Today we’d like to introduce you to Greta Krafsig.
Greta, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’ve loved horses for as long as I can remember. When I was young I wrote a story about a girl who went to live on her uncle’s farm called White Oak Stables. It was one of the first books I published and I always wanted to have my own farm by the same name one day. When I was 13 I created an online horse game called White Oak Stables because my mom was a single mother and couldn’t afford riding lessons. My game became popular online and put them through college where I studied computer science and because a computer programmer. When I graduated college I bought my first horse and before I knew it I had another one. I started looking for my own place after buying my second horse and that’s when I purchased White Oak Stables as my dream farm. What started as an idea as little girl became a dream come true as an adult. Today I teach horseback riding lessons to people of all ages and I offer a diversity program to try and help minorities and under represented people have affordable access to horses. I offer riding lessons for only $35 an hour and allow flexible times/dates to fit a wide range of schedules and include discounts for purchasing multiple lessons at a time for families with multiple children riding.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Being an African American woman in the equestrian world has never been easy. I faced many micro-aggressions, and other forms of racism during the years I was within the community. Including trouble finding helmets and clothing that don’t fit the “idealized standard” of tall skinny riders with straight thin hair. Finding clothes and helmets was difficult as a teen but since the Black Lives Matter protests more awareness has been raised to highlight these problems even if solutions haven’t always been forthcoming. When I first started my riding program people would spread rumors that my program was poor because it was affordable. Since then I’ve created a booming business with many five star ratings online and riding lessons that can book out for months at a time.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I work full time as a senior software developer and run White Oak Stables on the side. My experience developing an online horse game and programming has helped me build an online presence and website . You can schedule lessons directly on our website along with downloading lots of free worksheets, coloring pages, journal pages and horse workbooks. Another thing that sets our stables apart is we have wonderful Highland cows on the farm!
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success is taking an shy, scared or anxious riding student and watching them blossom and grow over the course of their time at our stables. We teach to individual goals for every student and help position them so they can achieve their own person success.
Pricing:
- Group Riding Lesson – $35 an hour
- Highland Hello – meet and groom our cows $50 an hour
- Parents Night Out – $35 for 2 hours of horsmenship and pizza during select Friday nights in the summer
- Summer Camp – $600 for a week session M-F from 9am to 5pm
Contact Info:
- Website: Https://white-oak-stables.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/white_oak_stables_
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whiteoakstable
