Elixir gets naked!

Day 1 of shearing 2012 is in the books and we ended up doing a nice round 70 alpacas today. Only 137 to go!

Below is the video I shot this morning of Futurity Judges’ Choice winner, CCNF Elixir, getting shorn. Minus a blip just before the blanket gets finished it’s pretty much start to finish. Not necessarily the most riveting footage if you’ve already seen an alpaca shorn before though if you never have, then enjoy.

For the uninitiated: while there are a few variations on the theme — shearing tables for instance instead of a mat on the floor — alpacas are generally laid on their sides and then immobilized by stretching them out using ropes and a block and tackle system. Though somewhat stressful for the alpacas, this also allows the whole process to take place very quickly and minimizes the danger of cuts to both the animals themselves as well as the shearers. It is however far less stressful and dangerous then trying to shear the animals standing up. I had bruises that lasted more than a month from the good old days back when we used to do it that way. Anyway without further ado I give you shearer extraordinaire Matt Best, Jennifer Lutz, Elixir, and the rest of the CCNF shearing crew…

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqrD-gdGSu0

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