Does anyone have, or know anyone who has, ponies in Central MA?

[Piston]

I may be in a bit of a 'conundrum' if you will....

Well, my wife may be, which means I may be.  :D

Our son's first birthday is coming up in 3 weeks, and there will be a fair amount of small kids there, from babies to 6 or 7 year olds, and my wife wants to have pony rides at the party for a couple hours.  The problem is, she sent out the invitations which say "pony rides" on them, before confirming that we were even able to GET a pony! 

There are a few places in my area that offer this, and she's called them all, so far only one place 'may' be able to help.  Rather than wait even longer, I figured I'd check with the forum to see if anyone has kid friendly ponies in my area, or may know someone who does? 

If so, please let me know.  I'm in Upton MA. 

I told my wife that if worst comes to worse, we'll just have to buy a couple ponies!   :D  I've always wanted some sort of livestock anyways. 

[moosehunter]

Piston, I am sure you can find a saddle that would fit you :D :D
What's two hours on your hands and knees if it makes the kiddies happy :D 

[Jeff]

What a conundrum!

This is probably cheaper than buying and then feeding a pony for a year.

LINK

[Jim_Rogers]

Put a saddle on one of those dogs you got and you're good to go.



If you can't find a pony do a hay ride with your tractor and trailer.

Jim Rogers

[Piston]

Oh you guys..... :D

Jim, I can't believe how small Newman looks in that pic!  I don't even know if he was 1 yet  :D

The ride is a great idea, we're planning on getting some bales of hay for one.  The theme is a "barnyard" them, despite the fact that we don't have a barn. 

Jeff,
That is a riot  :D :D :D :D


Moosehunter,
I suppose a combination of your idea and Jeff's would get me by in a pinch...

OH man, maybe I should have posted this on a more serious forum  :D

[cutterboy]

Piston, check this out. 860-576-5064  They advertise that they do pony rides for kid's birthday parties. They do R.I., Conn. and parts of Mass. They might come up to Upton.   Good luck, Cutter

Here's another.  508-798-4257

Check Craigslist. Go to Woecseter-Central Ma.   Go to services and search for pony rides.

[Roxie]

Get a bunch of old broom or rake handles, stuff a man's tube sock (with heel) full of rags.  Put sock over one end of broom handle until it hits the ears (heel) of the horse head.  Tie the sock on firmly and give the kids markers or crayons to draw their own horsey eyes, nose, muzzle and markings. 

Everybody gets a pony!   

[sandhills]

I wish you were closer, we'd give rides about 4, well 4 and 1/2 at a time.

[Piston]

My wife called 9 or 10 different places so far, they're all either booked, or won't travel that far.  There is one place she found out of NH (might have been one of the numbers posted here, thanks!) that will do it, but are very pricey.  It's an option though. 

A nice lady from her "mom's group" on facebook said that she doesn't normally do hired pony rides, but does a lot of volunteer work for special needs and church groups with her ponies, and said if we get in a bind to call her and she would help us out.   8) 

We'll keep looking in the mean time, but at least we're working through our 'conundrum'   ;D

[Delawhere Jack]

What a conundrum!

This is probably cheaper than buying and then feeding a pony for a year.

LINK

Of course, of course.....   :D

[beenthere]

So Piston, what is the latest on the pony for next weeks' 0ne-yr old BD party?

[Piston]

Well guys, as an update to this thread, the pony ride conundrum I found myself in, ended up working out really well.  My wife found a nice lady with a small farm that did pony rides not too far from us. 

The birthday party went really well.  My wife did a ton of planning with this and worked hard with the preparation.  Throughout the afternoon we had around 60 people and it turned out to be great weather, great food, and great company. 

Here is a picture of my son Evan on the morning of his first birthday, he got a brand new tractor for his birthday present from 'mom' and 'dad'.  He LOVES it! 


 

The pony people brought 3 Nigerian Dwarf Goats for a "petting area". 



  

 


I think I liked the goats more than anyone  :D

Here is one of the ponies



 ...and then my son and I...
 

 

...and him with his mom, taking his ride on the pony.  It wasn't a first for him as we visited Davis Farm in northern MA a couple months ago and he rode a pony there, but I don't think he'll remember either.  :D



My wife thought it would be a great idea to have a hay ride since it was a "barn yard" themed party.  So my neighbor was nice enough to let us 'borrow' some of his hay, and I loaded up the trailer for the hay ride.
I crawled along in low gear nice and slow, I was 'slightly nervous' with all the kids on there but everything went well, I made sure to warn the parents before the ride started to keep tabs on the kids, and yell if anyone were to jump or fall off.  I held off having my first beer until the hay ride was over.  ;D
 

 



 
Here is Evan, patiently awaiting his cake while we sing his first "Happy Birthday" song.



 

Once he got a little taste, it was all over! 
 

  

 

He made me proud, even had cake up his nose! 



 
Instead of a big cake, we had individual cup cakes.  My wife thought of this idea for a display, it came out really good.





Here is my favorite "precious moment" of the day, Evan with his 95 year old great grandfather.  This one will get blown up and hung on the wall 


 

It turned out to be a great first birthday, and everything came together nicely. 
Happy 1st Birthday Evan.   8)

[Magicman]

Thanks for the follow up and for sharing the wonderful family pictures.  Evan is a very lucky guy.   

[Jim_Rogers]

Thanks for the follow up and for sharing the wonderful family pictures.  Evan is a very lucky guy.   

+1

[justallan1]

Looks like a great time and you got some great pictures, especially the one with Evan and his great grandfather.

Allan

[sandhills]

You just can't beat that!  Glad you all had a great time.

[thecfarm]

We have the done cupcake thing,but never the pony thing. Goats are a real hit with the kids. We had them here at The C farm. Nice pictures and looks like a great time.

[Piston]

I've always thought about getting a few goats of my own, it kind of made me want to pull the trigger and get a few Pygmy goats.  Only problem is I don't think my dogs would let them on the property  :D

[thecfarm]

Piston,if you are thinking of goats,shoot me a PM with your phone number. I've had one that would follow me better than my dog. I could be weed wacking and it would stay right by me. Than we had some that was not good with us. Some I even trained. Out,out,out. meant to them leave it alone and they would. Just takes time and the breeder makes a BIG diffeance too. I use 2 that we had to help control the suckers in my grown up pasture.

[Piston]

Piston,if you are thinking of goats,shoot me a PM with your phone number.

Will do!  It will be a while, but I'll keep this in mind.  Have you ever heard of Davis Farmland in MA?  They just started an adoption program which I inquired about last month, but they didn't have the details sorted out yet.  I'm not quite ready, but it never hurts to be prepared!

[thecfarm]

Nope never have. We have brought from 3-4 diffeant places. We know what to look for now. They need to be handled by people as soon as they are born. And I do mean handled. The more the better, Bottle fed too. They should not be shy or appear afraid. They should act like a puppy. Our goats even knew thier names. They should come up to you and "taste" nibble on your clothes. I did not say eat,I said taste. Just like a dog that will lick your hand.
Probably that petting zoo would be your best bet. If they don't sell goats they would know the best place to get some.