How Rowan Flindall-Shayle got involved with alpacas

Rowan Flindall-Shayle, well known in the alpaca world, is both gregarious and passionate about alpacas since she first met them and found herself through her work, suddenly made responsible for a group of eight alpacas and having to learn how to care for them and deal with the practicalities of the how-to's e.g. shearing and toenail trimming etc. A wide-ranging discussion of her approach and experience, touching on shearing and toe-nail trimming as well as handling and using alpacas to help groups of children and adults. I first met Rowan when she visited a farm open day and later asked for some help with the new group of alpacas she found herself responsible for. I had known this particular group of alpacas for some time as I was helping support the previous owners with shearing and other issues. It was therefore nice to discover where they had ended up and make a new friend. Rowan has been a faithful supporter of our farm open days here at Welsh Valley Alpacas and is an honorary member of the team, always happy to help answer questions from the crowds that turn up. It has been my experience and I am sure you will find it too, that this is fairly typical of the generosity of the alpaca community. We discuss how 'normal' is a good benchmark if used carefully and how alpacas are complex simple animals. I hope you enjoy the conversation and maybe even learn a thing or two. All the best in the journey, Your friend Steve LINKS & RESOURCES Welsh Valley Alpacas - https://welsh-valley-alpacas.co.uk Alpaca Chat group on Facebook - A place to chat about all things alpaca, advertise alpaca related alpaca products, goods and services. Closed group but people involved with alpacas can be approved to join. Search for Alpaca Chat UK on FaceBook British Alpaca Society - UK breed society for alpacas http://www.bas-uk.com/ The Alpaca Tribe https://alpacatribe.comThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy