Our Philosophy of the Development of
Young Horses

“A diamond is a piece of coal that stuck to the job”
Thomas Edison

The quote above sums up our philosophy of raising young horses. Not every piece of coal will turn into a diamond but with careful selection, proper preparation, expert handling, and a focused commitment to excellence the probability greatly increases. Those horses that don’t turn into diamonds still emerge as valuable gems that are trusting of people, easily trainable, and far ahead of their contemporaries.

Careful selection involves the review of literally hundreds of videos and attendance at breed inspections of select young Dutch foals with extraordinary pedigrees. These pedigrees are reviewed meticulously going back five or more generations. In addition, conformation, movement and behavior are studied and discussed with other recognized experts and international judges prior to purchase.

Proper preparation and expert handling involves daily hands-on management of the foal by Dee Osborne, a recognized specialist with over 35 years of expertise with young horses. Typically, a training program of two or three years is followed with defined developmental and behavioral benchmarks to evaluate progress. At the completion of our program the horse trailer loads without hesitation (step-up or ramp), confidently accepts body clipping and hoof trimming, has attended over-night in-hand breed competitions, free jumps, calmly stands for a bath, walks in a controlled manner to and from the pasture, and accepts non routine changes without argument.

As a result of our focused commitment to excellence, we raise top quality, predictable horses that are trainable and can progress without complicating behavioral issues getting in the way. We believe that a well balanced young horse is considerably more likely to learn a “job” and enjoy its job, thus ensuring the horse will have a good life.

All KWPN horses shown on this website - for sale or already sold - have been through this program and have spent two to three years at our Paard Hill Farms facility in Manheim, PA under the care and expert handling of Dee Osborne.