Horse Birthday Party Ideas

Invite partygoers to horse around at your child's horse birthday party. Use the following ideas to create a festive atmosphere that your guests will remember for a long time!

Resources:

Decorations

For your horse party decorations, draw and cut out horseshoe shapes out of construction paper. Draw horses on large sheets of butcher paper (or use posters instead). Tape the horseshoe shapes and horse pictures onto your fence. Play country music in the background.

Borrow some sawhorses and decorate them to your best ability. If you live close to a farm, see if you can borrow several saddles and horseshoes (or any other theme items). Paint equestrian obstacles and hurdles on the cardboard. You can also get some split rail fences (to create a corral) and some hay for your horse birthday party. Spread all the above-mentioned items around your yard.

Decorate inside of the house with balloons and paper streamers. Make horse's snout on the balloons by drawing nose and eyes with markers. Then you can attach paper streamers onto balloons for horse's mane.

Hang horse theme posters on the walls. Spread out plastic horses and construction paper horseshoes on the floor. Hang a personalized "Happy Birthday" banner on the wall.

Cover the horse birthday party table with a theme cloth. (You can use a regular white table cover, and then add some horseshoe drawings, stickers and stamps onto it.) Place a horse blowout for a centerpiece. Tie balloons to the backs of the chairs. (Use Horse Mylar balloon for the birthday child's chair to make him or her feel special.)

Guest Arrival and Introductory Activities

*Guess How Many: Fill a clear jar with gummy horses and horseshoes. (Count and write the number of candy that you put in the jar.) When the kids arrive, get them to guess how many gummies are in the jar. The person who guesses the closest to the amount receives the jar filled with candy to take home.

*Horse Mural: Tape a wide sheet of butcher paper on the lower portion of your wall (so the kids can reach). Provide picture samples of horses for ideas. Give out paints, crayons, markers, stamps, etc, and have the kids create their mural "masterpieces."

*Horse Birthday Party Activity: Get a horse theme decoration kit from a party store. At party time, get the kids involved into craft activity while they are waiting for other horse birthday party guests to arrive.

Favors

Be creative with horse party favors. You can make several personalized items (e.g., t-shirts or bracelets) for the kids to take home.

Include other cool items such as plastic horse figurines, boot cups, horse bean bags, crayons, notepads, and sticker sheets.

Horse Birthday Party Games

*Find Lost Horses: Hide small stuffed or plastic horses throughout your yard or house. Make sure that they are not too difficult to find. Get your horse party guests find lost animals and bring them back to the "corral."

*Pin the Tail on the Horse: Play classic Pin-the-tail game using a horse poster and pre-cut construction paper "horse tails."

Pony Kid

*Mustang Roundup: Choose one or more kids to be rustlers. All the other horse birthday party guests are mustangs.

When the rustlers hear command "Corral 'em!" from one of the helpers - the rustlers have to catch the mustangs.

When kids get caught, they go to the designated area called "Corral." They must stand with their legs wide apart.

To be freed, one of the free mustangs must crawl between their legs. Keep the game going until every mustang has been caught.

*Wild Apple Tree: You'll need an apple with a stem for each child to play this game.

Attach a string to the stem of the apple and hang it from a tree or a furniture fixture. Get the kids to bite on and eat their apples like horses without using their hands. (The apples should hang low enough for children to bite on them.)

*Sugar Cube Race: Divide your horse birthday party goers into two teams ("Mustangs" and "Wild Horses", or any other names children choose for their teams) and line them up. Place two empty bowls on two chairs close to the finish line.

Put two bowls on two chairs directly ahead from each team about 30 feet away. Fill both of those bowls with equal amount of sugar cubes. (Having two sugar cubes per each team member works well.)

Give first players in line a spoon. On the command, "Giddyap!" the first players run to their bowls, scoop one sugar cube with their spoon, and race back to starting line to fill their empty bowls.

Then players pass their spoons to the next players in line, and the second players continue the game in the same manner. The team to transfer their sugar cubes the fastest wins.

*Horseshoe Toss: For this outside horse birthday party game, you'll need two stakes or sturdy sticks and horseshoes or rope.

Hammer two stakes into the ground a good distance apart. (Judge distance based on kids' age and ability.) If you don't have real horseshoes (or horseshoes are too heavy for your guests), then make lasso rings out of rope.

Form rings that are large in diameter, so the young kids have an easier time slipping them over the stakes. Use masking tape for players to stand behind. Have the guests take turns in tossing their horseshoes or lasso rings around the stakes.

*Penny in a Hay Stack: Hide pennies and plastic horses in small hay stack. Get the children to find the items for prizes.

*Galloping Horse Relay: Split the kids into two teams. Line them up. Get them to gallop from one side of the party area, around the chair, and back using horse sticks (or brooms). Players pass horse sticks to the next kids in line. The team to finish first - wins!

*Horse-Opoly Board Game: For older kids, you can organize a cool game activity. Simply get a horse board game from a party store, and let the kids have some quiet time playing the game. They will not only have fun, but also be able to learn new things about horses.

*Ranch Road Trip: Plan a trip with the kids to a local ranch for pony rides. They'll love an opportunity to be around live horses!

Horse Birthday Cakes:

*Horse Cake: Bake 13x9x2" cake. Cut and arrange the cake according to the pictures. Frost the entire cake brown. Make a "horse mane" out of white frosting.

Braid the licorice for reins and bridle. Place Necco wafer for the eye. Add a jelly bean for the nose.

*Horseshoe Cake: You can get a cake pan in horseshoe shape from a party store. Then bake a cake using the pan according to the package directions.

*Horse Power Cake: Simply bake a round cake. Then decorate it with various horse cake toppers (available from a party store).

Horse Birthday Party Food Ideas:

*Wonder Wraps: Spread peanut butter on one side of tortilla wraps. Sprinkle on some granola cereal, chopped apples or bananas, and raisins. For added fun, buy some extra granola, raisins and fruit - put them in separate bowls and let the kids make their own wraps.

*Trailblazing Taco Bar: Warm corn tortilla shells in the oven and give them to kids. Let them walk around and fill their taco shells with various fillings. (Enlist adults to help your horse birthday party goers.)

Taco fillings can include such ingredients as shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, sliced olives, onions, grated cheese, salsa, etc.

*Trail Mix: Mix up raisins, chocolate chips, granola cereal, dried cherries (cranberries, bananas, etc.), nuts, seeds, etc. It becomes a great treat that your guests can munch on during the horse party.

*Campfire S'mores: If you don't have real campfire - use microwave. Simply put a spoonful of chocolate chips on a graham cracker half and top with a marshmallow. Then heat up in microwave for about 1 minute. (Keep on a plate or paper towel.) Next, cover with another graham half and serve.

*Horse Power Cookie: Prepare your child's favorite cookie recipe and form a giant dough ball. Spray a baking sheet with vegetable oil and place the dough ball on it. Shape the dough into a star, circle, square, heart, triangle, or any other shape you want. Make it about 1/2" thick.

Bake about 5 to 10 minutes longer than the recipe suggests, checking periodically. Test the center with a toothpick to make sure it's cooked. When cool, carefully slide it into a large tray or a foil-covered cardboard. Frost the cookie and use decorator gel to write your "birthday" message across the top.

*Licorice Rope: Create a lasso rope out of licorice strings.
*Fruit Kabobs

*Pizza
*Corn on the Cob
*Gummy Horses & Horseshoes
*Moo Cream (Ice Cream)

Horse Birthday Party Drink Ideas:

*Canyon Land Cocoa: Prepare hot chocolate milk mix according to directions. Then sprinkle and stir in cinnamon. Pour into mugs, and put cinnamon sticks on top with whipped cream. Scrape chocolate bar with a butter knife. Sprinkle "chocolate shaving" into the drinks and serve.

*Tea
*Milk