About

About Us

A family of professionals, none of us has been born into farming. We started by keeping horses in 2015. The aim was always to keep them on our own land, which took some time to achieve. Acquiring our own land gave birth to the strange force to collect more animals! Fred and George the pygmy goats joined the family, shortly followed by an exponentially, and often unexpectedly, increasing number of chickens.

In 2020, Alice spotted a video of a young alpaca on Facebook. “This must be photoshopped,” she thought. “Nothing could be this cute in nature.” A visit to Charnwood Forest Alpacas followed, including a full-day husbandry course. “This will give me a good idea of what it’s like to keep one; at worst, in the unlikely event I do decide to buy one, I’ll know what to do.” That was the naive thought at the time, including the laughable notion of having “one” alpaca.

Fast foward to today, we have 4 boys and 5 girls on the farm, with 4 crias expected in June/July 2024. Our alpacas are registered with the British Alpaca Society and are actively shown on the National show circuit. Every year we make breeding decisions with the aim to improve the fineness and uniformity of the fleece. Our boys are very curious and friendly, amenable to walking and very happy to spend time in therapy sessions. Our girls who are in the breeding programme are not distracted from their important work, so we do not ask them to walk or interact with people, unless they choose to.

The farm is a home to 3 retired horses, 9 alpacas, 2 pygmy goats and 15 chickens (as of today). Our family also has 2 dogs, 2 cats and some fish. We have recently moved to the land at Breach Farm near Lutterworth and have lots of exciting new ideas of how to expand the farm. Our chief aim is to create a beautiful nurturing space for our beloved animals and to share the joy they bring with others. Their well-being and safety always come first, and we dedictate significant resources to ensure that they are cared for like superstars (which they fully believe they are).

Alice is a psychoterapist and professional coach in her spare time. She also runs an accountancy practice in her other spare time. Her husband Ruslan is a professor of mathematics most of the time and a farmer in his spare time. Their daughter Dara is busy being a teenager and can’t understand why mum and dad chose this way of life. Secretly, she loves all the animals. The farm is being guarded by Max the black lab mix, who is being kept in check by May the golden retriever.