Training

Shay leading the pack!
Spring time training.
Brownie starting pack training.
Dolly’s first hike in the woods.
Griff and Scout.
Katie with some ladies learning to string.
Obstacle training.
Martina helping Scout on her first training hike.
We have noticed that many llamas balk a bit at walking on new surfaces. This was Newt’s first time on concrete.
Preacher getting some extra time in with ropes for sensitivity training.
Early training hikes for several of these boys. Stringing with packs in tight quarters goes a long way toward learning single file hiking.
Katie showing Preacher the ropes with water.
Preacher and Stormy training water crossings.
J.J. leading the string for the first time.
We are lucky to have local backroads for quick evening training and conditioning hikes.
Woody at 9 months working on lead training.
Preacher’s early pack training
Preacher’s first time with pack and panniers. He did great!
J.J. starting pack training.
Scout’s saddle training.
Rosie’s pack training. We really miss her.
Ranger’s initial pack training.
Stormy ready to roll!
Gunny and Bearmar.
Gunny helping prep for a hike.
Shay and Hoshi.
Shay and Bearmar.
The boys getting prepped for some conditioning.
Scout working with Uncle Jonny on lead and obstacle training.

We get the whole family involved in training and conditioning our llamas. We really enjoy it and we form good bonds with our llamas.

FEB 17, 2024: Our 2023 youngsters are making progress with their sensitivity and lead training. Mud season is always a challenge, but they are handling it in stride. We will pull out the blower once things dry out a bit more to finish up with sensitivity training.

Smoky and Woody are starting in on training to accept a pack.

Feb. 28, 2024: The youngsters continue to improve on lead and sensitivity training.

Mar. 23, 2024: we had a good chunk of the day available for training before storms rolled in later in the day. Our weanlings did more good work on desensitization, leading, new surfaces, and some obstacles. We try and use what we can in mud season, so took advantage of some tight squeezes in the garage. Many llamas balk at doorways, narrow gates, etc. We use tight spots in training to help them overcome their wariness. This translates to preparedness for tight spots on and off trail in the mountains.

Woody, Nacho, and Smoky progressed to soft packs today. It was windy, so long straps and empty panniers were flapping around and making leg contact. It was a good opportunity for further desensitization as we hiked around.

We will try and get some work in with the curcuit blower soon to finish off touch training for the weanlings.

April 10, 2024: Training continues today for the weanlings. They are progressing nicely and we have incorporated more obstacles to good effect.

Griff pitched in for more yearling training yesterday. These youngsters are progressing nicely.

Here is a fun shot of P-Dizzle during stake out training along with his Ol’ Man HOLR Night Ranger. P-Dizzle has the same intelligence and natural aptitude for the trail that his dad has and will be a great packer too!

These young boys are coming along nicely. They enjoyed the fresh greens after a bit of training. They will get some good trail miles in this weekend.

We had some trainees up the canyon for water training this weekend. Smoky really loves the water more than any llama we have had. All did really well though.