Horsemanship, Life Skills, and Relationship Building

GaitWay

Dream Catcher

The Dream Catcher program is for women of all ages (19+) who are ready to grow, reflect, and step into the next chapter of their lives—supported by a community that believes in their potential.

At a time when life feels full of questions—about who you are, where you’re going, and what really matters—the Dream Catcher Program offers a space to pause, dig deep, and rise with clarity and confidence.

Participants engage in real-world experiences that grow their leadership skills, emotional intelligence, and sense of purpose. This isn’t therapy, and it’s not school. It’s where life skills come alive.

Use the link below to sign up or email Summer Love at summer@gaitwayinc.org for more information.

GaitWay Dream Makers Graduation Celebration

Dream Chasers at a Grance

GaitWay Dream Catchers - Root

ROOT

Anchor yourself in responsibility and self-awareness.

Participants take on meaningful roles in ranch life—caring for horses, maintaining the land, and contributing to the rhythm of the day. These hands-on experiences not only build reliability and personal responsibility, but also offer a chance to slow down, breathe deeply, and root themselves in the here and now. As they connect to the present moment, they begin to connect more deeply with themselves—learning the value of showing up, following through, and being someone others can count on.

RELATE

Grow through connection, community, and honest feedback

Through unmounted horse work and instructor-guided sessions, participants explore communication, boundaries, and trust. Horses offer non-judgmental, immediate feedback—revealing how we show up in relationships and helping us shift into better versions of ourselves. Alongside this, participants form meaningful bonds with other like-minded women who are also on a journey of growth. Together, they create a space of belonging, encouragement, and mutual support.

GaitWay Dream Catcher - Relate
GaitWay Dream Catcher - Rise

RISE

Activate leadership, purpose, and next steps.

Each participant explores her goals—personally and professionally—while gaining tools to navigate challenges, take initiative, and make empowered choices. Whether she’s stepping into a job, a classroom, or a calling, she leaves with the confidence to pursue it with grit and grace.

Our Core Values

Kindness

To be kind is to be considerate, compassionate, and have empathy for others. Whether we are being kind to humans or horses, this is our baseline value. We lead with kindness in all situations.

Caring

You can, and should, be kind to all beings. But you can be kind without caring about someone else. To be caring you must have a genuine concern for someone. Caring for others builds trust, intimacy, and strong, valuable relationships. Caring takes kindness to the next level.

Honesty

For us, honesty is not simply about telling the truth (although that is very important), it’s about being true to who you are. Being honest with yourself and others about what you want, how you feel, and what you need to be the best version of yourself.

Patience

The definition of patience is the ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay. Whether the delay in question is with yourself, another person, or a horse, the ability to patiently wait for your desired outcome is a skill that will take you far. Patience creates an environment where strong, healthy, long-lasting relationships are cultivated.

Positivity

Having a positive mindset has numerous benefits for the brain and body like stress management, which improves your physical and mental health. It also combats feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem. Positive thinking does not mean avoiding difficult situations. Instead, it means making the most of potential obstacles.

Respect

To respect means to recognize the worth of a person or thing. To respect someone or something is to consider them worthy of high regard. As all living beings are worthy of high regard, this is a value that we use multi directionally. We respect the horses and our peers just the same as we respect our leaders and those we have the pleasure of leading.

Dedication

Dedication is the willingness to give a lot of time and energy to something because it is important to you. Dedication is devoting yourself to what you love and doing it with passion and enthusiasm.

Discipline

Discipline is on the opposite side of the coin from dedication. Discipline is working in a controlled and habitual way. Where dedication is doing the things you like and doing them well, discipline is doing the things you don’t like and still doing them well.

Work Ethic

Work ethic is the principle that hard work is intrinsically virtuous and worthy of reward. Strong work ethic means you take pride in your job and see every task you do as important, no matter how big or small.

Fun

While we very much believe in working hard, we also believe you can work hard AND have fun. You can create a fun atmosphere regardless of the work you are doing, and cultivating fun as a skill will help you get through the most mundane and difficult things with grace.

Check out “A Horse’s Tale”.  Our Adventures and stories from the ranch and more.

Wild West Fest

October 22, 2025|

WILD WEST FEST 2025 At GaitWay, we believe horses have a special way of helping people heal, grow, and thrive. Every girl who walks through our barn doors learns more than horsemanship—she [...]

Working with Energy

October 21, 2024|

Working with horses is really about working with energy Working with horses is really about working with energy, and learning how to communicate with the horses nonverbally (and understand their cues and [...]

BEHIND THE SCENES: Meet Saphira!

October 19, 2024|

Meet Saphira! BEHIND THE SCENES: Meet Saphira! Saphira is one of the original horses here at Grit and Grace and Gaitway Inc! Gaitway Inc is a non profit located in Hillsboro Missouri [...]

Behind the Scenes – Horse Feeding

October 13, 2024|

Horse Care - Feeding #behindthescenes at the Gaitway Dream Maker Program! The girls in our Dream Maker Program work shifts as “Barn Aides”, where they work together (and work with our [...]

Stay in the Loop

Thank you for your interest and support in GaitWay.  2024 is looking to be a year of growth and new things for girls, the program and the staff.  Connect with us so you can stay in the loop with all the amazing and fun things that are going to happen!

In the Loop