Our first official field trip of the homeschool year was a trip to the plantation home of one of the first settlers in the Shenandoah Valley. Belle Grove was built in 1797 by Major Issac Hite and his wife, Nellie Madison, who was the sister of our fourth President, James Madison.
Our trip just happened to coincide with the national Sheepdog Finals being held on the spacious property. Special activities for children had been planned and they seemed very happy to have us visiting. 16 families from our group came and of course, we had negotiated a very fair and discounted price for the day.
They divided our group of over 60 people into three sections. First,our small group watched a Blacksmith and his "apprentice" son make nails. It was very interactive and relaxed.
Next, we learned all about the different plants that would have been grown there during the 1800's in garden plots.This Master Gardener really knew about each plant and picked off a leaf from many for the children to smell and feel.There was a garden for herbs, medicinal plants, succulents (plants that hold water) ,plants that are used to make dye, aromatics, flowers for cutting to be used as table decorations, and vegetables.
The kids were encouraged to make sachets out of flower petals and green clippings from the fragrant plants.
Then we were treated to a sheepdog demonstration.This gentleman from Wales, who had the most beautiful accent, showed us how the dog follows his commands to herd, in this case, ducks!
You could tell that this man loved the sport of sheepdog herding and he was very effective at it. The Border Collies actually do a lot of their own thinking while herding.They are not rewarded with food but with more purposeful work.The dogs love it, too.
The next demonstration that our small group cycled through was put on by three officers from the ATF (Alcohol,Tobacco and Firearms) unit. They showed us how their Labrador Retreiver could sniff explosives in very minute amounts.This dog is trained to recognize 18,000 ( or was it 1800) scents!
They had a line of cans set up and some of them had some kind of bullet or bomb in them.The dog would stop when he smelled those scents and refuse to move forward until the officer investigated the can.They also had a line of different types of luggage in the back. The dog sniffed along each seam of the piece to get a scent from inside of it.The officer said that they really trust their dogs.
We had a picnic on the grounds in the shade. The day had grown quite warm!
The main event of our trip was a guided tour of the Manor House. The Docents let us into each room to really see it and explained the antique furniture and the lifestyle of the family. This was a 7500 acre grain plantation when the Hites owned it.Years later, the Civil War Battle of Cedar Creek would take place all around it. The house was not destroyed in the war because the Generals occupied it and made this house their headquarters.
After the House Tour, each family was on their own to stay to watch the sheepdogs herd or go home and put the baby to bed! We walked down to watch for a short while.People were there from all over the country and Europe competing in the Finals.
This Handler didn't do too well- even I could tell that these sheep were herding the dog! I've never been a dog girl but the folks here were passionate about this breed for this purpose.
The weather was sunny although a trifle hot for some.We thoroughly enjoyed our day in the country experiencing life the way it was in the olden days.It was great to have such a large turnout for a field trip and we are all looking forward to many more!
