Well, technically, our 17th anniversary was yesterday, but December 1st marked our first full day of owning and operating Harvest View Stables, known at the time as Barkay Stables.

​It's been an adventure, and we've loved meeting so many wonderful people and horses along the way. Little Kish, a discarded Amish cart horse, moved in two weeks before we did. Rescued from slaughter, Kish became one of our most beloved lesson horses, learning to jump, and participating in shows, paper chases (his favorite) and even fox hunting and eventing.

Buccaneer joined us shortly after we got settled. A retired fox hunter, Buck is the horse who taught me to ride again after years away from the sport. We showed, did paper chases and fox hunted, and he was truly my first heart horse. He was a huge personality in the barn, and I miss him every day.

Since that time, so many great horses have touched our lives, but these were the two who started the journey with us. We look forward to many more years of doing the fun stuff with special horses and the people who love them!

Stay tuned for photos and maybe even some video!

Hi everyone! Here are the particulars regarding tomorrow's combined test. If you aren't riding, please feel free to come out and cheer for your friends. We can also use a few extra hands for jump crew, and possibly some readers for the dressage riders. (Readers are not permitted in official eventing competitions, but we allow them here, as we know many riders are first-timers and may have some nervousness about memorizing and riding their dressage tests.) Below is the current entry status. Just a reminder, entry forms and payment were due on Wednesday. There's a $10 late fee for those who are completing their entries after that time. For those viewing this post on a mobile device, please select website view to see the documents.

Below are the ride times. 

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. In the indoor arena, because it's smaller than regulation, I will have cones set by the sides to indicate the letters. Please enter the 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! If you have questions, ask me or any of the volunteers. Thanks for playing!

So many times this year I've said to myself, "Self, you must update the HVS blog." And then I'd get side-tracked with the business of running the farm. So here we are, well into autumn and looking toward winter, and I haven't done a single update. I do update our Facebook page with some regularity, especially the private group for our lesson students and boarders, so that's something, at least!

​We've had a fun summer of competitions and other fun at the barn, including lots of Riding Academy sessions, and one that included a sleepover!

One big new activity this year was our Event Team that was loosely based on Pony Club. We had four different levels of riders, and each month they participated in both mounted and unmounted meetings. Christina spearheaded the groups, and we had some really great sessions with lots of learning about the sport of eventing. Several of our participants volunteered as fence judges at some horse trials, which was a great way to get immersed in the sport!

We held our ever-popular Halloween Fun Show this month, and as always, the costumes were just amazing. Every year our riders out-do themselves, and this year was no exception. Here are a few photos:

This weekend we'll hold our annual Last Hurrah Combined Test. Posted below is the current entry status!

Looking forward to a fun weekend...bundle up, folks! Winter's nipping at our heels! 

It's been way too long since our last blog update, so here's the scoop on what's been happening:

We survived another winter, most of which happened in February, when we got the entire season's worth of snow all in one weekend. It was a challenge to stay ahead of the snow, and the little tractor with the snowblower worked overtime to clear the driveway, parking lot and paths to the pastures.

Fast-forward to this past weekend when we had our first clinic with Melissa Hunsberger of the season. Ten riders had terrific lessons, and we're looking forward to having her come see us more often, as she hopes to be relocating closer to home.

We have tons of activities planned for the coming season, so check our events page regularly. We'll have our Riding Academy sessions beginning in June, and beginning now, shows, horse trials, paper chases and clinics and volunteer opportunities. This Friday, we'll have dressage lessons with Kristin Severson, and we have our first spring fun show on the books for May 20th. Looking forward to seeing everyone out and about on horseback!

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!