If you’re wondering if you can ride a llama, the answer is yes – depending on your size and weight. Keep in mind that llamas aren’t typically used for riding, though, and are more used for other more practical purposes.
Can an Adult Ride a Llama?
Llamas aren’t particularly heavy animals, with an average healthy, fully-grown adult weighing approximately 350 pounds. This means that llamas aren’t able to support the weight of a typical fully grown man or woman. Adults are therefore not able to ride llamas.
Can a Child Ride a Llama?
Kids can ride llamas as long as they weigh less than about 80 pounds. While there are many farms that offer llama riding, llamas must still be trained to be ridden. So it would be a very bad idea to just allow a child to ride a llama when you have no idea of the llama’s history or prior training.
Can You Ride a Llama like a Horse?
A fully grown horse weighs anywhere between 900-2,000 pounds and can safely carry about 20% of its body weight. This means that everyone from small kids to fully grown adults can ride a horse.
When it comes to llamas, though, that have an average weight of 280-450 lbs and can carry approximately 20% of their body weight, you can see that it would be impossible to ride a llama like a horse, even though llamas can reach a top speed of 40 mph.
Where is the Best Place to Ride a Llama?
If there is a llama farm near you, it is possible that they might have a couple of llamas that can be ridden by children. It can be a nice additional moneymaker for some llama farms. If you’re really serious about riding a llama, though, the best place to go to is Peru.
As the oldest domesticated animal in Peru is the llama, llamas are very much a part of Peruvian culture and became particularly important in the country during the Incan Empire. During this time, llamas were primarily used to carry goods through the Andes mountains.
What this all means is that if you want to ride a llama, the best place to do so would be in Peru where there would be no shortage of opportunities to do so. However, the maximum weight limit of about 80 pounds would still apply.
How Much Weight Can a Llama Carry?
An adult llama can carry approximately 20% of its body weight. So a fully grown llama that weighs anywhere between 280-450 lbs can carry approximately 55-90 pounds.
This makes llamas excellent pack animals that can carry heavy loads in some very rough, challenging terrain. You can now probably tell why llamas had a very important role to play in Peru during the Incan Empire where transportation throughout the Andes was necessary, as well as through the rest of western South America. Llamas were also used for skin, fiber, fertilizer, and meat too.
Can Any Llama Be Ridden or Used as a Pack Animal?
Not all llamas can be ridden or used as a pack animal. In North America, there are in fact very few pack llamas that are bred, raised, trained, and conditioned for endurance packing. Training a llama to be ridden can be much simpler to achieve though, considering that a good pack llama needs to be able to carry an 80-90 pound load for 6-12 miles each day. These llamas can cost a lot to buy.
The best llamas for packing are very athletic, strong, tall short wool llamas. The Ccara llama breed is therefore perfect as a pack animal. Well-trained packers are usually at least four years old too.