About Us
Mariposa Sport Horse Farm, owned by Peter and Carol Krauss, is located in Gleichen, Alberta, within an hour from the Calgary International AIrport. Carol has been riding, competing and training horses successfully for over 30 years, as well as breeding warmbloods having worked and trained at a number of European owned barns. Today, our successful breeding program results from applying things learned from great teachers, combined with a significant amount of research done on each stallion to ensure he matches with the mare.
Our philosophy and interest is to promote the breeding of very high quality horses with correct conformation, athleticism, and exceptional mental attributes of intelligence, great character, and kind temperament. We strongly believe that the horse must be pleasant to handle and ride, or else the athletic qualities are of little value. We do not always offer foals for sale, but those we do sell quickly as weanlings, as we continue to develop our reputation for producing enjoyable, athletically talented horses for both amateur and professional alike.
Our Training Philosophy
The most important training begins at birth! We deliberately choose to have only two or three foals per year so each foal receives daily attention. Our foals are professionally, correctly, and quietly handled at birth, progressively taught to accept a halter and lead rope within a few days of birth, to be led, to be caught in the pasture, groomed and quietly have their feet picked up daily. Attention is closely paid to with their nutrition, farrier program, deworming and vaccination, and each foal has its own individual health records charted. The mares and foals are kept in moderate sized pastures for socialization and natural exercise, but brought in nightly for grooming/hoof picking care and rest in their very large box stall. Foals are progressively exposed to a variety of sounds, sights and places, slowly accustoming them to a life of traveling and showing, starting with their own inspection show while they are still at their mother's side, and then later to showing in hand. By the time the foal is weaned, and possibly sold to their new owner, the foal is confident yet respectful, polite, friendly, easy to catch, easy to handle, and has travelled in the trailer.
When it comes time to back a youngster for the first time, the young horse is prepared progressively in an unrushed manner until the horse is well able to accept a saddle and eventually a rider on its back. Carol has specialized in dressage over many years and her training philosophy is "Practice, patience and persistence," following the classical dressage training scale's 6 elements: Rhythm, Looseness, Contact, Impulsion, Straightness and Collection, as well as starting the youngster over small cavaletti and cross poles for variety and interest. Trail rides with experienced, quiet, older horses broadens the young horse's experience.
