Cart Driving With Llamas by Greg Hall Simplicity Llama Farm • Dobson NC Llamas are cool! You can take them on hikes, they are easy to work with, and everyone likes to pet them. But what else? Sure, you can take them to birthday parties, and a parade is always fun, but there is another way! Llama Cart driving. Yes, there are lots of things to do with a llama, but let me give you a few reasons why you want to have a cart llama. 1-I’m Lazy! Hey, walking on a trail is hard work. (It’s up hill both ways, right?) Why not use a llama to take you on trips? You can hook up your cart, and then go down to the local store, get some bread and come back. (You’ll want to get items that are not refrigerated, since it usually will take you twice as long to get back, since folks always want to stop and talk with you) Llamas are able to pull quite a lot of weight. The secret is that the weight is carried over the wheels. Think about it. Very few of us can lift up a car, but most of us can PUSH a car. So, on a typical 2 wheel cart, you can easily take 2 adults and a child on a walk. Which is a lot of fun! Good Old Smiley, my cart llama, has been pulling a cart since he was about 2 years old. Over the years, we’ve walked over a hundred miles, in parades, along busy high30 • Discover Llamas
ways, around fairgrounds, and in many show rings. And he’s taken hundreds of kids and adults for ‘very memorable rides’. 2-Kids love a cart llama. Do you like to talk? Well, if you get a cart llama, you’ll get lots of practice! Besides asking for your llama’s name, and asking if they can have a ride, you will get the most important one, ‘Do they spit’? Now, all llama owners have been spit at, but usually because they are between the ‘Mama Llama’ and another one, where she is showing dominance. But the kids don’t know the ‘why’, just see the videos on YouTube. So what do I say? Of course, I usually note the color of their shirt and say ‘Llamas only spit at {Blue} {Green} {Stripes} and then watch them look down at their shirt and jump back. It’s priceless! Giving rides are simple. If there are only 1 or 2, invite them up on your cart. If you have more kids, (and your llama is past the ‘I’m a crazy llama that requires adult supervision at all times’ stage) you can have the kids ‘drive’ your llama for a bit. Smiley is very good at following me, and letting the kids take turns holding the reins and saying ‘Gee’ (right turn) and ‘Haw’ (left turn) makes them feel that they are in charge. Of course, taking pictures is mandatory. Who doesn’t like
