Star Lance Farm, LLC

08/27/2024

As we prepare to leave on Thursday for the Colonial Classic, this is a friendly reminder of several upcoming closures we will be having. This means, no lessons on the following:

August 29-September 3 (lessons will resume normal schedule on September 4)
September 13-15
September 21 (Make-ups available September 22)
September 28-29 for PSHA & CJAI
October 5 (Make-ups available October 6)
October 16-23 (No Make-ups - lessons with my assistant trainer available during normal times)
November 13-23

I will connect with anyone seeking a make-up lesson for any of the above dates on or after September 4.

Thank you for your patience and support through our ever changing schedule!

Best wishes to all of our Colonial Classic competitors!!

08/25/2024

🤩

08/20/2024

Congratulations to Addy who correctly guessed the date SLF Docs Driftin Star (aka Branch) made his arrival! Addy was hoping for a girl, but she still won herself a free lesson by guessing the correct date!

Check out this cuteness of Addy, and her sister Lily, meeting baby Branch for the first time. Both Branch and Shallow have been checked by the vet and everything continues to go perfectly. We are all quite smitten with this cutie!

08/16/2024

I had someone ask me this week why attendance is one of the factors that affects scheduling.

I thought it was an odd question, because it has a pretty simple answer...open lesson times don't pay bills. So scheduling someone who isn't going to show up regularly isn't a good business decision.

But it really goes deeper than that.

One of the most profound lessons that horses teach us is commitment. Commitment to caring for them, commitment to bettering ourselves, and commitment to setting goals and achieving them.

If you aren't attending the lessons you scheduled (horseback riding or any other sport) regularly, you're missing this point. Your progress will be minimal and you'll end up frustrated.

Holding space for someone who isn't committed to that space will suck the life right out of you. (Read that twice, because it applies every single day of your life). It isn't just a financial drain. It's tough to get excited to teach someone who isn't committed to learning.

So yes, I'm going to schedule riders who are committed to learning and who attend regularly first. Their enthusiasm keeps me going when the day is kicking my butt. They remind me that this purpose is far bigger than just what is happening in the arena.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk. 🤣

08/16/2024

SLF Show Team!

Friendly reminder your Colonial entries are due by NOON TOMORROW! There are no exceptions and no late entries…get them in ASAP. If you fail to register on time, all SLF fees are still due in full!

Thank you!

08/04/2024

This team showed up and worked hard today!

Thank you to everyone who came out to support us and meet Pauly D.

We almost met our $1200 goal and raised $1172! Talk about amazing support from our friends, family, & community!

If you weren’t able to make it, our Venmo and CashApp is attached at the end of the pictures if you’d still like to make a donation today!

Reach out to a team member if you’d like to purchase from our R&K Sub fundraiser!

08/04/2024

I feel this!

Use your Mother Loven Flippen dog forsaken corners!!!! 😂 No seriously though. It makes a huge difference.

07/29/2024

And just like that, our calendar is full!

Good Luck to All!

If our big guessers, Tom or Jean win…they are generously donating their riding vouchers to one of our show team members. The winner will be chosen in a random raffle!

07/29/2024

You still have time to pick a date!

Mares can foal any time between 320 to 370 days. The average is around 330-345. Typically earlier if they smaller like Shallow. And earlier in the summer months.

Today puts us around 315 days! So we are getting ready for baby time!

Fill up the board with your guesses and the chance to win some free lesson vouchers. Two days left to get your guesses in to us.

$5 to guess a date for a free lesson voucher. Double down for an additional $5 and guess if it is a c**t or filly and win a second free lesson!

07/23/2024

Mark your calendars now and come out to support the SLF Show Team! Bring us all of your vehicles and help these hard working kids with the huge expense to attend their Championships!

Can’t make it? We will happily accept donations of buckets, soap, sponges, and hoses for this event ahead of time!

You can also make donations to the team via cash, check (made out to Star Lance Farm), or Venmo (-Heffelfinger-SLF).

Please share, share, share! We hope to see you on August 4th!

07/19/2024

Who wants a contest!?!?

Shallow had her last check today. And we are getting super excited for the newest addition to SLF!

Guess the date the baby will arrive for $5. Winner gets a voucher for a free lesson!

You can double down on your date for an extra $5 by guessing if it is a C**t or a Filly and we will give you 2 free lesson vouchers! Must have both correct to win 2 vouchers.

Only one person per date. Payment must be received to claim the date! Multiple dates allowed.

Send me those guesses and let’s fill the month!

Text or message with any questions. I will update the board as quickly as possible. Dates can be selected up until 7/30 and then we with close the contest.

07/16/2024

Horse friends, I need your input and knowledge because I know there has to be more out there…

What vets currently service our area (Dover, PA)?

I’m aware of Green Glen and Hess. Looking beyond those.

Anyone have a current working relationship with th Dr. Kraybill that can offer a review? He stitched up a horse for me when I was a teenager - heard some things over the years and wanted current feedback, preferably from within this year.

Was referred to Shepard’s Hollow for breeding - have a call in to them about what services they are currently offering and if they’d take on such a large amount of horses.

Who else is out there these days? There have to be more options! Google is barely helpful.

I wasn’t expecting to have to do this so soon. I’m struggling with a lot of emotions. I have a pregnant mare due within a month. And big shows coming that we need Health Certificates to attend…so, in addition to a lot of grief I’m feeling over losing such an amazing mentor, I’m freaking out over the foal coming and how to keep my business running smoothly.

Please give me what you have and any personal experience you’re willing to share. I’d like to explore all of the options.

07/15/2024

I am heartbroken 💔

This one hurts on a personal level. This man truly cared about his community and the animals. He has been our vet since the early 80’s…before I was even born. There are few people I’ve known for the entirety of my life. He was one of them. He took me on ride-alongs, taught me to do IV injections, and let me help do surgery on cows. The knowledge I’ve gained from being in the presence of this man will help me keep moving forward…but it’s going to take some time to process. He believed in my abilities as a farrier and never second guessed me. He often had more confidence in my abilities than I did and always pushed me to trust myself.

I’m not sure where we go from here.

I’m honestly not sure how to do this without you.

We will all miss you deeply, Doc 💙

View Lawrence William Samples's obituary, contribute to their memorial, see their funeral service details, and more.

07/09/2024

SLF Summer Closure Reminders:

July 10-14
July 19-21

No lessons July 17, 27 and 31st for Horse Shows.

Please text for make-up options.

07/08/2024

Congratulations to the members of the SLF Show Team who competed on Sunday. It was a very hot but successful show day!

- Corttany Carraway-Heffelfinger with Chips Lights Out, Every Other Memory and Just In Case
- Morgan Myers with You Rang, Moment of Victory and Just In Case
- Kairi Gilson with Every Other Memory, Feathered Indians and Chicks Dig It
- Jocelyn Armstrong with Chips Lights Out
- Addy Barber with SLF Rewrite the Stars and Stuck on Replay
- Lily Barber with Thanks But No and Stuck on Replay
- Katie Barber with Chips Lights Out
- Natalie Melchionni with Every Other Memory
- Allie Melchionni with SLF Rewrite the Stars and Stuck on Replay
- Megan Melchionni with Chicks Dig It
-Trainer B.J. Heffelfinger with Feathered Indians

07/04/2024

If anyone would like to join a group of us tomorrow night, we plan to go hang out and have fun at Penn National Race Course!

06/25/2024

We have various sizes and colors of sweatpants and joggers now available! Perfect for over your breeches or to represent SLF! Youth S - XL

First come, first served.

Not all colors available in all sizes. Will be available to look at/try on in person.

$40 for 1, $75 for 2 (additional discounts for quantities 3+)

06/22/2024

SLF will be closed for lessons from June 22 through June 26th. With the cancellation of our weekend shows due to the the temps, we are taking a few personal days. We will still be attending the TBHSA show as planned on June 26th.

Please feel free to reach out with any questions or to chat about rescheduling. We will make every effort to scheduled monthly pay clients first and we will ensure you receive credit for next month if we are unable to reschedule within this month. All other clients are welcome to skip the week or reach out for rescheduling options. I will do my best to respond as quickly as I am able to do so.

We appreciate everyone’s flexibility and look forward to the rest of our summer show season!

(Picture hint of the opportunity I was given! Most of you know the details, but for those who don’t…)

06/18/2024

Hot weather lesson plans:
Two truths exist simultaneously - horse welfare is of upmost importance and we don’t want to overwork horses in the heat, AND lesson barns can’t afford to just quit teaching because of inclement weather.

I honestly don’t see this as a problem, but rather a reason to get creative!! And honestly every time I get creative, my students benefit from it.

This week I’ve really been focusing on teaching my young students all about how we TRAIN horses. I have a young walk/trot student that worked on getting one of our ponies to be more patient during the switch cup obstacle. (You just lift a cup up off of one pole that is on one side of your horse, and set it on another pole that is located on the other side of your horse.) We talked a lot about how horses don’t come out of the womb knowing what humans want them to do and how we are constantly training. I had her do a whole lot of halting and then reaching down to her right toe, and then reaching down to her left toe, petting the horse, and then walking off again.

I’ve had a lot of students working with the garrocha pole at a walk. Hot days are great for introducing obstacles like sidepass, and opening and closing a gate while mounted. I just worked a Young Horse, and did lots of yielding the hind quarters and yielding the forehand.  I had one student walk a figure 8, and had her count steps on each side of the figure 8 and try to get them to match. When it’s this hot, I still have students trot and sometimes canter but it’s short and brisk! We will do frequent quick trot stretches to wake the horse up and get them in front of the leg, but we just don’t maintain it for a long.

It’s a great time to get really picky about mounting- do your students know how to correct a Horse that wants to swing the hip? Do they mount elegantly or do they leap up there and cling like a tree frog? Sometimes little habits creep in fast and this is a great time to fix them.

I’m also not above hosing a horse off before I work them.
I wouldn’t even mind telling kids they can show up in shorts, and we can do a ba****ck ride, and even let them take off their boots and socks, and put them on the fence while riding ba****ck. (I have done this and I then hold the horse while they go put their shoes back on before handling a Horse at all.) Heck- have them ride through a sprinkler!

Give your adults silly leadline Lessons!!! as long as you have quiet lesson horses, have them sit backwards while you lead them around- do all the silly exercises you would do with a four-year-old child. (honestly, the adults need it more!)

You don’t have to cancel lessons- but you sure shouldn’t be having horses and riders jump 3 foot courses on repeat when it’s 95°F.

Find some shade and work on simple flexions and yields. Teach your horses a trick… better yet, teach your students how to teach tricks to the ponies! There is plenty that you can still do!!

06/14/2024

👇🏼🫣

06/13/2024

Day 3 & 4 of Pony Camp included trail rides, ba****ck riding, and relay races!

06/12/2024

We’ve had a fun first two days of Pony Camp here at SLF!

06/06/2024

Last Chance!!

We have one slot remaining for Monday’s camp! If you forgot to get your kiddo signed up for something fun, now is your chance!

For those who submitted registrations, we are missing a few deposits. This is also your friendly reminder that remaining balances were due on Monday (one week prior to camp start date!) Remaining balance must be paid in full prior to Monday or there will be a $50 late fee applied!

Check your emails for details on your registration and how to prepare for your camper’s first day!

05/26/2024