Day 20: Holding down the rear legs!! And still no spit...

This day (someday this past week, it's all blurred together now), PB asked if I wanted to go help someone shear their alpacas. Since I didn't get to really do much at 'our' shearing, I figured this would give me some hands on experience. (What for, I'm not certain....I'm sure something will come to me)

So I GOT TO HOLD THE REAR LEGS for three animals!!!

Who ever would have thought I would be that excited about that, huh? Oh wait, you guys mostly know me....I'm always excited about new things.

Some general things:

1. This was hard work, even though I didn't think it would be. You have to stand and keep medium pressure on the legs, even though they are tethered to the board. If the alpaca feels you loosen up it tries to make a break for it.  Standing in one position for three hours holding legs with various pressure from me really gave my arms a work out. I can't imagine how I could have handled 20 animals a day. Turns out I AM a delicate flower.

2. Still not a lot of spit. I sort of got some on my shoulder, but it wasn't really the nasty spit, it was sort of snorted out hay.

3. The first animal struggled a lot and I lost control of her hind legs when we tilted the board down to stand her up. I was nervous, she was wriggly. Nobody got hurt, but I felt bad. They said it was fine for my fist time. :)

4. The second alpaca was a baby (less than a year) and cried through the whole thing. He was not being hurt, but boy did he sound pitiful and worried. Not a lot of thrashing.

5. The third animal was also a baby, but really calm, and had been handled a lot by his owner. Still, he did NOT want his neck sheared. That was a task for the poor shearer.

6. All people holding the animal have to pay CLOSE attention to the shearer and the animal, to anticipate sudden thrashing, or the direction the shearer is headed. No looking away to observe other animals, or kittens, birds, butterflies, etc. This was very hard for me (oh, look a chipmunk...!!!), but I did it.

7. Try not to be downwind of the shears when a breeze is blowing. If you are, be sure to close your mouth. Luckily I kept my mouth closed, but was covered in tiny white tufts of fleece in the end. There was much sneezing.

I am happy I got to participate. At least I know I can do it. (sort of)

Again, not sure what I will DO with this skill and knowledge, but at least I felt useful.

No pictures, because my hands were busy for 3 hours. Not much different from the ones I already posted.