The Hunt Country Cluster Dog Show at Historic Long Branch in Millwood Virginia

Rather than take our usual morning walk we had breakfast and were ready to head out the door for a little day trip to Millwood, Virginia. I was looking forward to seeing the Hunt Country Cluster Dog Show at the Long Branch House & Farm. We have attended the Middleburg Dog Show a couple of times in Octobers past at the Oatlands Plantation near Leesburg. The setting and time of year was simply lovely. And I had an opportunity to visit with my favorite Borzoi hounds. I had a gut feeling something might be amiss, and I was right when I checked not only the the weather forecast, but the latest information about the event. The weather update included a flood warning for the area - not unexpected for this entire month with all the rain around here. The Potomac River was over the banks yesterday here in DC. The event status stated the Dog Show was cancelled due to saturated grounds. After all, the show is held outdoors and everything would be very muddy. So we obviously didn’t go and decided to take our morning walk at a later time than usual. So I looked for dogs along our path. They weren’t exactly what I had in mind. I suppose I’m glad I checked before we left because I’m sure we would have both been annoyed if we drove all the way over for nothing. It would have been a pretty ride, but the day would have been over by the time we got back home. Now I’ll have to see if another show is scheduled. It must have been disappointing for all the participants. 

Long Branch Plantation and the Farms of Virginia

We usually go to the Middleburg Dog Show every October at the Oatlands Plantation. I love to check out the beautiful and handsome borzois, and it's a great way to get a fix! But this year, the venue was switched to Long Branch Plantation at the end of September and it was rained out. We were out of town anyway so we would have missed it regardless. So we decided to take a ride to Long Branch just to see the place. It's not quite fall here. So it wasn't as cool and crisp or colorful as is usual. This place was a bit further out, and it wasn't open on the weekend, but the grounds were drivable. Long Branch was built in the early 1800's. Now it is a place for retired horses on the beautiful farm and horse lands of Virginia. We drove through the gate and along the path and saw a few horses and crows. We swung around to the front of the house where tents were set up on the side lawn for a wedding perhaps scheduled later in the day. All in all it was a nice ride, but not quite as friendly as the Oatlands. I'm sure it's because it is what we were used to.