In the 1920s and '30s, the horsewoman Ellie Wood Keith would gather children and their ponies near Charlottesville. She led them across town, over Free Bridge, and out to Keswick for the horse show. The ride took several hours before anyone entered a ring. Free Bridge is now the gateway to Pantops. The show that drew those ponies east was set to come home to the Keswick Hunt Club grounds on Saturday, October 3, 2026. According to The Scout Guide's September preview, it was the first show held there since 2019.
That Saturday was also the most public day the hunt calendar offers all year. Over the next three months, most of the Club's season takes place on private farms by invitation. Outside the Club, the season shows up in two places: the tasting rooms along the hunt's roads and one Thanksgiving morning at Grace Episcopal Church.
The show was built for people who don't ride
The Keswick Hunt Club was founded in 1896, when 19 local men formalized a foxhunting tradition that had already run in the area for generations. Its first horse show was held on May 26, 1904, under Master of Foxhounds Julian Morris. The Scout Guide calls it the second-oldest horse show in the United States. Early spectators could arrive by train because the lower ring sat close to the railroad tracks. The upper ring came later, in 1957. In recent years the show's name carried on at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, which hosted a four-day show in May 2025.
The organizers designed this year's homecoming for a wide crowd. In The Scout Guide's words, "you don't need to know the difference between a hunter and a jumper to enjoy this horse show." The Club's program ran into the evening:
- A Rancher Hat Bar tent from 2:00 to 8:00 p.m., selling custom wool cowboy hats for $125
- Tailgating around the upper ring starting at 6:00 p.m.
- Leadline for juniors
- Hunt Night, which brings foxhunting traditions into the show ring
- A hospitality tent open to everyone, at $100 per person with children free
Merrie Mill Farm & Vineyard and Feast were on the vendor list. We haven't seen a post-show report yet, so the result sheets and photos still need to come in.
On October 17, the season moves onto private land
The Club's Fall 2026 fixture card takes over from here. Opening Meet is Saturday, October 17, at Cloverfields. Over the following weeks, meets rotate through farms and estates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, with some Fridays added in November:
- Quarles Mountain
- Edgehill
- Old Keswick
- Rocklands
- Cismont Manor
- Sunny View Plantation
- Ionia
- Green Springs Plantation
- Mount Sharon
The Club's territory covers parts of Madison, Louisa, Orange and Albemarle counties. The Club credits the landowners who allow hunting on their property, writing that "without their hospitality we would be unable to enjoy the sport."
That hospitality comes with limits, and the card prints them plainly:
Access to any land during a foxhunt DOES NOT give permission to ride across the property at any other time.
Joining a hunt takes an invitation from the Masters and a sponsoring member to ride with you. The Club's glossary defines "Hill Toppers" as people who follow hounds at a distance on horseback or by car. That's a description of how hunting works, though, not a standing invitation to follow every fixture. For most people in Keswick, the season looks like trailers parked along a farm lane on a weekday morning. From Opening Meet until the week of Thanksgiving, meets on the card move off at 9:00, and the card says "Hounds will move off promptly."
Weather can change the plan. The Equine Welfare Society and KHC Fall Hunter Pace, set for today, October 4, is listed as cancelled on the Club's calendar. The card asks anyone involved to call the hunt monitor at 434-296-9405 on the morning of a meet in case weather or landowner wishes cause changes.
The tasting rooms wind down as the hunt picks up
Put the two calendars side by side and they move in opposite directions. The hunt's schedule fills up in late October, and that's the same stretch when the outdoor series at the vineyards come to a close.
| Week | Hunt Club card | Open to the public nearby |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 10–11 | Pre-season | Merrie Mill's 5th Biannual Art Festival, part 2 (Oct. 10); Keswick Vineyards Fall Oyster Roast (Oct. 11) |
| Oct. 17 | Opening Meet at Cloverfields; Landowner & Board of Governors' Party | |
| Oct. 24–31 | Meets at Old Raptor, Old Keswick, Rocklands and East End; Virginia Hunt Week (Oct. 26); Gone to Ground Halloween (Oct. 29) | Merrie Mill's final Sunday Jazz and Blues (Oct. 25), final Friday Sundowner's (Oct. 30) and Nocturne II Halloween Ball (Oct. 31) |
| Nov. 7 | Montpelier Races | Merrie Mill's Friday hours now end at 5:30 p.m. |
| Nov. 26–27 | Thanksgiving Blessing of the Hounds | Merrie Mill's Black Friday Music with Wavelength (Nov. 27) |
| Dec. 5–12 | Christmas Hunt Breakfast (Dec. 12) | Merrie Mill's Annual Holiday Market (Dec. 5) |
| Dec. 26 | Gone to Ground Boxing Day |
Keswick Vineyards' oyster roast is the last big outdoor afternoon before Opening Meet. It runs from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, October 11, with Salty Bottom Blue Oysters and live music from Henley & Lou until 4. Food and activities will be set up at Barrel & Board and around the vineyard.
Merrie Mill holds its last outdoor events in the same week the hunt season picks up speed. The final Sunday Jazz and Blues falls on October 25, the day before Virginia Hunt Week begins. The final Friday Sundowner's is October 30, and the Nocturne II Halloween Ball runs from 5 to 11 p.m. on October 31. Starting in November, Merrie Mill's Friday hours drop from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. down to a 5:30 p.m. close, and that schedule holds through the end of April. April is also when the Club plans its two-day spring horse show, listed for April 24. For a non-rider, Friday evenings at Merrie Mill run on almost the same calendar as the hunt season.
Thanksgiving morning is the one hunt event on the card that's open to everyone
On November 28, 1929, Grace Episcopal Church held a "Blessing of the Hounds" service, one of the first in the country. The church has held it every Thanksgiving Day since. It's an outdoor service, cider and doughnuts are handed out beforehand, and riders from the Keswick Hunt Club set off on a fox hunt once it ends. Grace says it draws up to 1,000 people and traditionally collects donations for local animal charities.
Thanksgiving falls on November 26 this year. The Club's card lists Kinloch at 10:00 that day, next to the Blessing of the Hounds line. Through the rest of October and November, the card's meets start at 9:00. In 2025, a public event listing gave the start as 10 a.m. and said attendees were welcome to follow the hunt across the road. Grace hasn't posted a 2026 time yet, so check the church's page as the date gets closer.
The Blessing is the one morning when the hunt you'll otherwise only glimpse from Route 22 gathers where anyone can stand and watch. On the other fall mornings, the hounds and riders are behind farm gates. On Thanksgiving, they're in a churchyard with a crowd and a table of doughnuts.
Grace's grounds are getting new public spaces
The church's own plans give the Blessing crowd something new to see in the coming years. Grace says construction of a seven-circuit labyrinth is set to begin in 2026. A 2026 Diocese of Virginia Habitat Restoration Grant will also support its wildflower meadow. The church hasn't announced a fall start date for the labyrinth, so it may or may not be underway by Thanksgiving.
The week before Thanksgiving, the card lists a Junior Meet at East Belmont on Saturday, November 21. The season's social events end with the Christmas Hunt Breakfast on December 12 and Gone to Ground Boxing Day on December 26. Merrie Mill's Annual Holiday Market on Saturday, December 5, is the last date on the public side of the table.
Keswick's calendar of farm names, traditions and landowner goodwill matters to us at Better Homes & Gardens Pathways because it's part of what a home here comes with. If you live in hunt country and wonder how a season like this shows up in what your property is worth, we're glad to talk it through. Request your free home valuation, and we'll put together a picture grounded in the Keswick you know.
