The dream, the girls, and the purpose

About GaitWay

GaitWay was born from a working student program at Grit & Grace Ranch, in Hillsboro, MO. After four years of watching the incredible transformation her working students underwent, Grit & Grace Ranch’s owner, Jackie Greer, knew she had to create a structured program that would allow more girls to experience the transformative power working with horses on a functioning ranch provides. 

With the help of the eight current working students she had, plus a dedicated staff, she laid the foundations of the GaitWay programs. Taking our cue from the horses, just as their gaits become increasingly faster, bigger, and require more of the rider, our programs do as well. 

GaitWay Annual Give Back Program to First Responders

About GaitWay Programs

  Our Walk programs serve girls from ages 7-12. 

  Our Trot programs serve teens and young women from ages 13-21. 

  And our Canter programs serve women ages 22 and up. 

Regardless of what gait you currently find yourself in, all of our programs are built on the foundation of our core values as an organization. GaitWay girls are expected to be kind, caring, honest, patient, positive, respectful, dedicated, disciplined, and have a strong work ethic, while keeping fun and faith at the forefront of everything they do. Our programs are designed to continuously strengthen those specific values because we’ve witnessed time and time again that holding true to those eleven values produces strong, confident, responsible girls who value community, build healthy relationships, and become leaders worth following. 

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.

Bri Riding Honey at the Midwest Horse Show on 3.16.24

March 19, 2024|

Midwest Horse Show 03.16.2024 Bri on Honey Not just looking the part of a cowgirl!  Bri continues to impress everyone while surpassing her own personal records with new times in her speed [...]

GaitWay Girls ride at the March 2nd Midwest Horse Show

March 7, 2024|

Midwest Horse Show 03.02.2024 A Fantastic Time! The weather was perfect and the trailers were full of horses for the March 2nd Horse Show at Midwest.  Six girls rode that day, some [...]

Erin Rides at the March 2nd Midwest Horse Show

March 6, 2024|

Midwest Horse Show 03.02.2024 Erin on Freyja Not the first show for Erin, but a first for Freyja!  Erin has been working with Freyja to get her acclimated to get her trained [...]

Megan Rides at the March 2nd Midwest Horse Show

March 6, 2024|

Midwest Horse Show 03.02.2024 Megan on Shorty Every time Megan and Shorty step into the arena we know that they are thinking "I am speed". It was another fantastic run by this [...]

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