Heritage Hills owner, Joni Gleason, won eLoft Entrepreneurial Challenge
ISHPEMING -- Joni Gleason has turned her love of horses into an occupational dream come true. Gleason won the eLoft Entrepreneurial Challenge and was awarded $10,000 to help start up her business, Heritage Hills Horseback Riding.
She opened her barn doors about a month ago, and according to Gleason, it's been a great first month. Joni and her ponies average about eight riders a day, a good, modest start, because she's still learning the business.
"We learned things about the horses that we have...which horses don't get along together, which horses we put the very beginning, young kids on," explains Gleason. "I think our youngest rider out on the trail has been six years old. Our oldest guy has been close to 80."
On Tuesday's two o'clock ride, we had a 13 year old and a 75 year old. That 13 year old is Shelby Oleksy, who's vacationing in the U.P. from downstate Rockford and specifically asked her grandmother if they could ride horses.
"You just get to be with an animal and out in nature, and it's really pretty, and I love horses...always have," says Oleksy.
Gleason hopes to advertise a bit more in the near future, and this fall and winter, you can expect horse-drawn sleigh rides and even some snowy horseback riding.
"It's a little nerve-racking," Gleason says, "but by the end of the day, I sit back and I take a deep breath, and it's like, oh my gosh, we're really pulling this off!"
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