Summer - Classical MileEnd Alpacas

overview camelidynamics
overview camelidynamics
Six Easy
Steps for
Teaching
Leading
Julie Taylor-Browne
Before I learnt Camelidynamics techniques I used to find teaching weanlings and
fully grown camelids to lead quite stressful. The animals didn’t understand why they
were suddenly unable to go where they wanted, they were confused and stressed
themselves and the older animals would try to use their speed and strength to get
away. I found that most methods I was shown, including the ‘inner tube’, ‘don’t let go!’
and ‘how good are you at waterskiing’ ones, didn’t tick my boxes for being 100% fun,
kind, respectful, effective and safe.
I put time and effort into working with my camelids in a way which builds trust and
communication between us and I don’t want to betray that trust when it comes to
teaching them to lead. So it was with some relief that I found that Camelidynamics
teaches a simple, safe, straightforward and stress-free way to train camelids.
As described in previous articles, I work
with my cria so that they are happy to stand
still next to me and to accept a headcollar
by the time they are weaned. I think most
people would agree that this is a prerequisite
for any camelid of any age before teaching
them to lead. I wait until weaning before
teaching them to lead because if they are not
weaned they and the mother either suffer
extra stress as you lead them away from each
other or alternatively walk together in which
case the cria is only following the mother,
not you. However, I like to train a group of
weanlings together because all camelids are
happier with other camelids around. If I can
find help to actually walk them out together,
so much the better, but if you only have one
to train, and/or you only have you, then these
methods will still work. I don’t think that any
camelid is too old to be taught to lead or to
do some remedial leading work. Providing
they feel calm and safe, they can, and do,
learn quickly and easily.
On the two day Camelidynamics Handling
and Husbandry courses I teach leading on
the afternoon of the second day because at
this stage the alpaca is comfortable having
the halter off and on and has learnt to stand
quietly next to us in the pen. Both human
and alpaca students have also learnt and
practiced the ‘ratchet’ signal. Marty McGee
Bennett has a very good stab at explaining
this signal in her book ‘the Camelid
Companion’ so I refer you to this or advise
you to come onto the course to learn this
useful and effective signal.
Stage one
Using the correct halter and
lead rope
As with most things in life, having the right
tools for the job makes any job much, much
easier. The first step is to ensure the halter
fits correctly. When you are teaching your
alpaca to lead this is of critical importance. If
it doesn’t fit correctly and it slips forwards on
to the soft part of the nose, the camelid will
panic and struggle to avoid the sensation, or
reality, of suffocation. The nose band should
be as close as possible to the eye with the
crown piece of the halter doing the work
of stopping it slipping forward. Normally I
recommend that you should only be able to
fit one finger underneath the crown piece.
The chin piece does not need to be tight,
merely tight enough so that the alpaca can
feel your signals. If your halter doesn’t go back
far enough towards the eye and you have to
resort to tightening the chin piece to stop it
slipping forward...it is time to buy a correctly
fitting halter.
Fig. 1
Correctly fitting
Zephyr halter and
training lead
In terms of lead ropes I don’t use:
a) lead ropes that if they slip through your
fingers will burn you (making you more likely
to drop the rope),
b) heavy horse leads which put too much
weight on the alpaca’s head and makes
learning to lead more unpleasant than it needs
to be. They are also too thick and look too
frightening, particularly for weanlings and
c) short lead ropes which mean you have to
be too close to your animals.
I use Zephyr training leads as my default
lead for everyday leading of my animals, they
have a section of rope between the animal
which carries the webbing away from the eye,
and the main part of the lead which is made
of a long length of webbing. For teaching
a ‘newbie’ to lead, however, I use a Zephyr
ultimate lead because it has an extra length of
lead line on to give myself distance from my
camelid student to make it feel safe enough to
walk towards me.
Stage two
Teaching the leading signal
What often goes wrong with leading is that
the alpaca or llama doesn’t have a clue what
you want from it and doesn’t understand
why you have suddenly taken to hauling on
its head. The more you insist, the worse the
situation gets with the camelid often rearing,
kushing or ‘planting’. Sometimes we get totally
frustrated with the ‘stupidity’ of the animal
and end up using more force than we want to
and find that we dread the whole experience.
To avoid this Camelidynamics adds an initial
stage which teaches the camelid a signal for
what we want from them, which is to take
a step.
To teach the leading signal put your camelid
student in a catch pen 6ft to 8ft square with
at least one camelid companion. Halter your
student and if you think they are particular
nervous, put a body wrap on them to help
them stay calm.
Clip your lead rope on to the foremost side of
the ring on the noseband (see above). This may
seem unusual but Camelidynamics and Tteam
(the well-regarded horse training method from
which Camelidynamics evolved) both use the
side of the halter to lead an animal. On our
clinics we give humans the opportunity to
‘wear‘ a halter and to experience the difference
between being lead from the side and being
lead from the ring under the head collar. All
clinic participants report on how much easier
and more pleasant it is to be led from the side
ring as there is far less pressure on the back
of the head and it is much easier to feel the
direction in which the handler wants you to
go. Simple logic will also show us why this
is the case. A lead rope clipped to the ring
underneath the halter is going to put pressure
on the back of the camelid’s head. To release
the pressure, a camelid is going to lift its
head, thereby moving its weight backwards
and becoming ‘heavier’ on the lead and more
difficult to shift. If you clip on the side, the
pressure needed to give a signal is much
lighter and much more directive. Try this in the
privacy of your own home...
Once you have clipped on to the front most
part of the foremost ring you need to stand at
90 degrees or greater to the alpaca’s head and
as far away from the alpaca as the pen permits
in order give it as much space as possible into
which to move.
Fig. 2
Stand at the edge of the pen at
90 degrees to the alpaca
Once you are at 90 degrees or greater to your
alpaca student, use the ratchet signal until the
alpaca takes or step or even just moves one
leg. Immediately it does, take any pressure
out of the lead so that there is some slack, but
not so much that the alpaca feels that you are
no longer connected to them. This ‘contact’
position is our means of communicating
with them. See if you can hold the leadrope
between your thumb and index finger, once
your whole hand closes on it, there will be too
much pressure. Once the alpaca has regained
his or her balance, you will need to reposition
yourself again to give them the space to move
into. You have to keep moving backwards and
out of their way to give them an escape route.
The important thing to notice here is that you
are not asking them to move in a straight line
towards you, rather you are acting as the hub
of the wheel with the lead as a spoke and the
alpaca as the rim.
Fig. 3
Getting myself out of the way
and making space for Bilberry.
The first time you give the signal and they
move a leg or two, they have no idea you are
teaching them a signal, after three or four
times a little light bulb begins to glow. Before
moving on to the next stage your student
should ideally be able to do a complete ‘circuit’
of your pen around you.
Stage three
Asking your alpaca to come
towards you
Once you have been round the pen at least
once you are ready to bring your alpaca into
a long, narrow aisle way. This can be easily
made alongside your pens using some tape (I
use two herding tapes) and some plastic posts
for electric fencing. This is taken down at the
end of the lesson.
Fig. 4
The (temporary) long narrow aisle way.
30 Alpaca World Magazine
summer 2010
summer 2010
Alpaca World Magazine 31