Animals, especially camelids, as well as people have a difficult existence in TandilArgentina, because the climate is one of serious extremes, and the altitude is a problem. Under these conditions, full supply for animals is very tough. Their food supply is very dry grass, so animal nutrition is a problem. Highly conditioned by climate, animals run the risk of competition, overgrazing, and vicunas and donkeys continue to compete for food.
History of the Puna is interesting because it is the only place where there are historical ruins of homes and a fort carved in stone. In the Puna, camelids, particularly llamas, are the prime source of food, as well as grains. For llamas to survive in this place is very difficult. Colla or Coya are the people living there, and they were named by the Incas to mean people living in the Puna. Today over 30,000 people live there. Most people living in this area have 5 animals they call their own. To find real Coya, you need to travel high into the mountains.
Their traditions are very religious; there are churches everywhere. Pachamama is highly religious, and requires that you give everything that you receive back to Mother Earth. All belongs to God; whatever they have they do not see as a source of money. Animals exist to provide for their existence, so they take care of them.
Strongly religious traditions
Minga is the tradition of cooperation and working together; they do not pay taxes. It is a way of thinking to work collectively. They bring all their animals together in villages working together for the community. Young couples do not get married immediately; they live together to "try and see." If it works, they marry. Their social situation is difficult; they have almost nothing. Today, a few roads; television is coming. When they see the outside world, they will want more. But the people will never get out of the Puna. It is their reality. And it is a very harsh reality, something we really cannot imagine in our privileged lives as hobby or business camelid farmers.
Harsh living conditions on the Puna
Poverty abounds for people and animals. There are no doctors for these Puna farmers; a broken leg could take a week to mend. It could take hours or days to find a neighbor. People live crudely and having their animals makes the difference between having something to eat--or not. The people's economy falls to the women to maintain what they eat but the man's work is to go out and find work. People, especially women, look OLD at 25. There are no fences for the animals, so they roam at night and women must go out and find them to bring them back. Vicunas are increasing, even faster than llamas. Vicunas are becoming a business, but for the rich, not the poor farmers. That is why Dr. Aba and his people have engaged in helping the people of the Puna.
Animals and their farmer owners need to walk 2 days out and 2 days back to get veterinary treatment. That is why Dr. Aba and his people visit the villages in the Puna to help the people and their animals. He says that their working--and sleeping--conditions are hard. Difficult. But his photos show the rigor of their helping. Sometimes they used dry rivers to travel. Transportation to villages is a transportation risk. They even had accidents in their journeys.
Dr. Aba noted that this society is male dominated. You have to work with the men to get them to allow the women to engage in the help, in the new technology, the new drugs. Aba's goal is to teach them how to treat their animals with the drugs and instruments. The people have to work hard to pay back to continue having the drugs and services available to them. The goal is to make them self-sustaining and confident of trusting his people in a very closed society. Closed for centuries.
In defining the Argentine type llama, Dr. Aba cites that supplementation is almost impossible in the mountains. Moving the animals to the valley is a possible solution, but it takes 2 days to make the move, the job of the women. Today the people of the Puna have fences to keep the animals out so they can grow grass for the difficult times. Dr. Aba is also working on trying to get the people of the Puna to reduce the size of their herds. It is considered manly to have MANY animals, despite their conditions. Today, reducing the herd size is a difficult concept to teach because the men believe their neighbors will think them weak, based on herd numbers.
Internal parasites exist but are not frequent because of the dry climate, but external parasites abound. It is difficult to teach the Coya how to treat the parasites. Getting them to return with their animals for treatment is difficult, but beginning to work. It is very hard to change centuries of a mindset, and that is the reality. Education makes a small difference, but even with government money it is hard to make them understand the importance of injectable drugs. Water is also an issue--just finding it. And getting them to understand where they and animals drink, and the placement of immersion baths. Finally, the best treatment is to get everyone treating their animals because the animals mix so frequently.
What does the future hold? Only time will tell. Small steps work. For Dr. Aba's complete resoures, please check below.
Missing her herd, SP's walk was a true mini today.
It's Day 2 of llama mini-walks. Meet SP, short for Stimulus Package. Are we allowed to have a favorite llamas, or do we love them for special things? I love SP so much; she runs to me in the pasture. She lets me handle with trust and devotion; she is the poster yearling for sweet and gentle. But, today she did not want to walk solo. With her herd in sight, and wending its way slowly to pastures, it was probably a bad call on timing. I'll have to adjust for her if we walk solo.
Good with the golf cart. But then, the see them every day.
What she is great about is different terrains, surfaces, and surroundings. Not a great photo (still learning to walk and be a shutterbug, while doing llama talk), but you can see SP is nonplussed about the golf cart. I would like to train, eventually, SP, Maria, and Etcetera for performance. Since I do not know how to do that, I am waiting for Tabbethia Hubbold's presentation at the GALA 2010 in November.
She sees her friends and isn't happy.
In the meantime, I am taking gentle walks with my llamas, showing them other parts of the farm as they walk over felled tree limbs of varying sizes, and trek on different surfaces. My goal is to expose them to different sensory experiences, even if they never step foot off the farm, however unlikely.
I am content with simple gains. Worse to rush into something without a trainer or training. Would only do more harm than good. If we can walk across our road to the pond side, we have 2 beautiful areas, gently sloped, with total shade and some cool from the water. A nice place to visit; a great place to begin.
Two bosses, two businesses, one objective. Move a lot of earth. Carve out some of the mountain, move it across the street, pond side, create a new road to the upper 40. Level the playing field. Build the berm higher. Top the topsoil. Add stones. Mix all of the above, and you have the recipe for a perfect landscape. The good earth.
Always a pleasure to watch genius working with the skill and experience of years and tons of earth moving. Just peeking at the work in progress scares me silly, the angles on which these big machines sit and work--with people inside them. When I saw the big boom sliding down the berm, I knew it was time to leave.
Until the temperature rose into the high 80s, the girls looked on with classic llama curiosity. Bless them. Nothing deters Rev, the brown llama that resembles a very giant poodle (a nightmare to clip, hormonal, pregnant, say no more...) lets nothing stand in the way of eating. The earth could quake, but if a food source remained intact, she would chomp. Tess, however, is another story. Always in the thick of things, always curious, always inside the moment.
What always begins as a single day's work merges into 2 or 3 as one thing leads to another, quite literally. First day's work was the hardest, moving part of the mountain, but it will take till the end of the week to see the finished results.
Maria, without an h. Peeking through the vinyl door. If you are a breeder of llamas, you take many factors into consideration when selecting an animal to add to your herd. Just makes sense to get fiber, temperament, size, blood lines, guardian and performance types in your breeding plan. When I entered the llama world, I had no thought of breeding, but Carol guided me in choosing as if I were. Now that I am more interested in growing my herd, I have most of what you would want to balance a breeding program. So, how did I select Maria, and why. The video answers that question, beyond a shadow...
Almost. Guess after the past week, there's a new normal. I keep looking over my shoulder, watching WeatherBug, double checking. Ready to turn the AC on full blast. The farm looks like a desert; all we need is sand. Had to resort to feeding hay in the summer in an orchard grass pasture. The new new.
The new girls are great sharers with each other, yet able to make decisions independently. They're growing into their new home.
SP scrounging for scraps, even though there's a plenty in the field.
For the record, I do not leave the red bucket in the field.
My dog gets to go on the watering plants run, out and about again. Life returning to normal.
I love my dog but she is aging, and one of the long-range projects under consideration, beyond retirement, is the addition of a second dog. The idea is to have this dog actually live with the llamas, although I know I will break down and bring it indoors--right away. Nevertheless, the plan is, at the very least, to have a dog that is user-friendly with the llamas. A back and forth and up and down and to and from the house to barn and vice-versa. You get the idea. To that end, I have been researching breeds that might work with llamas, who view dogs as mortal enemies. So, how do you protect livestock and the dog simultaneously, knowing that most likely, the llamas really do not need protecting. I just might have found my answer on Karen Brant's Great Pyrenees Community GPC Ning (I joined). Think I found my answer?
I found Karen through an attribution on a post from Teri Conroy's Times Union Farmlife blog. I love her videos and exploration of life on Wunsapana Farm, as in a magical place once upon a time...and I learn from her. She has an assortment of animals, many of them rescues, and they all interact together just fine. That's my goal, down the road, plus or minus a year. See what I can do in my spare time on a Sherwood Anderson "Stolen Day." But the aha question: can I sustain it for the rest of my non-teaching life. Hmmmm....
Next fun thing I got to check off my mental to-do list that has lingered for a year, along with the rest of the items on this post, was creating a Creative Commons license for my 3 blogs. None of these endeavors are hard, just time consuming, and free time is usually not my friend. I retooled my attribution, so all the older licenses were null and void. I also added a much-needed Disclosure Policy and a Privacy Policy. Two blogs done and one to go. Adding a Blogger logo was good PC window dressing. And I am proud of the platform, although I am liking the networking on TimesUnion.
Next on the list was an "About" page. Thinking it would be a snap to retool my professional aka teaching profile, that's what I did. But after reading Teri's "About Farmlife," I realized that down the road, maybe next week, I would need to create blog specific "abouts." Two of them, since this one will work for Changing Connections, although it will likely disappear when I retire. Soon. How soon is soon? As they say in my neck of the woods, "down the road apiece."
If I had to settle on just one thing that made Carol and Doug Reigh's Open Barns at Buck Hollow Llamas so perfect each year, I would be hard pressed to select only one aspect of the two-day event. Perhaps the camaraderie of the wonderful vendors, great friends and member of Carol's GALA 2010 team. Or the collective knowledge in the arts, crafts, and llama breeding, rearing, and running a farm is staggering--and a wonderful learning opportunity. Or spending time with Carol and Doug, however busy they may be. Or just hanging out, being part of the scene, from behind a lens. From felting to spinning, weaving, shearing, and carding to walking llamas or just sitting in the pastoral setting, enjoying a picnic at a beautiful farm, it's all good.
I love being out and about, mixing and mingling with the visitors, vendors, llamas, and the people who are slowly but surely becoming family. Lunch for the volunteers and vendors is always wonderful; Carol makes her beef barbecue and we all bring something else. When all the goodies are put together, it's surely a feast. Saturday evening, we were guests of the Reighs at Shady Maple, an experience in smorgasbord dining. Despite the lines--beyond long--Carol walked us right in, finding our party a special room. Always we have such a fine time, spending a day with friends, family, and llamas. Forgive me for sounding nostalgic, but it's almost like being a child again at Christmas; the wonderful memories last a year. And before you know it, that time of year returns again, building new memories of perfect days with people and pets we love.
Stress--and wicked bad thunderstorms (try hail in May)--always show true colors in man or beast. My second year's experience clipping my llamas (I watch, pray, provide moral support for the girls) was one for the books. The best and the worst of the girls shinned through. So let me begin with Tabbethia Haubold, groomer extraordinaire. I was her last stop at the end of jam-packed crazy week. With four girls to shear and counting down to returning to her Yaphank, NY home, Tabbethia is all business. So is my husband in business matters, so I totally understand her. Twice she called to remind me to have the girls in the stalls, haltered, and ready (her customer before me failed to comply). We were over-the-top-ready, for way too long a time for girls who are used to deciding their day.
Tabbethia is beautiful and incredibly strong, but that's the end of the story. She drove through golf-ball hailstorms and the second-worst thunderstorm, weather according to me. Tabbethia wants her best llama last and the most-stressed first. So we began with Et Cetera, who had a spit fight with Tess during the thunderstorm because Tess tried to mount her. I recited and sang the "Hail Mary"in more ways and versions than all the churches in Christendom combined, 93 minutes worth, so I was really prayered up for the clipping. All the girls benefited from my second-year calm, but Tess actually responded to the prayers, like Barnabas in The Mitford Books. I tried praying again today, and again, Tess responded in the same way. Perhaps it is just her love of attention, but I think differently. Et Cetera was a jewel, that Sophisticated Lady she truly is (if I could rename her, it would be Lady). After her, the rest of the clipping was an exercise in degrees of not as good.
Tess was second, and except for a half-dozen kicks that did not make their mark, she was a good girl. She is a kicker, much like a mare that I had years ago, Scout's Honor. Gentle, calm, but always quick to kick. We took Miss Cierra next, because I was saving the best for last. Cierra is pregnant, due June 10, and except for not liking her belly and sides, and her neck (I forgot to tell Tabbethia about a benign small growth), she was really very good. Excellent for a near-due date pregnancy. Almost no trouble.
Saving the best for last made me wrong again (Mickey's second favorite phrase). Good last year, she was your worst nightmare yesterday. Honestly, I thought we would not get her clipped. Pictures or a video would have been amazing but not humanly possible. The smallest of the four, she was as bad as my 16.3 Thoroughbred-Warmblood cross was once during a storm. Oddly, by the time Tabbethia arrived (spelled her name without looking this time), the sun was out. Hormones, pregnancy, call it what you want, as I see it, Rev was worse than any big, bad horse ever was for clipping.
Without a doubt, Rev was the surprise and a bad one at that. But there were other surprises as well. Tabbethia thinks I am the most non-aggressive person out there, and apparently so does my breeder, Carol Reigh. Funny, isn't it; if they only knew.... Guess Tabbethia based it on my telling her that discovering Rev's toenail issue ruined my Mother's Day (it truly did; I had trouble enjoying what was a wonderful day). Yet she realized that I was not worried, rather a really cool customer, helping her handle clipping Rev. Funny, but I really was non-plussed about her bad behavior. I kept telling Rev she was a good girl, with Tabbethia saying oh not she isn't or NOT! So I sweat the small stuff, but am a real trouper with hard things. I told Tabbethia that I have always known who I am, including my oddities, and she seemed to respect that.
I learned that I will never clip the girls. Ever. She has a job for life, and no amount of money would ever make me change my mind. Frankly, clipping a bad horse is much easier than a bad llama. The chute that Carol sold me is worth a Sumo wrestler's weight in gold. If ever a piece of equipment was tested and passed with five-star general status, it would be Carol's chute. So if you have camelids and you do not have her chute, invest in your herd's future and buy one. After working so brutally hard on the farm yesterday, to go to a go-round with the girls was just another day in the life of a farm girl.
You can discover more about Tabbethia Haubold's business, check out her website, Long Island Livestock Company. She conducts an educational program about llamas, sponsors camelid fiber shows, judges in the show ring, spins her llama fiber and offers yarn products for sale. And we know she is one great shearer; when she had to, she bodily lifted Rev, getting her to stand when the belly harness just would not do the job. And after all that, Tabbethia had a three-hour drive home. God bless her!
Gave you her coordinates, just in case you are a geocaching llama lover like me.
She is my Sophisticated Lady, elegant, fine-boned, beautifully chiseled, and reserved. You might ask, which one. Fawn or white. (You guessed correctly if you chose the lady on the left, although the white llama is my soul mate.)
Almost timid; it runs in her bloodlines. Although she is a perfect weight, she is thinner than I would like, what animal people call a hard keeper. Because she will not spit off another llama at feeding time, I am her protector, her grain keeper, and I make sure she has her full measure. Because I hand feed her (the Spoiled Rotten Llamas plaque is so appropriate), each morning we share extra time together, facing first light as it moves slowly over our mountain.
There is a stillness as you watch the invisible made visible, light rising eerily behind a copse of trees, velvet muzzle on your hand, sounds from grain crunchers. In this shared time with one of God's elegant creatures, I ponder the day ahead. How can I make a text more relevant for my students. What about myself needs reinvention. Was my aunt's knee replacement a success. And I pray. "Lord, make me a blessing to someone today." (Jan Karon, At Home in Mitford)
Facing first light, I confront my fears, small as they are. Questions about the future progression of my disease, will it attack other organs, will it lead to leukemia, what are the first real symptoms I should look for, is there a cancer diet. Small things, really. But life fully lived, on my terms, always asks hard questions. Because I can ask them, I can face the answers, facing first light.
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