HIGH SPICE ALPACAS

The Walking Lightly Difference

Someone once said, "I've known a lot of lawyers who want to be cowboys, but no cowboys who would trade places with them..."

Walking Lightly Farm was established in 2002 so that this lawyer could become, if not a cowgirl, at least a rancher...specifically an alpaca rancher. It is founded on, and dedicated to, the principal that we should walk lightly on the earth, nurture and love it, having dominion over it, not domination.

Alpacas are a "natural" for me! They are "environmentally friendly." Their padded feet do no damage to their terrain. They browse, so they don't destroy their pastures. They choose "communal poop piles" to it is easy to keep the farm clean.

A lawyer by profession, a conservationist by passion, a volunteer pet rescuer and puppy foster home, I have always believed in walking lightly on the Earth as its other creatures do. I recycle everything, avoid GMO foods, give the dogs homeopathic remedies, take in strays, hate crowds and cities, love and respect honor, truth, and courage even when it's out of fashion.

Walking Lightly Farm seeks to minimize negative impact on the environment, using the least intrusive livestock management techniques, while ensuring the health and safety of our alpacas for sale, who are closely monitored. Each receives individual attention daily. Good health is maintained through careful monitoring of their feed, regular veterinary consults, and sound herd management techniques. Walking Lightly Farm also seeks to live in harmony with its "living environment". Coyotes. Bears. Mountain lions. Predator control, essential in this area of Colorado, is based on non-lethal methods, including livestock guardian dogs (LGDs). Here especially you can see the Walking Lightly philosophy at work.

As near as I can tell, it takes about four years to recoup the original investment (or "debt"). Then you can begin to actually make a living. Not yet exclusively on fiber but on breeding and selling alpacas, building your herd, focusing on its quality, in both fiber and conformation (or "health"). Meanwhile, there seem to be tremendous tax benefits (talk to a CPA and check out IRS Pub. 225). And the fiber is in great demand.

Less than two years after my first "exposure" ("hua...wha...what?) to alpacas, I have a farm, a barn, a truck, 8 alpacas, and an LGD with two more coming soon, to come home to (to feed and water dawn and dusk and spend a lifetime fencing and cross fencing). So I'm at least Part Farmer now – or, as we single gals say, Single Alpaca Goddess (SAG?) -- Extraordinaire (SAGE)!

And yes, I think there's Gold in these Hills! Incan Gold! The rare, lovely, gentle, economical, environmental, treasure called the ALPACA! In this case, the High Spice Alpacas, of Walking Lightly Farm!

~ Suzanne Core

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