I choose to have a surprise Pony Party for my daughter's 5th birthday. She knew she was having a party and that her friends were coming but she did not know that I had booked a horse and a pony to attend as well! I had told her she was having a special visitor" that was all. The party was in fact quite simple but a huge hit with the kids and the parents as well.  Having a horse and pony at a party is not an everyday occurance LOL! The invitations were cute simple and printed on an animal themed 8.5x11 piece of paper and then sealed with a horse sticker. The wording was as follows:  Saddle up and enjoy the ride It's Elana's birthday She's turning five! So giddy-up and join the fun With pony rides for everyone  The day of the party: once all of the guest arrived we plugged in our iPod and began playing the horse themed playlist I created via iTunes as the kids played on our backyard playground.  We soon served a cupcake cake and ice cream that I simply decorated with a My Little Pony on top and sang Happy Birthday.   Once the children were done with their cake and ice cream we soon left our home to another location to ride the horse and pony which happened to be in our neighborhood. Our neighborhood has a soocer field that is open for use as long as no one else is there. We brought quilts apples and a big tote of all sorts of balls.  The kids got to run and play with the balls and/or munch on the apples while waiting their turn to ride.  We also brought various cowboy hats for the kids to wear while riding.  They looked adorable to say the least! I hired another mom friend to take pictures for us so that we could be very involved with the kids and parents on the field. We had gorgeous fall weather so it could not have been more perfect in that regard.   To see my daughter's reaction when she saw the horses coming (there were 2)to see her was priceless! Oh I had her dressed in a denim cowgirl style skirt and a brown tank with gold and turqoise accents and her hair was in pony tails on each side.  She looked the part of an adorable cowgirl for sure!  The favors for the guests:  I used brown lunch sacks and put in one toy (large) plastic horse a copy of the horse themed iTunes cd that I had made (14 songs) and one tootsie pop. The kids loved the horse and sucker and I think the cd will be a big hit with the moms (of course the kids too). Who could not love the theme song from Mr. Ed?!?!  One of the best parties we have EVER hosted.   "