Youth llama project introduces unusual animal

WISCONSIN -- It is shortly after 5 p.m., and the 12 llamas of the Blanchard household are huddled near the pole barn waiting to be fed.

It's dinner time, and they know it.

The dozen llamas make up a large portion of the Wood County Youth Llama Project, an organization that works with Wood County 4-H clubs and FFA members to teach students about llamas and animal care.

The Blanchard family initially got involved with llamas when Clay Blanchard, now 20, became interested in them through a friend. While showing his llama at the fair, the family was approached by someone asking why Wood County didn't have a youth llama project, which they didn't know was an option.

"We got started back in 2008, and the reason we did it was because Clay got into llamas through a friend," said Lisa Blanchard, who along with her husband, Duane, run the youth llama project from February through October each year. "We were approached by our judge that year to get a llama project going because there is more to llamas than just showing. You have the obstacle course, costume contest and all that stuff."

With the inaugural class involving a total of eight students, the program slowly has increased to 20 this past summer.

The program is open to 4-H and FFA members, and those who participate don't have to own their own llamas. Much like how horseless horse works for 4-H clubs, the project teams up with Floyd Zopfi of Stratford to make sure each student is paired with a llama.
"It's llamaless llama," Duane joked.

Participants start meeting about once a month in February, learning the history of llamas and developing an understanding of their anatomy and behavior. Around June, they start meeting once a week and will move out into the field where they'll start working personally with llamas, learning how to harness and handle them.

"The biggest challenge is matching the right animal to the right student," Duane said. "The young llamas are really small and cute, so all the young little kids want them, but they're harder to work with because they're untrained."

Now that Clay has graduated from the program, which is open to third-graders and older, the Blanchards say they'll continue to run the project in conjunction with the University of Wisconsin-Wood County Extension Office.

"We do it because we like it, and we are able to give that unique opportunity to the kids," Lisa said. "How many people can say they showed a llama at the fair? You can show cows, you can show pigs, and your lambs and sheep, but we're unique in that way."

(Marshfield News herald - September 28, 2014)