Before taking the stage in Miami, the stars of the show are taking it easy away from the bright lights of Miami.

Forget about a chair on a gorgeous beach. They’re happy with a roll and some hay.

The 71 horses performing in Normand LaTourelle’s Odysseo appreciate the break at the 315-acre Peninsula Farms in Ocala before getting to work under a huge tent being set up at Bicentennial Park in downtown Miami.

“This is kind of their R&R time,” said Jackie Hall, a leasing manager down at the farm. “When they get back to work they are much more eager to work, much more relaxed and refreshed.”

Once they get to Miami, they’ll be greeted by a much different scene than the muddy construction scene in Bicentennial Park. Nearly 200 people a day have been working since last Tuesday on erecting the giant tent that will house the makeshift theater where the equestrian Cirque-du-Soleil-style show will take place.

The star treatment doesn’t end after the horses arrive.

Technical director James Richardson oversees scenery design, staging and lighting, but his main job is catering to the horses’ needs on stage.

“All the curtains are horse-proofed to make sure the horses don’t eat them,” Richardson said.

Aside from keeping the curtains unappetizing, the crew must make sure the horses are comfy on their feet. The sand they run on is chosen for its soft texture, unlike the dry sand at the beach, said Richardson, and keeps them clean if they want to roll around in it.

The horses, and the 50 performers who will join them, will have plenty of room to move under the tent’s 220,000-square feet of canvas. The “theater” will host 2,300 guests in a mock forest, complete with rolling hills and a flowing river. A 200-foot wide IMAX screen will expand the scenery as horses and acrobats perform in a carousel to live music.

“It’s like a dream,” LaTourelle said. “You confuse if it’s real or not real.”

As president and artistic director of Cavalia, LaTourelle wanted to create a larger scale tour that was more of a journey than the previous show.

“I wanted to push the idea further of horses having fun on stage most of the time totally free,” he said. “There’s a fabulous relationship between human kind and horses. The most moving moment is when you leave the horses and they decide what to do with us.”