What is it, you ask? It is the lama. The lama project was new to 4-H in 2008 and in its first year alone we had 15 participants in the 4-H show on Saturday of the Freeborn County Fair. It is projected that in 2009 this project will grow in numbers. There will be more lamas at the county fair as well as exhibitors. The 2009 show will again be on Saturday in the Indoor Judging Arena starting at 3 p.m. It will be another interesting show to come and watch. The exhibitors will have the opportunity to show their lamas in the following classes: halter, showmanship, obstacle, public relations and costume.

To prep all of these animals for the county fair, lots of hours of time must be put into each lama in order for it to perform at its best at the county fair. Each Tuesday of the summer months starting in June, the lama kids along with their parents and their animals, meet at the fairgrounds to practice for two hours. They work on the different obstacles that we have created, work on different handling positions with their lama, and proper form and technique of the person showing the lama. It takes a lot of time to get ready for the county fair.

Here is a little history of the Minnesota 4-H lama project. In case you are wondering why I keep spelling it lama and not llama, here is why. If you spell lama this way it means that you are incorporating both llamas and alpacas. If you spell it llama then you are just referring to llamas only. Since 4-H doesn’t leave anyone or anything out, spelling it lama means that we can have a wide variety of entries in the 4-H lama show.

Lamas are used for a variety of reasons. They are used on farms to scare off prey that may come into the farmyard. They are used in nursing homes as care and companion animals. Their wool is used to make items such as clothing and rugs. They can also be used as a bodyguard because when a lama feels threatened it spits on its prey. So watch out if you get spit on by a lama. You now know what it means!

If you wish to see the lamas in practice, drive through the fairgrounds on a Tuesday night around 6:30 p.m. starting in June. Our dedicated 4-H’ers, their parents and their lamas will be hard at work getting ready for the Freeborn County Fair in August.

If you wish to be in the 4-H lama project or any 4-H project, please give the Freeborn County Extension Office a call at 377-5660 for further information.

Amy Wadding is a 4-H program coordinator for Freeborn County.