweight at 530 lbs. maybe more. And I thought by putting him on a diet and getting some weight off of him that he would be the sleek, large pack llama that I wanted. Later I sold Buckaroo to a lady that wanted a llama to pull a cart and just pack occasionally because I finally realized that Buckaroo was to big in the body and not enough leg to be an adequate pack llama. I have pack llamas now that are similar to Buckaroo that weigh 350 lbs. Buckaroo was packing around 200 extra pounds of body weight that wasn't doing him a bit of good in the mountains or helping him pack the weight on his back.

Then there was Tony, Buckaroo's friend, who was just the opposite. He was a small llama in stature, short coupled, but had nice big bone, huge fore arm muscling and was extremely athletic. Tony loved to fight and play. When I first got him he was not intimidated in the least by my bigger llamas. He would run and butt chests with them and make them wish they had gone another direction. Tony could accelerate faster in his gallop, from a dead stop, than any llama I had ever seen and loved to play and fight. Tony also helped me learn what it took to pack in the mountains. He carried his head high and acted like an Arabian horse. He was extremely proud and active. He jumped around when you tried to saddle him but once you had him saddled he would never stop. He was probably about 44" tall at the withers and quite short in the back but extremely athletic in everything a person could want in a llama for packing.

I sold Caramel before I even made it home from Central Oregon to my nephew in Boise. Caramel had had a lot of training and handling and at 2 years old stood about 45" high at the withers. Now at 49" tall at the withers, Caramel is one the best packer llamas I have ever seen. My nephew is extremely happy with him.

Cider was my second appaloosa line coming from the Apple Jack line in Oregon and now resides in Ririe.

Bogart is a wonderful story in himself. Bogart came from the Oregon coast and had been used for a stud for about five years. He was a slight llama in stature, probably 43" or 44" high at the withers, extremely active, he loved to pace the fence when he wasn't with his females. When I first looked at Bogart I noticed corrugations running through the field along the fence in the pasture that he was contained in. I asked his owner if they flood irrigated there and she said, "No. Bogart made those corrugations pacing the fence." Bogart spit on the trailer when I first saddled him because he felt like I was trying to fight with him when I tightened the cinch. Even though Bogart was medium stature he never ever tightened the lead rope. He would go any place, anywhere, anytime and pack a good size load. Bogart was and ideal pack llama and easy to start packing with at 8 years old. He kept himself in condition over the years by pacing the fence near his herd of females. Even tough at first appearance he looked small in stature he was plenty high in the withers at 44" and tough as nails in the mountains.

There were many others, Indy, Dude, Michael, Rain Dancer, Alfredo, Augustus, and Wikiup. Dude seemed tall and gangly at 8 months old and was slightly springy in the pasterns but now at 5 years old he is one of the best pack llamas that I have ever encountered. His pasterns seemed to strengthen as he matured. Apparently it was just due to a fast growth spurt at that age because now they are up fine at 4 years old.

Alfredo was quite small for his age and I sold him for a sheep guard. His new owner brags how Alfredo will round up the sheep when he feels they are in danger and herds them away. He keeps the sheep away from the road and if there are any dogs around he will quickly round them up and herd them off away from the danger. Then he will go back and chase the dog away. One day Alfredo had the neighbors dog cornered in the corral for about an hour and he had to go rescue the dog from Alfredo.

Wikiup came from the Poncho Villa line and I have now gotten several good pack llamas from his mothers line. I now own two of her daughters that I use for brood mothers. Wikiup seemed average when he was little but grew up big boned, lanky llama that will pack with the best of them and is producing some excellent offspring. His mom gave me good llamas time after time. But her full sister, apparently with different genetics, seemed to produce a completely different line of llamas that were small, stunted and weakly looking llamas that didn't amount to much. I am proud to have some sisters of Wikiup that I am now using for brood mothers and they are giving me some beautiful babies.

Jeremiah was also a brother of Sam I AM and Colonel Custer. Jeremiah inherited short legs and big body from his ancestors. He hasn't really been a satisfactory pack llama. Even though he is big boned and strong his legs are too short, he is too bulky and tires easily in the mountains.

There was Midas Touch, Me-Too, Marco Polo, Baton Rouge. Baton Rouge was the father of Jeremiah. He to was too bulky and short legged to really go in the mountains.

Black Magic was a wonderful llama and seemed to be a natural. He would never tighten the lead, was easy to train, easy to saddle and I could set on his back and he didn't seem to mind. One time when we were crossing a creek in training I fell off of a rock into the water and I jumped onto Black Magic's back and he hauled me out of the stream. After selling Black Magic as a potential super pack llama, about a year later I found out he had developed the habit of being hard to saddle and spitting sometimes when being saddled. I attribute this to some, probably, awkward handling techniques by his new owner that irritated Black Magic. After some extra training of the handler and some discussion and taking Black Magic and giving him some extra training myself he has turned out to be an excellent pack llama.

There was Snowman, Fast Freddy, Willie Nelson. Fast Freddy seemed to be a throw back from guanaco. He was tall and lanky, kind of rough looking and wild. He always hated dogs because of an experience of being attacked by a dog when he was little. Fast Freddy never trusted people. He as tall and lanky and could jump any 4.5' fence and would do so without hesitation if he was crowded in a corner. Although he learned a 5' fence was a little more than he wanted to tackle. If I had him in a catch pen with a five foot fence I could catch and halter Fast Freddy. I was the only person I know of that could halter Fast Fred easily. Over the years Fast Freddy got so that he would let me halter him if I held him by the neck for a little bit and just tugged slightly for him to lower his head. After about a minute he would lower his head and submit to being haltered for me but often would not do it for strangers. Fast Fred also liked to jump around and avoid being saddled. For that reason he was hard to use as a rental llama and rent out to novice packers. I had a farmer come by one day that wanted a llama to guard his new born calves from stray dogs he had in the area. I sold him Fast Freddy. Fast Freddy has found a home and happy owners as a cattle guard. He has saved many calves from being killed by stray dogs.

Rascal had also been hard to halter. The people that I bought him from would grab him by the ear and pull him down to put the halter on. I would never do that to Rascal because I don't think that is a fair thing to do to a llama. I tired the T.E.A.M. with Freddy and Rascal, putting the fore finger on the gum and massaging the gum, it worked great on Rascal but didn't do anything for Fast Freddy.

Jelly Bean was an interesting llama. White with a red tail. I sold Jelly Bean four times. I first sold him to a lady in Rupert, Idaho, who wanted a llama as a pet and gave me a down payment. I sold Jelly Bean with an older llama named Friend. Friend was another llama that was too big in the body to be a good pack llama, wide between the shoulders, wide between the legs and waddled like a duck when he walked. At that time I hadn't realized that a llama that waddles when it walks will never be an adequate pack llama and you can't get them to stop waddling by putting them on a diet. I sold Jelly Bean and Friend to this lady that wanted to do a little packing but mostly wanted llamas for pets. She called me back and told me that Friend was getting the male berserk syndrome and had attacked her a couple of times. I couldn't believe it because Friend had shown no aggressive tendencies around me. I tried to get to the bottom of the problem and tell her how to handle him properly. In a couple more days she called me and told me that Jelly Bean, the little month old, was also getting male berserk syndrome. I finally figured out that she just didn't have enough money to buy llamas. I told her I would take the llamas back with a 10% restocking fee. I then sold Jelly Bean as a sheep guard. Jelly Bean had had berserk syndrome at the last owners place but was too nice to be a sheep guard because he loved dogs. So I got Jelly Bean back and traded him for another potential sheep guard. I then sold Jelly Bean to a neighbor that lived about a mile and a half away on a hill above me. The sheep had taught Jelly Bean how to get out of fences so he would come home when ever he felt like it. Since they couldn't keep Jelly Bean at their house they decided to trade him for another llama. Then I sold Jelly Bean to some people in Utah. They seem to be getting along with him fine and since he is 2 or 3 hundred miles from home he hasn't gotten out the fence and come home. However, he is back home right now because I'm boarding Jelly Bean and Augustus for the winter.

There was Lunar Toone and Prototype. There was Niki, Raffi, Whiskers, and Tonto. Tonto was a tall gangly looking llama that didn't look like he had the strength to do anything but ended up being an excellent pack llama. Raffi was a big, tall llama for a yearling and would walk with his nose over your shoulder all the time. I thought that was one comparison of all the llamas that I bought that drug on the rope all the time I was trying to train him. Raffi is now a big wonderful pack llama.

Then there was Captain Kid and Mighty Mouse. Mightly Mouse was out of a tall mother. He was also growing tall and at a year old Might Mouse was already riding the other yearlings and was trying to get them down and breed them all the time. He was such a nuisance that I gelded him at a year old. He grew so fast that he ended up being a tall, weak llama. I eventually sold him as a sheep guard.

There was Honey Bear and Mailman. Mailman seemed to be the perfect pack type llama when he was a yearling but at 2 to 3 years old his chest widened out and his legs became wide set and he got that waddley gait. Mailman is still packing and doing a fairly good job but I am wondering how long he will be able to keep up the work with that inefficient gait.

There was White Knight, Gustoff, another Valentino and Cinnabar (I call him Crazy Horse)

to be continued...

Back to The Llama Connection Main Page