It was 2003 when we got a call from an alpaca farmer who needed help caring for her paralyzed alpaca. The soft-saddle cart she had purchased was creating life threatening pressure sores in his groin that would heal if she continued to that cart. We told her that we thought an Eddie's Wheels would help, but having never met an alpaca, we would need to make a housecall.
Luckily Ben lived only a few hours from us, so we made the trip to his farm where he lived with half a dozen other alpacas. To complicate matter, Ben was an intact male and his groin tissues were infected. Eddie designed a custom saddle that supported him on his pelvic floor. Ben was paralyzed as a result of contracting meningeal worms. His legs are in spastic paralysis and are fixed in a flexed position. In order to accommodate this, Ed made a special saddle that would easy for him to get in and out of, and we put plastic fenders over the wheels to rest his legs on. Ben’s cart has 20” wheels that are raked at an angle for stability.
Ben lived for six more years, going out to pasture every day with his mates, and living the good life.