Ethan and the Llamas

Brenda and her Hippo-therapy indoor ring with shade

I do not want to tell tales out of school but I have a friend.  She is also a customer of ours at Horse Fly Nets, so we must be kind to her. Brenda runs a Hippo-therapy  program at Springfield Hippo-therapy, a facility in Earlysville, Virginia.  To run the program it is necessary to keep several gentle and kind horses on board for the children to use.

But, one of these lovely horses would be a nice guy for the program if it were not for the fact that when he has his days off to trail ride and stretch his legs he needs to travel past a llama owned by a neighbor. His fear of the llama is becoming legendary and escalating.   Brenda has good horse sense but was challenged by Ethan’s phobia.

Ethan, part Quarter Horse and part Haflinger

Not only was Ethan frightened, it was carrying over to cattle.  Ethan was not suitable for the therapy program.  Brenda, not being a quitter, decided to desensitize the scaredy-cat,   Ethan, with some borrowed llamas, found on Graig’s List. Ya really.

And, so one cold winter day Brenda and a friend started off with an empty trailer for a two hour drive to pick up two lovely ladies who had been located and were available for a short loan of 3 months. Llamas travel in horse trailers lying down.  It seems that would be the most comfortable way to go. Horses never seem to do that, even in a stock trailer.

Llama farm

A nervous Ethan snorting

The girls, Chiffon and Tamarick         travelled well and took charge of themselves finding wonderful leaves and trees to nibble in the woods as well as a fresh stream. Ethan took off for the furthest corner of the adjoining pasture giving some blows and snorts unknown in the equine repertoire.  Slowly as the days passed Ethan and the other horses were brought in close proximity to the girls.  Eventually it was time to put the llamas into a fabricated stall , made of our Horse Fly Nets, in the barn.  Ethan had to approach to get his evening meal in the run-in-shed.  But the blowing and snorting continued. And so it continued for several days with progress measured in inches.  But, the inches became feet and eventually Ethan joined the other relaxed horses in his herd and tolerated the big eyed adorable girls enough to look at them.  But friends he will never be and my latest email from Brenda says,

“Ethan’s kind of at a plateau. He does not like the llamas, he will walk toward them but get no closer than 60 feet or so. He snorts and trots off. He follows me out to the pasture even if there is food out for him (strange indeed). I think I’ve just totally blown his mind.”

And, so we are left with the question.  Why is one horse afraid of llamas.  His herd learns to accept the new comers.  What was it in Ethan’s early childhood development that caused fear of one adorable big eyed species of mammal?   My theory, once upon a time Ethan was in the circus and his neighbor in the big tent was a llama who spit on him. He will never forget the insult.

llama in her stall made of Horse Fly Nets