Pony party business

[promiseacres]

Took two of our mini horses in a parade, they loved it! And behaved so very well! We led both of them, our Rayne (37") was ridden by our son and Nautilus (30") was the "Candy" pony.







Anyways a friend who is a photographer asked me if I'd ever considered doing pony rides.... so have been "thinking" about it. As a SAHM always looking for ways to make $ (particularly to pay for my critter addiction) and still be at home... Have been looking at getting another "pony" for my DD anyways.

IDK anyone have any thoughts good or bad? I know liability insurance would be a killer. Anyone have any experience? I love sharing my minis with kids.
Concerns are
1) insurance
2) mini horse size=only can cater to smaller kids
3) would be a "weekend" business which we try to keep for family time

Pluses are
1) have 1 appropiate pony and tack, trailer and truck
2) give me an "outlet" to be more than a Mom
3) income????
4) do not know of another pony ride/party business within the county

thanks!

 

[sawfish99]

I would start by investigating the insurance cost in your area. We looked into this a while back. We have a commercial policy for our farm including a liability coverage for my wife teaching riding lessons. Our current company wouldn't even underwrite a pony party clause in our policy. Those activities are specifically called out as NOT covered by the policy. Once we found a company we could use, the cost was going to be >$1000/year. We live in CT, but to recover the insurance, fuel to drive to parties, time, etc, you would need to do 3-4 parties just to break even. We decided the business model didn't work for us. That is probably why it is so hard to find pony parties these days.

BTW- we already had a 100% helmet use policy on our farm. I noticed your son isn't wearing a helmet in the picture. The insurance company looked at our farm rules and liability release prior to underwriting the policy. If you do parties, people probably don't want kids with helmets on because it doesn't make good pictures. Add that to your liability exposure. Society is too lawyer oriented for me to risk that type of business.

 

[Baymule]

When my son was 2 years old, somebody brought a pony to his daycare for pictures. It was a spotted gray and white Shetland and a cowboy outfit was provided for the picture. It was the cutest darn thing and that picture is one of my favorites. My son is 32 years old now.......