Blog Posts - Harvest View Stables

HVS Combined Test wrap-up

8/10/2015

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!

Ride times for tomorrow!

8/8/2015

Thanks to everyone for coming to our Combined Test, and thanks in advance to all of our volunteers who have helped with jump prep and with getting things done the day of the show. We couldn't manage without you!

Here are some guidelines for tomorrow, but if you have any questions about how anything should go, please feel free to ask.

Please park all of your cars on an angle in the grass to allow room for horse trailers to get turned around in the parking lot. Trailers may park on the grass next to the outdoor ring or in the parking lot facing out.

Please walk your show jumping course as soon as you arrive, and before you get your horses/ponies ready.

Warm up for both dressage and show jumping will be on the hill behind the indoor. Please jump all warm-up fences in the correct direction (red on right).

Enter and exit the indoor via the gate behind where the horse trailer usually sits. (It will be moved beside the indoor for the event.) In the indoor arena, because it's smaller than regulation, I will have cones set by the sides to indicate the letters. Please enter then arena when the rider before you has halted and saluted. You may trot around until the judge signals you to begin your test.

After the dressage, please go take a few warm-up fences, then head directly to the outdoor arena to do your show jumping course.

Please remember to have a great time! Thanks for playing!

Entry Status for our upcoming CT

8/6/2015

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!

Early-August update

8/4/2015

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.

HVS Combined Test for Lesson Students

7/11/2015

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!

...and if time permits, we'll have a round of Chase Me Charlie at the end!

The whirlwind continues

6/30/2015

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:

On Thursday and Friday, we held our first Riding Academy session. Riders learned lots of new skills, including how to apply polo wraps, how to tie a quick-release knot and how to use grooming tools properly. Our farrier, Scott Mohney, demonstrated hot and cold shoeing techniques and answered questions about hoof care. Riders did some bareback riding and tried some beginner vaulting skills, learned about first aid, trailer safety and how to identify different types of jumps in the ring. We're looking forward to our next Riding Academy session scheduled for the week of July 13th. For more information on our Riding Academies, visit our Events Page.

Delight was a patient model for the riders practicing their polo-wrapping skills.

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 if you think that's all the fun we had this week, well, you're not even close! On Saturday, Alexis and Domino braved the wind and rain to head to the Fair Hill Starter Trials where they competed in the Intro Division. They put in a nice dressage test, then rocked around the jump courses to finish fourth in their division. As they came through the finish flags what had been drizzle turned into pouring rain, so we were happy to get Domino back to the trailer and cooled off.

We are especially proud of this pair for all of their hard work and dedication to improving their partnership. It's really paying off as they are better and better with each outing. Not many photos this time, due to the rain, but here's a cute one of them getting ready for the dressage.

Alexis and Domino tacking up for their dressage test.

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!

Happy Tammy after a lovely trip over fences with Rigbie.

Tammy and Rigbie and their fantastic cheering section!

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!

The barn is bustling!

6/22/2015

Melanie and Meg finishing up a lesson on Brownie and Crumpet.

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!

Mid-June update

6/13/2015

Our jump field is set up and ready for fun!

Over the past few weeks, we've been getting our jump field set for lessons and schooling. This week we spent a good amount of time playing around over the new jumps. Both horses and riders enjoy the change of pace from the dusty ring. We've added some new footing to the outdoor, but the field is still the fun place to be!

Crystal and Cheer

Melanie and Delight pop through the little grid.

Alexis and Domino

Yesterday 11 riders participated in an afternoon of lessons with Missy Ransehausen. We split things up among the indoor, the outdoor and the jump field, and all of our riders came away with improvements in their riding and in their horses. Missy will be returning on July 10th, so if you're interested in joining us, please let me know by Wednesday the 8th.

Meg and Crumpet

Bridget and Jetty

Leah and Meadow

Catching up on the fun stuff!

6/1/2015

Tammy and Margaret enjoyed their lesson with Missy. Rigbie and Fynn were a slightly mis-matched set!

Wende and Cheer over the last and heading for the finish flags!

Alexis and Domino on the XC.

Kim Walnes gave Katie her introduction to biomechanics on Sunday.

Our season is in full swing, and we've packed a lot of fun into the past couple of weeks.

We kicked off Memorial Day weekend with an afternoon with Missy Ransehausen. We had a full schedule, and we kept Missy busy until nearly dark. We were all happy to have her back, and several new riders had the opportunity to ride with her for their first time. We'll look forward to seeing her again on June 12th, so if you're interested in getting on the schedule, please let me know.

Saturday was show prep day, and then Sunday morning, we were off to Burgundy Hollow for their Mix and Match. Cheer and Domino competed in the Starter Division, a very inviting two-foot division that is great for horse and rider confidence. Birthday girl, Alexis, put in a very nice dressage test, then rocked around the show jumping, really improving on their competition at EHHC. They had a little trouble on cross county, but they got around and Alexis came through the finish flags with a smile on her face. Wende and Cheer finished in third place after burning up both the show jumping and the cross country. Wende is in love with that pony, and they do make a terrific pair. We're looking forward to heading to Plantation for some xc schooling on Monday, and then we have an eye on the MCTA Starter Trials for the next outing.

On Memorial Day, Mindy and I took Patrick and Crumpet to Tranquillity Manor Farms for their annual paper chase. It was Mindy's first paperchase, and I think she's hooked. Crumpie loved it, and Patrick was his perfect self. We finished in second place - two minutes faster than the optimum time for the Zipper Doodles division.

This past weekend, we had dressage lessons with both Kristin Severson and with Kim Walnes, and in between, hosted our Spring Fling Fun Show. Whew! Lots of learning and lots of fun packed into a few days. On Wednesday, we'll head out to Twin Brooks for their Wednesday night schooling show, then Friday, Kristin will be back for more dressage lessons. Whew!

This month will be the start of our summer Riding Academy series. If you're interested, please check here for information!

Also...our next Spring Fling Fun Show will be held on a Friday evening at 6 o'clock. The date for that is June 26th...mark your calendars!

Congratulations and good luck to our riders!

5/22/2015

L to R: Tammy, Rigbie, Emily, Patrick, Bryanna, Sarah, Gadget, Kayley, Griffin

Team Harvest View had a really good day at the LAPS Benefit Show at the Lebanon Fairgrounds on Sunday. Emily and Sarah rode Rigbie and Griffin in the Shortest Stirrup and Short/Long Stirrup Divisions and brought home some nice ribbons. Tammy and Rigbie did a lovely job in the Adult Rider division, as well as Modified Hunters. Bry and Patrick were Low Hunter Champions and Handy Hunter Reserve Champions, and Bry won the Medal Class. (Go, Bry!) Kayley and Griffin also did very well in their first outing together, winning the Schooling Hunter Division Championship, and reserve in the Junior Equitation Division, along with placing third in the Medal Class.

Great job, everyone, including the very tired ponies who earned a day off on Monday.

Meanwhile, as the girls were getting ready for the LAPS show, Alexis and Domino were practicing for this weekend's competition at Burgundy Hollow. We went to Stonewood Farms, where she popped over some fences in the ring before heading out to the cross-country course. Here they are jumping Alexis's favorite fence, the bench.

Kayley and Griffin - Schooling Hunter Champions

Bryanna and Patrick - Low Hunter Champions; Handy Hunter Reserve Champions; Medal Class winners

Rigbie and Emily

Sarah and Griffin

Tammy and Rigbie

Good luck to Alexis, Wende, Gabi and Alexa, as they head to Burgundy Hollow this Sunday! Stay tuned for photos and a recap next week!