Pony Birthday Party

Aaliyah Riding on Pumpkin the pony

We were invited to a uniquely themed "Pony Birthday Party". Fayth goes for Pony lessons at this barn and the fact that the place also hosted birthday parties was well tapped into by her mom. It is a newer place and that is why it does not appear in Google searches as yet. I wonder what it's called. All the time I was there it never occurred to me to ask the ladies what the name of their barn was.  I am going to call it "Pumpkin's Barn". Pumpkin is the name of the pony that Fayth rides regularly. The weather was not the best one for a pony ride neither was the distance to the barn. Both of these factors did not deter us in any way.

The one thing that was turning out to be a deterrent was
the actual car ride to the birthday party. It would definitely be added to my mental list of unforgettable events. Even with a GPS, we missed the turn and ended up going about in circles for a good half hour. A part of me said that I should just go back while the eager faces in the back signaled that I should not lose hope and continue with my driving. I stopped twice to ask for directions. The first one was from a man who was waiting for a bus. Wrong decision because I was more lost than I started off. The second time I stopped at a house and saw a man heading out his driveway. I asked for directions and thankfully his directions were perfect.

Once at the barn, we caught up with the rest of the group by the stable. The girls were each taking turns brushing the ponies and helping the staff put the saddles. There were four ponies that were used for the rides. I was told that the rest of the animals were horses. I thought that the shortest of the ponies was the actual pony and the rest were horses. I quickly learned that all the four animals that the kids were about to ride were all ponies.

The main difference between a horse and a pony is the height. Horses and ponies are measured by what is called a 'hand'. Each hand is roughly 4 inches. A horse is usually about 14 hands and anything less than that is a Pony. Pumpkin is the tallest a pony can get. Another difference is the body shape. Horses are tall with long thin legs, while ponies are short and stout with shorter legs.

Once the ponies were ready with their saddles, the kids were ready for their ride. Each kid was accompanied by a staff person and were taken around for a good 15 minute ride at least. Ayaan enjoyed his ride and was also galloping on his pony. He got so excited that he lifted both his hands and was waving at me looking back. For a split second, my heart skipped a beat. If he had continued with his waving for a second longer, he would have been the first kid to fall from his pony. But then when I saw his feet firmly tucked in the foot rest, I was relieved. Aaliyah was a little bit scared in the beginning but by the end of it all, she was pretty proud of her brave act. She kept her calm and enjoyed the ride for the most part. 

Walking back to the barn after the ride

While the kids were getting their rides, the remaining kids kept themselves busy by drinking hot chocolate and playing pinning the tail on the donkey. They had pizza and bread sticks to fill their hungry tummies. After this the barn staff took them out into the barn for a scavenger hunt. The kids had to find a horse shoe each. Some kids also went down a slide which was actually meant to slide huge bundles of grass from an upper level of the stable.

After this the kids were shown how to properly feed a carrot to a horse. They had to hold the carrot in their palm for the horse to eat it properly. The kids did this and then we went back into the lounge for opening the gifts, decorating the horse shoe and cutting the key. The kids kept the decorated horse shoe as party favor.

All in all, it was a memorable and fun birthday party that I am sure the kids and the parents will remember for a long time to come.