Just wanted to share the experience I had last Friday helping a local alpaca farm on shearing day…Fortunately the shearer has heard of TTouch but I don’t believe has any formal training. Although I was cringing at some of the handling techniques by the alpaca farmer, I kept my mouth shut. I consider all these experiences teachings…when to suggest something, when to let it be. At one point the shearer mentioned to the ‘head holder’ to keep doing circles on the alpaca’s neck and rub the ears, they like that you know….cue for me…I offered the ‘head holder’ to experience the touches on her back…I just said ‘Try to do what I’m doing on your back and do it on the alpaca’s neck. ‘Oh, that is very relaxing & calming, it’s so light!’ she said. Nice lead in to show her how to refine the ear touches when working with alpacas. A good reminder for me that I don’t always need to touch the animal, but can communicate the touch via the person handling the animal. Last year when I helped it was ‘before’ attending Marty’s workshops & training. I was a head holder and tried to keep my hold light, but realized I was still not giving enough space around the alpaca’s head…cradling the neck in my arms. This year I refined what I was doing. The alpacas were horizontal on the table, but I found it much more effective to apply the same technique used when the alpaca is standing….slide one hand under the jaw closer to the front of the mouth, the other hand I kept light on neck behind the ear, stayed behind the head. It seemed to me that the alpaca was freer to move head around to look at what was going on but I could move the head easier to another position if need be when the shearer was doing his work. I also did some light mouth work for alpacas that were a bit more reactive on the table. This was such a different experience for me than last year! Alpacas remained calmer and didn’t fidget as much. I was much calmer too!
