playbook🐑
Shepherd for a morning
Spending a few hours with a shepherd on a heath. No tourist excursion, just walking quietly at a distance and watching how sheep move.
3u
duration
€ 15–35
budget
Ground
pace
Domestic sheep farming in the Netherlands is a dying trade, but in the heath areas there are still a handful of real shepherds who roam the fields with a flock of hundreds of animals. A few of those sheepfolds let visitors tag along for a morning. Not on the dog, not with a shepherd's crook, just walking along at a distance and watching.
What makes it special: sheep move differently than you'd expect. It isn't a herd of panicked animals, it's a group that follows each other and shifts calmly. The shepherd says little. The dog does the work. Walking alongside this procession for two hours on a heath is not meditation and not a hike, it's its own category. By the end you haven't touched your phone for two hours, and in 2026 that's an achievement.
Checklist
0 of 5
Schaapskooi gebeld, bezoek-ochtend bevestigd
Stevige schoenen of laarzen
Muts of pet, jasje
Wind op de heide
Telefoon op stil
Niet vibrerend
Vraag voor de schaapherder bedacht
Voor na de wandeling
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Atmosphere
by PlayTryBe team
A week ahead: call the sheepfold (Ermelo, Doldersummer Veld, Loonse en Drunense Duinen) to confirm visiting options.
0On the morning: leave early. A shepherd usually starts around 9, you want to be at the fold by 8:50.
Schaapskooi ErmeloAt the fold: watch how the sheep are let out. No shouting, no drama, just open and go.
Walk along at a distance. Ten to twenty metres, not beside the shepherd, not in the group. No unnecessary talking.
Twenty minutes in: the flock moves, the dogs circle around, one sheep wanders off, a dog steers it back. No drama, just work.
Halfway: stop, stand still, look out across the heath. The sheep carry on, you stay. Five minutes alone on a heath.
Walk back to the fold, sometimes with the flock, sometimes via a different path.
Afterwards: ask the shepherd something specific. How old the flock is on average, what the hardest part of the work is, how long they've been doing it.
5Two hours with a flock of sheep on a heath is a surprisingly different kind of morning than a walk. The rhythm is that of another creature, and you adjust to it. Afterwards, an ordinary walk feels faster than it did before.
For anyone copying this
Do as we did
Suggestions
- Call ahead to check whether visitors are welcome that day. Not every day is an open day.
- Sturdy shoes or boots. The heath is uneven and can be muddy.
- A hat or cap, even in September. The heath is windy and has no shade.
- No camera in your hand, one phone photo at the start and one at the end is plenty.
Variations
- - In de heideblok-tijd (augustus): paars-bloeiende achtergrond, andere foto-kwaliteit, ook drukker.
- - In de winter: kleinere kudde, korter rondje, andere stilte.
- - Met kinderen vanaf 7: jongere kinderen zijn niet rustig genoeg voor het ritme.
- - Combineer met heide-wandeling: na de schaapherder een uur alleen verder lopen.