I couldn't wait to share the amazing experience I had recently with Liz McDannold - I so wish we had had a video camera. I had rented a cargo van in order to transport my 2 geldings, Bob and Woody, from the pasture where they've lived for the past year in Bend to their new home just west of Portland. I had been asked to move them fairly quickly, and as I arrived with my van and my trusty handling partner, Liz, the owner and a farm hand were very much present to see that the boys got on their way, and clearly prepared to use some muscle in order to make that happen. The thing was, I had become very comfortable loading them according to Marty's trusted method - but always in a trailer! I had never ever tried to load them into anything like this van, with its high bumper and relatively low ceiling. But I don't have a truck and trailer, and under the time constraint I just had to figure we'd trust the method. We were allowed to back the van up to the gate to the boys' pasture, and decided to load them through the back but with the side door open so light would come in and it might not feel so cave-like. We endured a few eye rolls as we took a few minutes to herd them into the catch pen, halter them up, and lead them back to the van. I knew from experience that Woody tends to get in first, so I held his lead, hopped into the van, and moved as far back as I could. After a few seconds the farmer tried to 'help' by flicking him on the butt with a wadded up catch rope. "Please don't", I said. "I want to do this the way they are used to. Just give him a minute." I could feel all of the skeptical eyes on me, but I kept saying to myself, again and again, "keep a belly in the line. Keep a belly in the line." And sure enough, after maybe a minute of checking out the inside of this strange new trailer that came up past his knees, Woody just...jumped in! He bumped his head a bit on the ceiling, but no problem, and then there was Bob, queuing up to join him. I asked Woody to shift to the side a little to make way, took Bob's lead rope from Liz, and in came Bob. They closed all the doors, I took off the lead ropes, and there I was with a van full of alpaca!!! The whole process probably took 2 or 3 minutes once we led them to the back of the van. Unbelievable but true! As we pulled away, Liz and I could barely contain ourselves - what a moment of success, and what a nightmare it could have been if we hadn't been trained in Camelidynamics! Maybe some day I'll see if I can load them into the back of my Honda Fit... Cheers, Paulette, Bob and Woody
