Heads and Halters - Alpacas and Llamas

Page 2

Look at the bone structure of this same male alpaca and llama from another angle. Looking down from the top we can clearly see that very narrow area of solid bone.

                            Alpaca                                   Llama

With only this small area of bone for safe and proper fit, how is it likely that we could ever purchase a halter without bringing along our alpaca or llama for sizing? Just as no two humans have precisely the same face shape and size, neither do our animals.

Halter Design

All halters should have a noseband, cheek pieces, throatlatch and crown piece though I have seen some that were missing one or more of these elements.

Understanding the functional details of each piece of the halter is equally important. The longer the cheek pieces, the further down the nose the noseband must sit or the further down the neck must sit the crown piece - sometimes, both. The throatlatch serves to stabilize the bottom of the noseband as well as assist in minimizing any shift from side to side. It is most useful to have a longer crown piece with a number of holes available for optimum adjustment.

Photo Courtesy of
Thompson Hollow Alpacas

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