And You Thought Only Spiders Had Cobwebs!

I will admit that I'm weird, I find it strangely relaxing to brush a llama.

At least when that llama is well-behaved!

The NY State Fair is coming up in 2 short weeks, so during my recent time off I decided I should work on grooming the animals that I'm taking to show.

Lucky for me 2 of them are body shorn!

Since Ralph is only going to show in performance, he doesn't need any grooming at all.  I'll wash him right before the show just like the others, but only because I don't like petting him when he's all dusty!

Ralph after being shorn.  Not much left to brush!

T is also body shorn, but he has a hideous-looking tail!  I never got around to picking the burrs out of it in the spring, so it is a mess.  So on Tuesday I took the scissors to it (to cut out some big mats and burrs), and today I brushed out the rest.  He looks a little silly with a very poofy tail, but I think he'll look fine for the show.  He is showing in performance, halter, and showmanship, so he has to look his best!

T and his terrible haircut!

Kara is the big challenge.  Luckily she isn't terribly dirty, and being fairly young her neck and leg fiber hasn't matted too badly yet, but I was really determined to have her spotless and mat-free by the show.  I've now succumbed to accepting that she won't be completely mat-free, but I'm hoping to get most of the cobwebs out of her fleece.  My ulterior motive for doing this is that I hope having less cobwebs will help her cool off, since her skin should be able to breathe more.

Beautiful Kara.

For the past week or so, Kara and I have spent a lot of quality time in the barn...brushing and being brushed!  Luckily she is a sweetheart and accepts it very well!  So far I've done the top of her neck, her tail, and both back legs.  Today I started on a front leg.  Hopefully I'll be able to get done before I have to go back to work next week!

Kara's neck fiber before brushing.

The same spot after brushing.  (I love that she has her dad's curls!)

The lower part of Kara's neck...still needs a lot of work!