Horse Training 

Horse Training – From Conception to Competition!At Dreamcatcher Meadows training begins in the first week of a newborn’s life with familiarizationto human touch and introduction to the halter and leading. The youngsters are handled at leasttwice daily as they are led with their mothers from their large breeding stall to the mare andfoal “Timewasters Paddock” (aptly named as it is hard to stop watching the foals play with eachother).After a stress free weaning process, youngsters are stabled with a peer at night and turned out dailywith their age group. Each night they are individually groomed and handled, to make a seamlesstransition to life as a ridden horse. The yearlings and two year olds are individually stabled andturned out in age groups. We believe horses benefit hugely by learning to interact with youngsterstheir own size and level of growth. Rugs and show grooming are introduced. At two free jumping isstarted and riding and lunging equipment introduced.At rising three years the work progresses to more time in our large custom built backing arena. This circular building has Equimats as a base under the footing, high sides and a conical roof. It is idealfor initial backing, lunging (of riders too) and first rides. Its shape and design foster concentrationand confidence. For those horses selected for breed inspections, the performance is a natural oneas it is simply a progression of what they have done from birth. There are no sudden changes oroverwhelming sessions of new information at our facility. The aforementioned stages may varydepending on the psychological and physical readiness of the individual.Trailering, showing, ridden jumping and trail riding are introduced at appropriate times for eachhorse.Dreamcatcher Meadows is a “One Stop Shop” from conception to competition!