Benny and the Jett (the poodle of the livestock world)

And our new animals are…

Two young male alpacas, Benny (2) with the mutton chops and Jett (3) with the awesome hair-do. My Loving Spouse had his play list all ready and hit Elton John’s ‘Bennie and the Jets’ as we left the farm to pick them up. As Elton’s lyrics say, ‘our weird and wonderful’ new animals.

We had just recently discovered all the positives of alpacas.

• Comedy
• Hypo-allergenic fleece
• Non-aggressive
• Easy on fences (huge plus)
• Eats almost any grass and weed and doesn’t need much
• Weighs only about 150 pounds
• The herd picks a spot and poops in it. Everyone, seriously!

Our dear old boys (horses) are really getting on in years and cannot be ridden. We are also getting on in years and have decided that our horse riding days are over. A sad decision, but there is so much we’d still like to do, that getting thrown off of a horse would mess up, that it was the right decision for us. As our horses age, we’ll still need someone to help the cows eat the grass. Everyone was interested to meet the new additions.

The cats and the alpacas did not know what to make of each other. Sundance, My Loving Spouse’s horse took one look at them and took off. He wanted nothing to do with them. My Loving Spouse is researching how to build a loom out of old sewing machine parts. Our Sweet Neighbor Sue hits it off with Benny.

Our animals bring us such joy and sorrow. The next morning, my horse Beau was standing in the far corner of the North Four. We’re not sure how long he stood there, but he wouldn’t leave Sundance who was down and had died. The bossy red horse enjoying grass one day to gone the next.

The humans and Beau are sad, as is right. We worry about Beau, a herd animal. Surprisingly, of all things, he finds comfort being near Benny and Jett….

…and so we are blessed.