My daughter wanted to have a real-live pony @ her birthday party.
I did some research & found that renting a pony can be pricey!
In my search I located several companies that fit the bill, for my need...
The online information for Pony Haven stated a lot about the company history, & had several testimonials about the services rendered, but there was no pricing listed.
I called and spoke to the proprietor, Diane. She quoted me a VERY reasonable price for the pony rental ($135 for 3 hours + a tip for the driver). And I decided that Pony Haven would be my best option.
The basic details are: that they ONLY accept cash (@ the time of delivery) as payment. They drop the pony off at the location where you are having your event. Nobody from Pony Haven stays with the pony. You get the pony for 3 hours, and at the end of that time a Pony Haven employee retrieves the pony.
For the most part, my experience was good. Andy the pony was dropped off at our house at 10AM.
We were told that he had just been watered, & that we wouldn't need anything to drink while he was with us. But we were welcome to give him apples & carrots as snacks.
Our backyard is about 1/3 of an acre, and I felt like that provided plenty of room for Andy to walk around.
However, right from the start, Andy didn't want to venture outside any area that wasn't shaded by my aspen, or lilac trees.
He was one stubborn pony! The Pony Haven employees gave us some pointers on how to get Andy to walk, but as time went on; he responded less, & less to our gentle nudges.
Eventually, we called it good, & let Andy have his way. Meandering in the shade.
All of the 5 little girls that we invited to the party got a pony ride. So that's really what matters.
The only reason I didn't give Pony Haven 5 stars is because they were 40 minutes late picking up Andy the pony.
When 30 minutes passed from the time they were supposed to pick him up, I called to inquire about an ETA, but no one answered the phone.
Of course, my kids weren't unhappy about having a pony in their backyard for an extra 40 minutes, but I had other things on my agenda, that needed to be done that day, and would have appreciated (at the very least) a courtesy-call; saying they were running behind.
That hiccup aside, I'd do business with them again. read more