Sheep and Wool Festival!

I encourage anyone interested in fiber and fun to check out the Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival which is being held at the Essex Junction Fair Grounds in the first weekend of September! There are llamas, angoras, sheep, and much much more! Hana and I and our friends from the Smith Family Farm, Philo Mountain Llamas, and Northern Vermont Llama Company will be helping us do llama demonstrations. "What's a llama demonstration?" you may ask. Well come and check it out! It will be a blast! Katie Smith from The Smith Family Farm will be selling our angora rabbits for us! Katie has been breeding angora rabbits for more than 5 years and is an excellent information source if anyone is interested in purchasing angoras or breeding. Here updated pictures of the litter from 7/15/08. The two little girls that were born on 5/25/08 are still available!

A chocolate tortoise female:A self black male:

Look forward to seeing you there!

Getting ready for Fryeburg Fair!

As we near Fryeburg Fair (September 28 - October 5, 2008 in Fryeburg, Maine) Llama Show (September 30, Tuesday 8:30AM - 12:00 Noon) we begin to practice changing pace on a lead rope and going over obstacles. Our llama Bella is very smart and learns that in a show ring if she refuses twice then she does not have to do the obstacle. We get her in shape by having her walk over a boardwalk and through "scary things" as you will see below.

Here, Hana works to get Bella to walk over the boardwalk with all four feet, either behind or next to her. Its important to simulate real-life. In this case Bella has a pack on with 20 pounds in it and needs to go over slowly, as if walking on a trail with Hana. In the show judges look for a loose lead, and a calm, attentive llama. A pack llama needs to move slowly so that there will not be possible injuries out on the trail. Here, Hana take Bella through a scary obstacle! It is simply a suspended tarp that she needs to walk under and have the tarp brush her on the way out. Llamas are not naturally acclimated to obstacles like this and its good to get them used to rustling and bustling, especially if you take llamas into public place for show or therapy. "Are you in there Bell?"
There she is!

With llamas, you don't always work! Bella needs a break lugging 20 pounds up a hill - and Hana gives it to her so she doesn't get frustrated. Bella hasn't carried weight in over a year and she needs to get conditioned. Once she is used to the weight she may be conditioned to carry up to 100 pounds! Llamas are incredible athletes! Currently, she is cart training!Here are Bella and Arethusa. Bella is conditioning and Arethusa likes to hang out. She will be involved with showing and hopefully will be ready to have a baby in the next year. Arethusa is a beautiful llama that is chestnut brown with lovely black tips that highlight her face and legs. She has lots of fun going for walks around the fields and is getting used to the topography of her new home!


And they bound into the goldenrod!
Bella smiles for the camera!Hana walks the 20 pounds to the fence, so she does not have to carry it far to the car! Bella can walk with only a firm grip around the neck - in this case a strap from her pack will do.
Hana asks her to stand so she may take Bella's pack off. What a great day!

We want to have May and Winny participate in what's called the "Dam and Cria Exhibition" at Fryeburg Fair this year. This is not a class, but an educational exhibition to show how a mother and young llama look and behave. Winny needs to walk nicely on a halter for us to be successful. Hana and I took her for her first walk last week. We took all four llamas up the hill and through the tall grass! Winny jumped as she walked to see above it and follow May! It was very cute! Now we are done with play and I train her for less than 20 minutes at a time. I teach her to stand when being handled (like being brushed or having her face touched). She also walks with me under the tarp house and over the boardwalk! She is very willing and friendly. Its important when teaching a young cria to walk on a halter to not overdo their training. Llamas can have a bad experience and not enjoy walking on a halter. I never train Winny for more than 10 minutes at a time. I will stand with her on a halter or take her for a walk for longer than that if I see that her mental and physical self will deal with it in a healthy way. If she shows any signs of discomfort or boredom I quickly end on a good note and take her halter off. When llamas are older they can stand longer training sessions, but as youngsters you must be careful to make sure that they are always having fun. Winny always has her ears up in our exercises!! She will do wonderfully at Fryeburg Fair! If she were old enough to be in classes at the show, as her name suggests, she would "Win"!

It's important to always keep a loose lead when training a young llama, or walking a trained llama. This means the llama you are working with is following willingly and is generally much happier than a llama that is being dragged. So what happens if the llama won't move? Well when training an animal I use the "pull and release" method. In this way of training to the halter, the release is the reward. You can see below I am nudging Winny by pulling the lead rope to show her where I want her to go (in this case to follow me). When she takes a step or two I release and let her stand to think about it. For the most part Winny follows right along being me. She catches on quickly. When training a llama you should walk forwards with the llama on your right hand side. Here, I teach Winny to stand while I brush her! Look at that loose lead! What a good girl!

To Killington and Beyond!

The bunnies got to expand their minds and open their hearts at the ASD convention in Killington this past weekend!They joined the closing ceremonies with Hana and I in our figure eight around the Labyrinth and the Medicine Wheel. They had a terrific time and were on their best behavior all morning through classes. They got to romp and play on the grass in the afternoon and were adored by all!Charles Hubbard, pictured below, wrote a book called Sacred Stewardship. Early, this year, I purchased the first copy that the ASD Bookstore was sent, hot off the press. I then, with the help of my sister Hana, and the following farmers and family members: Anne and Jack Lazor (Butterworks Farm), Dough and Barbie Flack (Flack Family Farm), Trauger and Alice Groh (Temple-Wilton Community Farm), and my Oma and Opa (grandparents: Guenter and Erika Knoernschild), to name a few, conducted a project. I interveiwed and studied a topic that has greatly interested me for a few years: Biodynamic Agriculture. It was a very interesting venture and even after class (Homesteader's Ecology at Green Mountain College) I am still learning so much about the natural cycles of the Earth and how to farm in sync with them.

I was so excited to get to talk to Charles Hubbard and Joe Gleason this past weekend at Killington!

Angora Bunnies ready for new homes!

Here are Dust Bunny and Ethan Allen, with their offspring.

Dusty is still nursing these eight bunnies. They will be ready to go in a few weeks! Soon, they will begin to grow long hair like their parents! Enjoy these pictures and please call Erika or Hana at 603-747-3453 if you are interested in purchasing one of these bunnies! There are 4 blacks and 4 chocolate agouti. The bunnies from this litter are $85 each and come with a free fiber lesson!