Halfmoon Creek Farm, LLC

02/08/2025

27/07/2025

I always say- “don’t steer them like a bike!!” This is why!!

This image shows how even slight misalignment in your seat, hands, or legs can send your horse off balance! 🚲

On the left: the rider treats the horse like a bicycle, steering with their hands and turning their body, causing crookedness and uneven pressure. Look how the horse’s body twists out of alignment as a result.

On the right: the rider is centred, balanced, and riding with even contact. Their aids are aligned with the horse’s body, leading to straightness, relaxation, and connection through the back.

💡 Your horse mirrors your position.
Ride in harmony not control. The goal isn’t to steer like handlebars, but to guide from your core and seat.

( image found off pinterest )

19/07/2025

Good riding requires that we re wire our natural instincts. When we get afraid, we tip forward, or clutch, or pull. We stop breathing, and somewhere deep down we hope the horse will adapt and take care of us. But a good steward takes responsibility: it is our duty to practice honing our reflexes. It is our job to practice controlling our position, our breath, and learning to create a productive mindset.

It is the hardest thing in the world to do to control our natural instincts- but it is the most important. And expecting the horse to adjust to us without the necessary skills is folly. Take the time, put the hours in, get a good coach and an appropriate horse, and master your body and mind.

08/07/2025

Ask 100 horse professionals what the most difficult part of running a business is these days, and I bet 95 of them will tell you that it’s finding, training and retaining good workers. Why is it so hard? Is it really worse than it used to be? Are there ways we employers can do it better?

06/07/2025

🤍✨ We love this local show series! ✨🤍

Thank you Shannon Cogan for helping us with another year of sponsoring!

25/06/2025

Proud to support the State College Series Horse Shows!

A small introduction to our 2025 sponsors!! We thank you ALL for the continued support to help make this show the best it can be for all of our exhibitors! 🤩

21/06/2025

20/06/2025

16/06/2025

It’s that time of year again….graduation season.

Each year we see colleges & universities sending newly minted graduates off into the world in search of jobs & career opportunities….& then the posts begin.

“Looking for a position on a farm, I have a degree in XYZ, not looking to clean stalls.”

Sigh.
The horse industry is a funny one for a few reasons: the horses don’t care if you have a degree, the messes still have to be cleaned up, & the more important you become, the more hours you will have to work. Doesn’t seem fair, does it? You know the next part of that statement: life isn’t fair. If you want to own a business, there are a lot of steps between graduation & your final form as a farm owner. Then comes the dirty little secret….

If you’ve made the conscious decision to join the equine industry, there’s a good chance that you’ll end up with a pitchfork in your hand at some point. Nobody is too good to clean stalls, nobody is too educated to clean stalls.

I own the farm, I run the business, I breed & train horses. My degrees are still in the envelope that the University of Kentucky mailed them to me in…15 years ago. They’re not hanging on my wall…but these brand new DuraForks are!

So pick your favorite, & jump in, there’s plenty of work to be done. I call a turquoise one.

15/06/2025

Author is believed to be a William Steinkraus
Read , let it sink in, then read again :

“No. 1. Get your tack and equipment just right, and then forget about it and concentrate on the horse.

No. 2. The horse is bigger than you are, and it should carry you. The quieter you sit, the easier this will be for the horse.

No. 3. The horse's engine is in the rear. Thus, you must ride your horse from behind, and not focus on the forehand simply because you can see it.

No. 4. It takes two to pull. Don't pull. Push.

No. 5. For your horse to be keen but submissive, it must be calm, straight and forward.

No. 6. When the horse isn`t straight, the hollow side is the difficult side.

No. 7. The inside rein controls the bending, the outside rein controls the speed.

No. 8. Never rest your hands on the horse's mouth. You make a contract with it: "You carry your head and I'll carry my hands."

No. 10. Once you've used an aid, put it back.

No. 11. You can exaggerate every virtue into a defect.

No. 12. Always carry a stick, then you will seldom need it.

No. 13. If you`ve given something a fair trial, and it still doesn't work, try something else—even the opposite.

No. 14. Know when to start and when to stop. Know when to resist and when to reward.

No. 15. If you're going to have a fight, you pick the time and place.

No. 16. What you can't accomplish in an hour should usually be put off until tomorrow.

No. 17. You can think your way out of many problems faster than you can ride your way out of them.

No. 18. When the horse jumps, you go with it, not the other way around.

No. 19. Don`t let over-jumping or dull routine erode the horse's desire to jump cleanly. It's hard to jump clear rounds if the horse isn't trying.

No. 20. Never give up until the rail hits the ground.

No. 21. Young horses are like children—give them a lot of love, but don't let them get away with anything.

No. 22. In practice, do things as perfectly as you can; in competition, do what you have to do.

No. 23. Never fight the oats.

No. 24. The harder you work, the luckier you get."

Credit believed to be William Steinkraus