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!

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!