Coffee Fudge Colour Unicorn

These White Unicorn Colours are so popular and so beautiful.

Nearly every pony party over the last several years has been a unicorn themed party. I feel very grateful to have many BEAUTIFUL ponies available to make these little girl’s fairytail dreams come true – to see, pat and ride a unicorn, sharing this experience with their friends and family on a birthday celebration is so memorable for everyone.

After 20+ years of entertaining at kids parties and most of those being pony parties, I can certainly vouch for these as being lasting, life long, happy memories as there have been so many times that people have come up to me telling of their memories years ago of

Mrs Balloonatic and her ponies attending their party or their older child’s party.  I’ve even been shown printed family photo albums, “see, that’s you Mrs Balloonatic, you came to our party, we still remember this party”. What a blessing to know how much joy this job brings to others.

Unicorns pony parties are soooo popular with little girls … and let’s admit it, they are as equally popular with us mums too, who doesn’t love unicorns after all?

White Unicorn Colour

To have stunning white unicorn, with all the trims – flower garland around the unicorn’s proudly curved neck, a flower halo around it’s ears and horn, a beautiful saddle and saddle blanket fit for a majestic unicorn from a royal stable … your pretty little fairy princess aboard the unicorn’s graceful back, all picture perfect.

White Chocolate Colour Unicorn

So naturally here at Balloonaversal we do get lots of requests for a white unicorn to attend parties, which we are happy to say we can do for the Gold and Premium packages, but I do feel sad for our other remarkable unicorns. 

Differing Shades of White Unicorns

Did you know this little known fact that unicorns come in other shades of white? And that these colours are quite rare among unicorns, but are just as stunning … if not more so.  Well, I discovered that this is true and how special it is.

Coconut Cream Colour Unicorn

A Royal Stable of Rare Unicorn Colours

It’s even more special to know that being in the kid’s party and entertainment industry as long as I have, you do get to meet lots of amazing and unique people. For example, a few years ago, I was attending a fairy convention and was privileged to meet the queen of the Forest Fairies and, of course, as many people know fairies are very fond of unicorns and many beautiful unicorns live in Faiyland.  Well, the Queen of the Forest Fairies is no exception and she has a stable full of some of the rarest unicorns that ever lived and this is how I found out about the 6 shades of white unicorns.

English Toffee Unicorn

Amazingly, Her Royal Majesty, Queen of the Forest Fairies has each of these shades of white unicorns in her royal stable, and what’s even more amazing is how kind and generous the Queen is.  In one of our conversations a year or two after I met the Queen (as she got to know my business of bringing joy to children with pony rides and pony visits

for birthday celebrations), she very generously made the offer that if there are children that would like to have a unicorn attend their party, then she would LOVE to help bring joy and happiness too by making available to me, her rare and beautiful unicorns.  You can imagine, I was absolutely speechless and so humbled by her incredible offer.  In the past I just dressed up ponies to look like unicorns, but now I am able to bring REAL LIVE unicorns to children’s birthday parties.

If you scroll down a little further, you’ll see a very informative infographic on The 6 Shades of White Colours of Unicorns.  A very interesting study.

So thus began my remarkable business arrangement with Her Royal Majesty, Queen of the Forest Fairies.

Unicorn Health Alert

But it wasn’t long before we ran into some health problems for the unicorns.  You see the weather in Fairyland is pleasant and warm all year round, not like here in Melbourne where we need to wear sunscreen and cover our skin in summer, or put on a coat to keep warm in winter.

We soon discovered that the unicorns were suffering in Melbourne’s summer and also in winter.  The first indication that something was wrong was that their horns began drooping and even fading away!!!  With some help from the Fairy Unicorn Vet, we learned that the unicorn’s horns simply needed protection from the elements – strong sun or cold winds.  I knew just what to do.  I would get out my sewing machine and with a selection of beautiful coloured fabrics, I created custom unicorn covers to slip over their horns.  I even decorated them with ribbons and flowers and beads to match the beautiful flower garlands that the unicorns wear.

Black Ice Licorice Colour Unicorn

And even more precious is the fact that the Queen of the Forest Fairies has personally sent a very special and extremely rare unicorn to the party!! How amazing is that?

So that was something new I learned about unicorns and when children tell me that these aren’t real unicorns because the horns don’t look real, well, its no wonder they say this.  They certainly don’t look real if they have a gold, silver or even pink fabric custom made unicorn cover, with ribbons and silk flowers stuck to them do they?

But I must say, the children are so thrilled when they learn what I have to tell them about unicorn horns and that the unicorn in their midst is in fact a REAL unicorn.

White Unicorn Colour Requests

So as much as we like to accept special requests for white unicorns, we will do our best to provide you with one, but please realise you will definitely feel very privileged to have any one of our other shade of white majestic unicorns bring joy and happiness to your child’s birthday party, offering life long cherished memories.

On behalf of our pony and unicorn team (two legged and four legged). we can’t wait to meet you all for a fun filled day.

If you would  like to know more about how to invite a unicorn to your child’s birthday party please visit our Unicorn Party page

Violet Crumble Colour Unicorn

If you enjoyed readin our article about unicorns, we’d love for you to write a comment below.  Feel free to share any of our posts on social media.  Thanks.

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Could this be a real life ‘My Little Pony’? Barnabus, (because he’s built like a barn or a bus) is often seen at children’s birthday parties as his alter ego Starbeam (My Little Pony character). He’s a top favourite with the kids, especially with children aged 3 – 6.

His small stocky stature, his slow calm walk, and his gentle kind expression seem to give even the most nervous child a feeling of confidence. I often think this is more so in winter as

his long fluffy winter coat makes him look a lot like a big teddy bear, and who doesn’t love their teddy?

Barnabus has such a wonderful generous nature and seems to genuinely enjoy the children being around him. He is always so calm and patient while they get on or off, stop to pat his face, give him a kiss on the nose or pick up a brush to groom him – he’s happy for the love and attention.

But it wasn’t always this way

Barnabus Before Balloonaversal

Barnabus was given to us several years ago by our then neighbor Danielle who named him Trevor. Danielle acquired him through another neighbour and kept him as a paddock friend for her beautiful Warmblood mare.

When Barnabus came into our care we were told that he had had an abusive background and hadn’t been well looked after. That seemed to be true. Although he was in good condition health wise by then, he was still a rather distant non-connected little fellow and was quite nervous around any kind of noise or activity.

Barnabus’ Four Legged Feud

And he didn’t make friends easily with the other ponies either, aggressively warding them off, even challenging Mal our large dapple grey pony who was head of the herd at the time.

There were a few battles for dominance in those early days. I recall one particular occasion where Barnabus bested Mal, leaving the on watching herd ‘speechless’. It was at that point that Jeremiah, my meek and mild little miniature performing pony decided he did not like Barnabus at all. He just up run, sneaking up behind Barnabus while he wasn’t looking and bit him on the rump, running off as quick as he came before he copped a kick. It was quite an amusing scene but so out of Jeremiah’s character. It took a couple of years before those two became friends.

The Training Of A Pony Ride Pony

I gave little Barnabus time to settle in, then began the slow re-training process. I wanted to start Barnabus as if he were a young unbroken pony.

‘Unbroken’ is the term use to describe a horse or a pony who has not been trained to carry a rider or pull a carriage. ‘Breaking in’ is the term for this process and is not a harsh cruel process as the word ‘broken’ or ‘breaking’ would imply.

So Barnabus was introduced to the lunge first and learned the voice commands for whoa (stop), walk and trot. We didn’t bother with canter as he really wasn’t an energetic pony. I have found lunging is a great place to start when building trust with horses and ponies as it can create a clear communication path without the extra worry of having a rider on their back. When a horse understands what it is that you are asking they are nearly always very happy to give their all and this was true of Barnabus too. Within a week he was showing off of the lunge, being attentive to everything asked of him and thus began his trust in people.

Over the months we worked on introducing noise and activity to his lessons. Barnabus gained much confidence in himself and within 6 months I took him successfully out to his very first ‘gig’ … a My Little Pony party and he was a little champ and has been ever since.

 

 

 

 

A Loved Member Of The Family

Over the years he as also proven to be a wonderful little pony to teach beginner children to ride, teaching my two boys when they were five or six years of age. Tobias on occasion, riding him to school and he is still Asher’s pick of the pack.

Barnabus is around 19 years old now, but still has plenty of energy and still enjoys his job. Oh, and he has lots of pony friends now with Nikki being his bestie. You can read more about Nikki here.

If you’d love to have a My Little Pony party for your little girl, please visit this page to find out more Costume Pony Party Packages, or simply call us on (03) 8669 1303.

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Nikki is a beautiful black mare standing at 10.1 hands and is one of the sweetest natured ponies I’ve ever owned. Born in 1995, (so she is getting up there in age now), Nikki came to us in the very early days of our business back in 2001 – she is very much a part of our family. With her shiny black coat in summer, her lovely long, wavy mane and tail and her big brown eyes, Nikki has always been a popular pony at kids parties and events.

Why is Nikki One Of Our Popular Ponies With The Kids?

When we bought her as a 7 year old, Nikki’s previous owner had used her as a broodmare to breed miniature horses from. She had two beautiful foals. We discovered that Nikki had obviously been broken in to ride at some stage because she so easily stepped into her new career as a hand led pony ride giver as if she had been doing it all her life, displaying a calm, placid temperament in all situations. As you might well know, kids birthday parties are fun, happy and noisily active affairs – as they should be.

Although she is so amazingly quiet amongst all manner of noise and commotion, Nikki is quite a sprightly forward moving pony who would often prefer to trot everywhere rather than walk which makes her very easy to lead. She will walk shoulder to shoulder with her handler, placing the child in the saddle right next to the handler.

Michelle Gets On Her Soap Box

This is how we as a pony ride business have all of our ponies walk as this is the safest position for children – easy reach for us, we can keep a steady hand on the youngsters should they not have good natural balance, which often they don’t. I have seen quite a few pony ride businesses lead their ponies virtually at the end of the lead rope! How are they going to save your child from taking a fall? All a pony needs to do is innocently stumble over a clump of grass or pause for a big shake if they are feeling a bit itchy and off your little one goes. Who cares about public liability insurance? You simply don’t want your child falling off at all.

(I’ll step down from my soap box now, but rest assured, with me having over 30 years of riding, teaching, training, competing experience, Balloonaversal provide one of the most well thought out, safest environments while still maintaining the kids party fun, you can afford to have.)

How Old Is Too Old To Give Pony Rides?

People often ask me how old Nikki is and then how long do Shetland Ponies live, which is in most cases into their 30s. This invariably leads to the next question – how long will she work for? As long as my ponies are sound (no lameness such as arthritis), are in perfect health and are happy in their job (they get regular holidays away from any form of work), then we still include them, after all even ponies need to feel useful. So far we have retired two of our ponies a small, very cute white Shetland called CJ and a white Welsh Mountain mare called Buttons.

Want To Know More About The Ponies On The Balloonaversal Team?

I hope you have enjoyed reading about another one of Balloonaversal’s pony team members, we will feature another pony in the next edition of BalloonaScoop. You can find past pony profile articles in the Blog.

Please leave us a comment below and let us know if you have had Nikki visit your party. Send us a photo.

For information on pony rides visit our Pony Party Packages page.

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This Year’s Pony Party Winner – How Much Fun Did They Have?

On the 31^st March this year, we draw the winning name out of our big red box for the Win A Pony Party Competition. Catching that moment on film and the subsequent phone call to Alisha Ford was a lot of fun, but not as much fun as the party for little Jade.

Jade celebrated her 6^th birthday on Sunday the 22^nd of May in fine style choosing the theme My Little Pony. Our arrival was greatly anticipated with kids squealing in delight ‘The Ponies are here, the ponies are here!” Such excitement.

Beautiful Calm Ponies, Perfect For Kids Parties

Our beautiful ponies Annabel and Jeremiah were a huge hit and as always were so calm and gentle amongst the noise and activity of 14 excited six year olds.

Annabel, a pretty chestnut Shetland Pony mare dressed as Pinkey Pie from My Little Pony gave lots and lots of rides. Her even temperament and sweet nature coaxed a couple of shy boys into having a ride too (and then more rides). Meanwhile Jeremiah the chocolate brown (but grey because of his clipped winter coat) Miniature Pony enjoyed being groomed, mane braded in to several plaits and then being clothed in the fashionable pony dress ups from the dress up box. The kids even took turns leading Jeremiah around the garden, which he didn’t mind in the least as there were plenty of opportunities to stop and pick at the lush green grass – his favourite past time.

Balloon Party Hats Add So Much Fun

The last 20 minutes of the 1:5 hour party was spent playing a balloon game. Everyone gathered around Mrs Balloonatic as she performed balloon twisting magic creating amazing balloon party hats for each child.

Last but not least was a big happy group shot of all the kids with Mrs Balloonatic, Jeremiah and Annabel. It’s fair to say that everyone had a ball and we achieved our number one goal is to help families create memorable family moments.

Family Is Important

You see at Balloonaversal we firmly believe in family.  In a time when so many of us parents are struggling for meaningful time with our kids and loved ones, we believe that there has never been a more important time than now to ensure we create those strong family ties … and those treasured family memories.

Children’s birthday parties are a perfect opportunity to do this and we’ve got to tell you, we find it truly wonderful witnessing the joy a great party brings … we simply love this aspect of our business.

So Happy Birthday Jade from Mrs Balloonatic and the Balloonaversal Team.

Win A Pony Party Competition

If you would love a chance to win a pony party like Alisha did for her daughter Jade, head over to our competition page and enter today. Next draw is on the 31^st March 2017.

Available Pony Party Packages and booking inquiries go here: Balloonaversal Pony Parties.

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Fairies and Unicorns are one of our all time favourite pony parties and it is with little girls too … of course.  A Fairy with  ‘real’ live unicorns! Isn’t this every little girl’s dream come true? I’ve met a mum or two who are secretly just as excited at their kids with the notion of a unicorn visiting their home to help with the celebrations.

This party is personally on of my favourites and clearly it’s one of our top sellers and for obvious reasons. You will be delighted with two fairies, magic AND face painting, fairy dancing and ribbon twirling, 2 unicorns – a magical performing miniature unicorn and one to ride on, lots of flowers, butterflies and vines decorating the fairy grotto creating a magical setting, and colourful balloon party hats for everyone to take home AND bubbles.

We’ve made many a little girl super excited over the years with this beautiful party entertainment package.

Here’s how the Fairy Pony Party will make your little girl’s birthday party one to remember for years to come:

A typical schedule:

• 2:5 hours in length

  

• 2 party hosts – at least one Fairy
• 2 ponies for :
• a) Pony Rides (Unicorn)
• b) Miniature Pony (unicorn) grooming and dress ups
• Fairy Grotto Themed 3 x 3 marquee – fairy castle back drop and lots of flowers and vines
• Interactive Storytelling+ performing mini ‘unicorn’ + magic
• Fairy Ribbon Twirling and dancing to music
• Bubble Activity
• Professional Face Painting
• Balloon Party Hats for each child
• A special balloon creation for the birthday child
• Themed party music played through out the party
• ‘Happy Birthday’ music to sing along with at birthday cake time
• Photo opportunities through out the entire party

A Memorable Family Day Guaranteed!

For booking information go to our Pony Party Page and select ‘Premium Pony Party’

At Balloonaversal, we provide you with free fairy pony party themed invitations, simple to download, and exciting news …

We will save time when you’re organising all the aspects for your party.  Let us help you locate local service providers or quick delivery online party supplies for birthday cakes, party bags, party hire, helium balloons and more.

Now that’s service!

Want a super special family memory and a dream come true party?  Give us a call today and we’ll help you create just that.

(03) 8669 1303

Or fill in our online Inquiry Form

 

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Uniting AgeWell Staff Member Shares Their Recent Experience In This Candid Interview

At one of our more recent outings to Uniting AgeWell in Wyndham Vale, Gemma Tapping interviewed one of the staff members about the profound health benefits of animals … particularly ponies visiting the elderly.  Here’s Angela Shegog’s view of animals for therapy and Jeremiah the mini pony’s interaction with their residents.

Gemma:  Is this the first time you’ve had animal assisted therapy?
Angela:  No it is not, we have had other animals come out before.

Gemma:  What other animals have you had come out before?
Angela:  Animals we have had here before is a dog, circus poodles, we had a chicken coop, reptiles, crocodiles, snakes, and cats.

Gemma:  How long ago was it?
Angela:  The dog came last week, the circus poodles came a year ago, the chicken coop was here a year and a half ago, the reptiles, crocodiles and snakes came here a year ago, and the cats were here a year ago.

Gemma:  How often?
Angela:  The dog comes every week, the circus poodles only came once, the reptiles, crocodile and snakes came once, and the cats used to belong to one of the residents so they were here every day.

Gemma:  Do you have a weekly, fortnightly, or monthly program of activities?
Angela:  Every week we have activities such as music concerts, an art teacher comes out and helps them to paint, we have create crafts sessions, we have reminiscence sessions, a session where the residents can learn how to make object out of leather such as wallets, we have bingo, a movie cinema, we have trivia, quiz games, they can see the current news every day, we also have dance therapy, a walking group and active games such as playing with balls and rackets.

Gemma:  What other kinds of activities or incursions do you have on a regular basis?
Angela:  Once a month we have high tea with different cakes and slices, and we have volunteers who come out and talk and interact with the resident one on one.

Gemma:  What sort of positive benefits do you expect to see from having Jeremiah here today?
Angela:  I would hope to see Jeremiah make the residents happy, and see the satisfaction on their faces, he cheered them up.

Gemma:  How do you think Jeremiah made people happy today?
Angela:  I think him interacting and bringing everyone together, I think it made people happy because it was something new and exciting. The affection he provided them and that he was friendly and cuddly.

Jeremiah Enjoys A Cup Of Coffee With A Couple Of Residents

Gemma:  Were there any surprising questions or interactions by the residents today?
Angela:  When the residents gave Jeremiah a cup of coffee.

Gemma:  How did you hear about Angels with Hooves?
Angela:  My co-worker, Angela Taylor, received a brochure about a year ago and when we got enough money to get you guys out here she organised it.

Gemma:  Would you happily recommend Angels with Hooves?
Angela:  Yes I would definitely, because it is a perfect organisation for the elderly as well as kids, and it is something different and new for everyone.

Gemma:  What has been your favourite moment with the pony and residents so far?
Angela:  My favourite moment was the whole time he was here, and the residents reacting with the pony.

Gemma:  Why do you say that?
Angela:  Jeremiah gave the residents something to look forward to and get excited about, it was great to see the surprise on their faces when they saw the pony for the first time.

Gemma:  Why is that important?
Angela:  It is important for the residents to look forward to the pony because it gives them something to get excited about and so they are kept happy and content which really is the main aim.

Gemma:  Angela, thank you so much for being willing to be interviewed today, I’m glad Jeremiah has brought joy to your residents today.
Angela:  My pleasure.

If you would like to find out more about the Angels With Hooves program, please click here.

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Jack as we simply call him, is a beautiful 12h Welsh Mountain Pony. We use both Shetland Ponies & Welsh Mountain Ponies for pony rides, but the Welshies are best for the older, taller kids.

Bay in colour (brown body with black mane and tail, and black points), Jack has 1 white hind sock, a star on his forehead and a nose that looks like it was dipped in white paint. He is very striking looking with his pretty dished face.

Correct Handling And Training Produces Quiet Ponies

When we bought Jack, he wasn’t as cool calm and collected as you see him today. He was an unbroken, unhandled , very nervous 3 year old.

We took our time with him over many, many months getting him used to the most basic of handling. Even learning to trust us enough so we could catch him was a big learning curve for Jack. But as it does, kindness and patience and proven training techniques won out in the end.

By the time Jack was ready to begin his training as a riding pony (the breaking in process), Jack was very comfortable with all the new things we presented him, taking everything in his stride. He excelled. We were so delighted with his progress after his slow start.

Jack really began to look forward to his training sessions as he made himself ‘available’ to catch. Yes he still had his days when it was a big game to catch him. I think he decided that he should be a human trainer and teach us that if we don’t bring him his favourite food with his halter and lead rope, then forget catching him. How many times I had to make a trip back to the feed shed to get a bucket of Compelto, then have him happily stand still as if nothing had taken place 5 min before.

Jack Is A Great Pony To Ride

Very soon I began riding Jack all around the paddock, down the road, up and down the ditches, over little banks and small logs. He enjoyed getting out and about and seeing new things, which were always eyed off with some suspicion, but he very shied away.

The next step was to introduce him to different riders. My neighbor Gabby and her friend Brianna who were in Year 7 came to ride as often as they could. I had 2 other Welshies that I had also been training at the same time so the girls could ride together.

Jack’s First Party

It wasn’t too long before a suitable birthday party situation came up where I thought it might be a good introduction to Jack’s career as pony ride pony. One of my very good horsey friends from my Templestowe Pony Club days, Helen Dillon was having a

pony party for her eldest daughter who was turning 8 at the time.
Perfect. Helen lives on several acres, plenty of calm and quiet spaces to retreat from at a noisy kids party. But that wasn’t necessary. Jack’s first job out was to simply be brushed and groomed and adored by lots of little 8 year old girls. And let me tell you – he loved every bit of the attention. It was such a milestone for Jack to have a crowd of people around him and to feel comfortable and relaxed with it.

Nikki, our beautiful black Shetland Pony mare gave plenty of calm pony rides while Jack and Tabitha (our very pretty palomino miniature pony mare) were groomed, had their manes and tails braided with plenty pretty hair accessories to glam them up.

Jack Is Now One Of Our Top Pony Ride Ponies

Jack has now been with us since 2009, and every year he just gets better and better. He now occasionally teaches young children to ride and is one of 4 horses (3 ponies and one Thoroughbred horse) that keep my wonderful teenage pony party assistants coming up regularly to help care for the animals. They get to ride any time they wish in return for feeding, grooming, washing ponies and maintaining stables and yards – such a hard job for horse mad kids.

Oh and by the way, Jack now comes galloping up when we call his name.

If you loved this article, please leave us some feedback, perhaps you have had Jack at one of your parties, tell us all about it.

For Kids Pony Party bookings, please call 8669 1303 or fill in the online form.

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