Dozens of sheep walked through the streets of Balloo today. New shepherd Julie Teunen from the Balloërveld presented herself to the village and she did that by traditionally walking around with her herd.
The sheep ran from Zuidlaarderweg, just outside, via the Balloërstraat to their sheepfold. That end point is especially symbolic, because spending the night in the cage is currently not safe for the animals. The night stay of the sheep is not yet resistant to attacks of wolves and will therefore be adjusted to soon.
Since May, the sheep have been grazing on the Balloërveld, but during the village walk inhabitants of Balloo and donors were able to meet the animals and the shepherd for the first time. At the sheepfold, those present are presented with some goodies and they can look at a wool felting presentation.
Teunen is set from the large group of people who joins the herd during the walk. “No, I didn’t expect that much. But it’s nice to see. People are really happy,” she says.
The new shepherd is new to the herds in Balloo, but is certainly no stranger in the Drenthe shepherds world. She had been walking with her herd for several years over the heaths around Zeegse, Anloo and Schipborg.
This spring she took over the Balloërveld as a grazing area from the Shepherd’s Spar Marianne Dunkirk and Albert Duinkerken, which retired.
In the meantime, according to Teunen, the herd is already quite used to the Balloërveld. She wanted to take her own animals from the Schaapshudde Foundation to Balloo and that succeeded. Especially since she knows her own animals very well, but also because there were doubts about the paperwork around the previous herd.
There was a fight about this with the waving shepherds, who assumed that Teunen would take over their herd. Eventually the 370 Drenthe heath sheep of Dunkirk and Koopman left for a nature reserve in Noord-Brabant.
Teunen is now starting a new chapter in her shepherd’s existence with fresh courage. The tour through the village is in the taste and she is considering walking through the streets more often. “Not too often, but maybe once a year is a nice idea.”