“I had a horse get spooked once and jump off a ten foot drop throwing me into the air,” he says with a shiver. “Even the strongest running back holding a football could never do that.”

So why does he do it?

“I love the horses,” he says simply. “I just do. There is nothing in the world I would rather be doing. Nothing. I work with all kinds of horses. I start colts, which means I get them ready for folks to ride them and I work with older horses who are considered troubled horses or hard to deal with. We joke around the ranch about writing a book calling it 'Last Chance.' I am usually the last chance the horse has before the owners get rid of them.”


According to Hal communicating with horses is no different than communicating with human beings but with one important difference.

“Horses are honest,” he says. "They don’t say one thing and mean another. They will let you know exactly what they are feeling. They have simple needs and just want a peaceful existence.”

So what causes a horse to be troubled?

“The biggest mistake people make with a horse is to try to force them to do things,” he says shaking his head. “Horses need to be taught to do things. All it takes is a little patience and a willingness to teach.

“I see people make the same mistake with their kids," he continues. “They try to force them to behave instead of teaching them how to behave and loving them through the process. It really is that simple. It doesn’t have to be something cosmic. You just have to understand that each horse (and person) is different and be willing to get to know them.”

The road to success has been hard but Hal decided a long time ago that this is what he wanted to do.

“I refused to let other people’s beliefs stop me from making my dream a reality,” says Hal. “I may have started off life as a suburban boy on a bicycle, but I am a cowboy. I don’t let others define me. When things got cloudy and it didn’t seem my dream was coming through, I kept on, no matter what. A cowboy can’t go back to the ranch until their tasks are done. That’s how I made it through. I stayed focused on the task at hand. I kept my mind focused on the goal, even if I didn’t know the way.”

Defining moments happen in each of our lives. They drive us and shape us. Hal’s came early. He knew from a young age what he wanted to do and he overcame countless obstacles along the way. His reward is watching the an owner and their last chance horse come together.


“The look on their faces is all I need,” says Hal. “One of my most fulfilling moments in life came when a man named Frank and his wife sent me their filly to train. They had raised her since birth and she was quite high spirited.”

Frank was dying of cancer. His one last wish was to be able to ride the horse. Hal was literally his last chance.

“She was an incredible horse. I worked with the filly and taught her to enjoy the experience with a rider,” says Hal.

For Hal the look on Frank’s face when he rode her for the first time is the reason he does what he does.

“He got his last wish. Two weeks later he died. His expression when he rode her made it worth all the time and effort I put into the filly. It’s something I’ll never forget for the rest of my life."

How does Hal define success?

"My definition of success is any person who is doing what they love to do. It’s not money or fame, just loving what you do everyday. There is nothing else in the world I would rather be doing than helping people and horses to connect. Shortly after Frank died his widow sent me a note. That about sums up my view of success.”