Learning Horsemanship skill can be a daunting task. The Dream Chasers program teaches what most people never learn, herd dynamics and safety.  From there they go on to learn how to drive a horse with your body, a rope, and a stick and string.  How to send horses through gates, into and out of stalls, and tie them in the tack room.  All essential skills that can be used the rest of their life.

Running a ranch takes an incredible amount of teamwork. To complete their work and make sure the horses are cared for, the Dream Chasers learn to come together on things like time management, project planning, communication, and initiative. It requires them to be motivated self-starters who are willing to be good leaders and good teammates.

Caring for animals, especially animals as large as horses, takes a lot of responsibility. Dream Chasers learn to care for the horses in all aspects, from feeding, health checks, exercising, and grooming, to cleaning tack and scooping manure. Once they are through their initial training and learning process, the girls then go on to fully execute horse care independently, which gives them a sense of accomplishment and proves that they can learn–and do–hard things.

It’s not always easy for a teen to meet a new adult and have to work with them in such a detailed way.  GaitWay creates a safe environment where teen girls can work with women mentors who will help guide and mentor them through the program.  It creates what a “good” relationship should look like so when they go out into the work world they can tell the difference.

We believe, and have seen firsthand, that there’s nothing more confidence building for a young girl than learning to lead and become partners with a horse. Confident young girls make good decisions, don’t easily stray from their values, advocate for themselves, and quite frankly, go on to change the world.