Carting/Driving with Llamas
This image shows a team of llamas competing at the Virginia Classic llama show (March '98). The black llama also competed in this same show in Singles, and won his class.
Driving llamas has to be one of the more interesting uses of llamas. This way, you can share your llamas with friends as you take them for a spin. Harnessing llamas in a pair arrangement probably makes it more enjoyable for the llamas as well, since now they have a "friend" with them. You can also use this type of cart to drive a llama singly, if you wish.
Historically, there has been real difficulty in training llamas to pull a cart, with only a few llamas being successfully trained, compared to the large numbers for whom this has been attempted. While Tom and I tried for years to understand why this was the case (out of 10 llamas, we had 10 failed attempts), we never got any closer to having a "driving llama".
Recently, new cart designs and methods have also revealed why our attempts were doomed to failure, and conversely, why having the proper equipment can make training llamas to drive about as difficult as training llamas to pack. Once you know how to introduce them properly to the cart and are using really equipment designed for llamas, driving llamas becomes the possible dream, instead of a frustrating impossibility. (As you can see, I am wildly excited about this new world that has opened up to llama owners!)
You need to distinquish between carts and harness that are basically just variations on a horse/pony driving theme and those really designed from the ground up for llamas. However, Chuck Jean's was the only kind that I was aware of that was commercially offered, although I hear via email that other llama owners have developed carts (and harnesses?) solely intended for llamas. Unfortunately, it appears that he is no longer making carts. Get recommendations on equipment before you buy - carts and harnesses are NOT inexpensive.
An update after 10 weeks and 12 - 14 short training sessions following our driving clinic: We continue to be impressed with the progress our llamas are making. Yesterday, we took them out to a large public gathering (an agricultural "expo". The boys did great! We had a wonderful time. The hardest thing was fending off all the kids (and some adults) who wanted to go for rides!
The rambunctious Canadians apparently also take llama pairs and carts wherever an All-Terrain vehicle can go. Get ready for some serious FUN!!
Or if you insist on working, you can drive out to a location, unhook the seat (and hook it to the back of the cart), load up the cart with firewood, etc, and drive the llamas back (of course, you would have to walk back....)