Llamarada Hot Spots - our "Grand Old Man" - in memoriam
I originally wrote this article when Hot Spots was 16 years old. I had just updated it for his 17th birthday when he died, apparently from stomach cancer. We were crushed to lose one of the best llamas we have ever owned or been privileged to meet.
Hot Spots (by Papa Cocha out of Bonita Orador) was bred from Colorado stock we purchased from Howard Kerstetter, of Kahura Uyu Llamas in 1985, and was one of the second generation of llamas born on our farm. He made his appearance on August 13, 1988 when the temperature was 103 degrees! To make matters worse, his mama llama, Bonita Orador, was relatively small and he was very large - and he got stuck on the way out. So we had to PULL him out. Bonita was really thankful the ordeal was over. It's no fun being pregnant and very furry when the temperatures are that high! We were very ignorant in those days and didn't know that it's a really bad idea to breed your llamas for summer babies when your farm is in an area with very hot summers. Nowadays we breed for very late fall and winter babies only. (Conversely, people with farms in areas with very cold winters SHOULD breed for late spring/early summer babies.)
So here we had this large baby with spots all over, born on a VERY hot day. Therefore his name immediately came to mind. I actually wanted to name him "Hot Stuff", but frankly speaking, he wasn't the cutest baby llama I'd ever seen....
Hot Spots always had a wonderfully calm and steady disposition. He made countless friends at llama shows in our area, and participated in all kinds of public relations events such as parades, wine festivals, outings to the public library for children's reading events, and the like. For several years, he was one of our best pack llamas in our packing business. You couldn't have asked for a better friend on the trail.
He was a really big llama, with large stout bones - sort of the equivalent of a "draft horse" compared to many other llamas. He was not "flashily" colored, and his nose reminded one more of a camel than a llama, but he more than made up for it with a "golden" personality.
Hot Spots earned ALSA's Register of Merit for Public Relations. Despite many, many attempts however, this veteran pack llama never achieved his ROM in Pack - and eventually we stopped showing him in pack as he got older, because we started "babying" him by longer asking him to carry heavy weights while jumping obstacles. His inability to qualify for the ROM in either Pack or Obstacle wasn't because he didn't know what he was doing - we're sure that his handler (Dale) cost him the points he needed. HE certainly knew what he was doing, she just muffed it for him. However, since he was a real sweetie, we know he did not hold it against her. 8)
Hot Spots' most characteristic (and sometimes annoying) characteristic was that he felt that a very slow stroll was just the right speed. Although he could hurry, he REALLY had to be motivated. Most of the time, he was just glacially slow, which often hurt us in the show ring. It was also kind of a pain when we were in a parade! The other male llamas usually didn't mess with him because a] he was pretty big and b] if he did get annoyed then he stayed mad quite awhile and would chase the offender for quite a long time (guess he was using all that energy he had stored up by not moving around fast!).
One of his biggest claims to fame was that of a "Leaping Llama". Tom and I developed the "Leaping Llama" class for the Virgina State Fair Llama Show many years ago, based on the mule jumping contests we had seen when we lived in Indiana. In these contests, the llamas all go one right after the other and are asked to jump over an obstacle (usually a bar jump) set initially at 18". [Note, in the pure form of the class, the llama is NOT allowed to run up to the jump. He/she must take the jump from a standing start. However, we often see this rule marred by running. But it's intended to be a fun class, so it would be crass to raise this objection, IMO.] If any llama refuses (several attempts are allowed with no penalty) or knocks the pole down, then the llama is excused. (You are allowed to cajole, offer treats, etc. One friend of ours even showed a picture of a female llama to her male llama! This all adds to the enjoyment. All the contestants usually cheer on everyone else, offer tips to help, etc.) After all the llamas make an attempt, the jump is raised and the attempts continue. Last llama left is the winner. It's a great, fun class. Llamas cannot be forced to do this, they have to like doing it. Some people do not wish to participate, because they fear that this "trains" the llamas to jump fences. However, this has certainly not been our experience. Hot Spots, despite his relative heaviness, was in fact quite good at this and seemed to enjoy it. However, he would only perform, interestingly enough, if there were other llamas around. (He needed an admiring LLAMA audience, apparently.) He stood 42" at the withers (shoulder) but was able to leap (from a standing start) over a pole at 44" high! This means he was leaping something he could easily walk under. Of course he made a HUGE production about this, pacing around, moaning, acting like he just CANNOT begin to do this, and then BANG!, he was gracefully over it. He was really quite a ham. [Note, the best jump I ever saw was Ander Fleming's llama, San Andreas, who stands 41" at the shoulder, leap a 52" bar! (Running leap, though.)]
Hot Spots had just three babies - Swanhilda (a splashy bold bay appaloosa), Jack o' Lantern (a gorgeous bay paint, who sadly died before he was 6 months old), and Leapin' Lena (a solid brown). Through "Swannie" and her daughters he became a great-grandfather. His most recent grandchild was "Prima Dona", an agouti female daughter of Swannie (mama and baby shown here).
Our llama farm is has suffered a mighty loss in losing our grand old man. We mourn him to this day and when I go out to feed or work with my boys, I find myself looking for him - and it's a wretch to realize that I'll never see him meandering up to me again.