Today was the day for PLLL to have her shearing.
I know nothing about this stuff – being new to llamas and all… but clearly, PLLL had too much hair for this hot weather so…
I called the people who bred her and raised her. As all good llama people, they offered to come over and sheer her themselves.
Nice!
I agreed and met them over at Fran’s place – where PLLL now lives with Stella and Gus, the donkeys.
We arrived. PLLL with her heavy coat. (Notice how her lip has healed!)
SHEARING PREP
Well, I didn’t ask and they didn’t tell me what they needed for the shearing. So, when we both arrived at Fran’s place at exactly 11 am, I jumped out of my car and pointed to PLLL.
“There she is”, I said…
“We need power”, they said.
Oy.
Here I was at a neighbor’s house, and neither Fran or Adam were at home to direct me, so I found myself trying to channel their spirits as I searched for outlets – or any nearby power – that might get the clippers anywhere close to PLLL’s enclosure.
“If I were Adam, where would I have put the outlet…”
I found plenty of power cords, but no actual power.
Finally, I decided to find the hideakey, enter their house and call them – my cell phone had no reception – to ask if there was any way to get power to the barn.
In the meantime, Mom and Dad previous PLLL owners asked if they should just put PLLL in their van and take her to my house nearby…?
The ordeal of bringing PLLL out through the DonkeyGuard (Stella and Gus), then loading her into the passenger van and then to my house – and back again – seemed daunting.
NO! I will find a way!…!
Once inside Fradam’s house (I felt like a cat burglar), I called Fran’s husband, Adam, using their house phone.
Adam answered and was confused.
A: “How are you calling me on our house phone…?”
Me: “Long story… anyway, do you have power anywhere near PLLL’s area?”
A: Why?
Me: “Today is PLLL’s haircut day!”
“Brilliant !!(they are from the UK) … be sure to take lot of photos…” and he proceeded to walk me through their property until I was able to locate a power box.
Once I found the outlet, I was excited! “I can take it from here!”
I then found 10,000,000 foot extension cord and we were in business!
We had power to the LLAMA BARBER SHOP!
The initial blowing of the excess dirt and stuff. Note the dust in the air.
LLAMA SUPERCUTS!
There is quite the procedure to shearing a llama.
I had no idea.
Luckily, PLLL remembered her birth family and was very relaxed around them. Her human Dad kept scritching her and she loooooooved it.
The good fiber area
She loooved her Dad holding her and petting her.
They leave the tail head for protection
More Dad love. I couldn’t get over how much she loved him.
This is Gus. He was watching intently from next door.
Nope. You won’t do my belly!
I really was warmed to see how PLLL remembered her breeders. It must have been very sweet for her to be in the presence of those she knew from babyhood.
OK, so … the procedure…
First, you have to blow off all the excess dust and leaves, etc.
(PLLL wasn’t too happy about that part.)
Then, you have to start the shearing.
Next time, I will know to totally clean the floor so the fiber won’t get dirty… but the idea is to shear the good fiber first (shoulder, belly, barrel and thighs) then get the secondary fiber which is good for a number of uses and then the excess.
The cleaner you keep it all – the better.
Once bagged, you take the fiber to people who clean it and spin it.
(I hope to get yarn for my mother’s birthday present. She likes to knit.)
PLLL loved her haircut! I’m sure she was relieved, having all that fiber – gone.
However, her belly was another story…
She laid down as soon as they tried to do her belly.
PLLL: That tickles! Uh un, no!
But, her birth breeder tricked her via some odd brushing tactic that distracted PLLL. And, the tummy was done!
Then, a final blow dry with a dusting of sunscreen, and she was done!
All done!
Sunscreen to protect her until the hairs grow a bit more.
AFTER
PLLL looked like half the llama she once was!
Tiny!
I had three bags of fiber.
One bag was the fantastic fiber that I need to have someone wash and spin into yarn.
The secondary fiber was good but not as good. That went into a second bag that I don’t know what I will do with it yet.
The third bag was nice fiber that got dirty when it fell to the ground. I think I will use that to stuff MamaTess’ new boots.
I wish I could make a saddle pad out of the stuff. Nice felting material. I wonder if anyone had ever made a saddle pad out of llama wool?…
Ya learn something new every day!!
They told me she would be itchy at first as this all feels so breezy and new. And, the new hairs can feel prickly. But, I know she was much more comfortable in this heat. She seemed very happy and relaxed afterwards.
I almost missed this PrincessLLL story! Good to see her again and how sweet she was with her “Dad”.
Oh, too bad! Because I have found out — from my wonderful Morgan Yahoo list peeps — that the source was Thunderhead by Mary O’Hara. If you have not read her three horse books, I heartily recommend them — My Friend Flicka, Thunderhead, and The Green Grass of Wyoming. Wonderful books. My parents had the first two, and they were not even horse people.
I have found out that I don’t have enough to make yarn for my mother as well as a saddle pad. But, this is a great idea for next year!!
Hi — I have an idea for the extra fiber and for the saddle pad. I can’t remember at this moment which one it was, but in a horse book I read as a child someone made a saddle pad from clipped hair. If I do remember what book I will write back. Anyway, what it said to do was put the hair into a burlap? bag and use it as a saddle pad (maybe you would want to put something under it?) and after a while it will all be felted together and have the perfect indented outline of the saddle. You then cut away the excess (that is not in the shape of a saddle) and there you are — you can sew keepers etc. on it.
It could have been My Friend Flicka or another of the Mary O’Hara novels? Or one of the Walter Farley ones?
Anyway, maybe someone can help you refine that. Oh — I will ask on my horsy lists, too!