HAVE CATCH PEN, WILL TRAVEL!

The dynamics of halter training your camelids are influenced by several factors – most of which boil down to two things – your ability to have control over the situation, and the alpaca’s sense of safety and security. These are affected by the design of your training area and the design of your equipment.

The two simplest things that you, as the “two-legged”, have control over are the use of a catch pen, and the proper fit of the halter.

A note on Catch Pens: At Gold Star Alpacas, we know that a catch pen – a safe, enclosed area measuring approximately 9’ x 9’, and with a view of your other alpacas -- is crucial to effective training, so having one for Gold Star lessons… that’s a requirement. We will work with you to create a safe and effective catch pen at your farm, and you can keep right on using it after everybody graduates! It really makes life easier.

To illustrate our point, if you don’t think you need to create an appropriately sized catch pen in your current farm setup – we will bring our own! Have catch pen, will travel! You’ll see how effective it is, and you’ll want one too. You can get some excellent panels to build one with from these folks: www.lightlivestockequipment.com.

And here’s a good article from Alpacas Magazine by Marty McGee Bennett regarding this type of panel and its uses.

And a note on Halters: At Gold Star Alpacas, we are big believers in your animal’s safety and sanity, so we prefer Zephyr brand halters – the ones with the fully adjustable nosebands. That’s the only kind of halter we use, and we bring our own. We think you’ll like them too, and we know where you can get some for graduation presents! Here’s some more on why this type of halter is best www.camelidynamics.com.

Gold Star Alpacas is a Certified CameliDynamics™ Handler, and will handle your animals safely and respectfully.