Our schedule has been packed with fun stuff lately, and again, I've been remiss about keeping the blog updated. Here are some photos of a few of our outings from the past few months...

We've had such a busy summer that I've neglected updating our blog. And here we are at the beginning of the fall season, and it's time to schedule our Last Hurrah Combined Test for Sunday, November 15th at 1 p.m. If weather and conditions permit, we will have the lower levels jump in the outdoor ring, and the BN and N riders will jump in the field. Entries close Wednesday, November 11th, so be sure to get them in early to avoid a late charge. Here's a link to the entry form (please note that use must use desktop view to see this on your mobile device):

In other news, we wish good luck to Alexis and Alyssa, who will be moving up to Beginner Novice at the Plantation Starter Trials on October 31st. Please come on out to cheer them on!

We'll also be hosting our annual HVS Halloween Fun Show and Costume Class on Sunday, October 25th at 1 p.m. We'll have games for all ages and abilities, along with a Costume Class with fabulous prizes for the best costumes. Here's a photo of last year's costume class winner Tammy Frye and Rigbie:

Sign up at the barn by Wednesday, October 21st, and let us know what horse you'd like to costume. We'll do our best to pair everyone up with an appropriate critter. Entry fee is $45 plus a snack to share. We'll also have a 50/50 Raffle to benefit our local horse rescue. Looking forward to seeing everyone and their creative costumes!

Thanks to everyone who came out to play at our Combined Test yesterday. We had a lot of first-time competitors, both human and equine, and everyone had a good experience. Steph Gernert was an excellent dressage judge, who gave encouraging comments to our (nervous) riders. Thanks, to Barb McIntyre and to Crystal Piaskowski for being our dressage scribe and jump score-keeper, and to our Christina Stamos for helping with warmups, jump setting and pretty much anything else that needed attention to keep our event moving. And thanks, also, to friends and family who came out to cheer and encourage our riders. When Dave and I wrote our business plan 16 years ago, a day like this one was what we envisioned.

Here are the final scores, and here's a link to our photo album on Facebook!

Here are our entries for Sunday's Combined Test for lesson students. We will accept late entries through today with a $10 late fee, so there's still time to join the fun. Stay tuned for ride times!

The pace hasn't slowed much, as our gang has continued to show, participate in clinics and attend our Riding Academy sessions. Some of our recent outings included the Twin Brooks Wednesday night Schooling Show, which was a nice practice run for the Lancaster 4-H County Show the following Saturday. The following Wednesday was the second Hunt Cap Show at South Branch Farms, then we had a great week of Riding Academy. check out the slide show for a peek at some of what we did over the past few weeks.

This weekend we look forward to our HVS Combined Test for lesson students, scheduled for Sunday afternoon. Today is the closing date, so if you haven't entered, please do so by the end of the day today to avoid the $10 late fee. We'll be posting ride times by Saturday morning.

On August 9th, we'll host a Combined Test for HVS lesson students. To be eligible, you must have taken a lesson at Harvest View within the past six months. We'll have levels from Tadpole to Novice. Stephanie Gernert will be our dressage judge. Please complete your entry form, and submit it with payment no later than Wednesday, August 5th.

We will assign dressage ride times by Friday, August 7th. 

Please walk your show jumping course when you arrive, and before you get your horse ready. Warmup area will be on the lawn up the hill behind the indoor. We will have some warmup fences set and flagged in that area. After dressage, go directly to the outdoor ring for your show jumping round (change tack if necessary). If you have any questions, please talk with Cindy. This will be lots of fun for everyone, so even if you're not planning to ride this time, please come out to cheer for your friends. Additionally, we'll need a few volunteers to help out with various things throughout the day, so if you'd like to give us a hand, please let us know! 

It's been non-stop fun at the barn this month, and this past week we managed to pack in even more activities than usual, beginning with the Hunt Cap Schooling Show at the beautiful South Branch Farms in York. Five of our students competed three of the ponies, and Christina brought Jackson along for a division and a school on the outside course. Everyone came home with big smiles and lots of ribbons. Here are a few pics of the gang:

Friday evening we had our second Spring Fling Fun Show, starting at 6 p.m. What a great change from the blistering heat of the afternoon! We had lots of fun playing the games and grilling some dogs and burgers. And it wouldn't be a fun show without a rousing game of Chase Me Charlie. This month's winners were Natalie and Patrick. Here are some photos from the evening:

And finally, on Sunday Tammy and Rigbie headed over to the Quentin Riding Club for the Cross Road Hunter Show, where they competed in the Adult Rider Division. Tammy has been working hard on increasing her confidence, and she and Rigbie are becoming a terrific team. They won their class over fences, and ended up winning Reserve Champion honors. Congratulations, Tammy and Rigbie!

This week is a little quieter, but we plan to go cross-country schooling on Friday, and then on Sunday, we look forward to an afternoon of lessons with Melissa Hunsberger. If you're interested in joining us for any of the fun stuff on our agenda, just email, call or text, and we'd love to see you! In the meantime, have a safe and happy Independence Day!

We've had such a busy week, and there's no sign of thing slowing down any time soon, as we've had no shortage of fun stuff going on at the barn. In addition to our regular lessons, last week we attended the Twin Brooks Wednesday Evening Schooling Show, had lessons with Melissa Hunsberger on Friday, went to the Lancaster County 4-H Family Fun Show on Saturday, then headed to Tranquillity Manor Farms on Sunday for the MCTA Summer Starter Trials. Our heads are spinning, but Team HVS has been doing great! Here is a slide show of some photos from all of the goings on:

This week we'll be heading to York for the first Hunt Cap Schooling Show of the season on Wednesday. Thursday and Friday we'll host our first Riding Academy session from 9 till 3. Kristin Severson will be here for dressage lessons on Friday afternoon until we start our Games on Horseback fun show at 6 p.m. Saturday we head back to Maryland for the Fair Hill Starter Trials, then Sunday, we finish the week staying closer to home and going to Quentin for the Cross Road Hunter Show. Lotsa fun for everyone!