A horse is a horse of course of course.....

That is unless you are a llama? Named Sinbad?

Apparently he doesn't want me to tell his story? Oopsie! Sinbad doesn't know he is a llama. He thinks he is a horse. He grew up with several horses so that's the only life he's ever known. Apparently it can do weird things to a llama's perception of himself. 

And here is the rest of the story... Several years ago we adopted a beautiful, gigantic Shire horse named Bull. 

Bull's family had to re-home Bull and the rest of their animals. I was so excited to even THINK of owning a draft horse we scooped him right up. He settled in with our other two horses and promptly made friend with our little donkey Cassper, who bosses Bull around terribly. That big old 19 hands tall horse is last on the totem pole here? And his boss is little old crooked back Cassper? Bull is a typical draft horse- gentle and kind. 

A few weeks later we got a call from the gal who adopted Sinbad. We never met Sinbad, he had gone to his new home before we picked Bull up. She asked if we could take Sinbad too. Apparently her alpacas AND llamas were beating the tar out of Sinbad and she could NOT figure out why? Of course we said yes, we had heard how close he was to Bull. 

When Sinbad arrived I went into the barn and brought Bull out to the fence. They snuffled noses almost like they were saying, I am SO glad to find you-now we are home. It made me cry to see them greet each other that way. As if their hearts had been broken during their time apart. Sigh. Never try to tell ME animals don't grieve or remember each other!

As we've gotten to know Sinbad, we think we have the answer to why he did not fit into an alpaca farm. He truly thinks he is a horse. He is never far from Bull even though we have 7 of our other llamas out with the horses. Sinbad guards Bull AND the other horses, even Cassper. He really doesn't seem to worry much if the LLAMAS are worried though. He gets very upset if any of his horses are upset and will pace the fence with his ears back letting us know he does not appreciate OUR behavior. (we are usually just brushing them).

We were not expecting a llama/horse but he and Bull will be forever friends. I'm glad we can give that to them here. Watching Sinbad the confused (or maybe not?) llama go about his daily life is always a hoot. Specially if I am not handing out the treats fast enough! I adore that silly, mixed up fellow!

Smooches til next time! 

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