Alpaca Halter Training

It has been absolutely freezing in Northumberland today – a perishingly cold easterly wind, but at least we haven’t got any snow.  After finishing the morning feeding routine, we decided to do the day’s halter training there and then. Over the years we’ve learnt that alpaca weanlings are more receptive to halter training earlier in the day.  Actually my brain is better in the mornings too, but I don’t think that Mike would say that I was any more biddable in the mornings!!

We are really pleased with how the halter training is going – perhaps I should add “Alpaca Whisperer” to my list of credentials!  Just as well really as we are taking alpacas to the British Alpaca Futurity in March, which is not far away.  We had decided not to go this  year for a variety of reasons – one of which being that we had already sold two of our weanlings that would have been in our show team.  However, whilst Mike was away skiing last week, I booked the hotel, booked the house/farm sitters (aka my very kind sister Lucinda and her husband Andrew).  Having been so efficient in his absence, Mike could not possibly disagree that it was an excellent decision!  Nevertheless, it wasn’t easy deciding on our final show team – apologies to all those alpacas not included!

 

I realise that it is barely a week since I made the Piccalilli, and that you should really let it mature for at the very least 7 days but......yup you guessed it, we just couldn’t resist having some with our ham at lunchtime.  It was really, really delicious! I must admit that I was a bit concerned that it might have been a bit sharp-tasting, but it wasn’t at all.  The flavour was great and the vegetables crisp.  Mike now thinks that I should start making industrial quantities – He’s going to have to come to terms with the smell of boiling vinegar methinks!