Riding lessons: If she can’t own a horse, perhaps she can spend some time with one while learning how to ride. This is an expensive gift, but perhaps if a number of gift-givers pool their resources, it will be affordable.

Riding gear: If the lucky birthday girl already owns a horse or takes riding lessons, she may need a proper pair of riding boots, a riding hat or some other gear. Check out more gear here.

Cowboy / Cowgirl Boots: Chances are that she has a pair of cowboy boots, however, if she doesn't then this can make a super exciting gift for her. If she already has a pair then a different style might be something she'd also like! Check out the boot barn for the best selection online!

Horse-themed toys: If your little girl likes Bratz, she’ll love a Bratz Cowgirlz doll, or the Bratz Cowgirlz Horse Stable Playset, with a horse, stable accessories, grooming supplies and horse food. If she likes Barbie, there’s a Barbie horse playset as well.

Horse jewelry: For an older girl, a piece of jewelry in the shape of a horse, a saddle or a horseshoe, such as a pendant or a bracelet charm, can be a wonderful gift and one that she will keep forever. If she has a horse, or a favorite horse that she rides, you can inscribe the horse’s name on the piece.

Magazine subscription: Give her a year’s subscription to one of the horse and pony magazines for kids, such as Blaze Kids (US) or Pony Magazine (United Kingdom).

Books: A beautiful coffee table book full of pictures of different kinds of horses, or stories about horses will engage her imagination. There are classics such as Black Beauty for older girls, or activity books such as My Big Box of Horses and Ponies, which teaches the reader about the different breeds of horses and includes three model horses and a model stable to construct.

Sponsor a horse: If the little girl is a kind-hearted animal lover, you can sponsor a retired racehorse in her name. Donations go towards taking care of a retired or injured racehorse who would otherwise have to be put to sleep.

	ID STETHOSCOPE NAME TAG HORSE BEAUTY MEDICAL NURSE MIDWIFE IMPRINTED STARS		US $10.00	More Details

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You can buy a pre-made Horse Birthday party favors which includes many horse themed toys and games. The one featured on the right includes a Horse Power notepad, a Horse Power blowout, a Horse Power sticker sheet, 6" horse bean bag, plastic horse figurine, and 4 crayons. A very fun and horse themed party favor!

Put a small plush horse toy in a favor bag along with a “feed bag.” The feed bag can be a small white or brown bag full of gummy carrots and gummy sour apples to feed the horse. Write “Horse Feed” on the bag. You can also add a small comb as a grooming “curry comb,” and a length of ribbon for tying around the horse’s neck on special occasions.

Fill a favor bag with horse-shaped lollipops, horse stickers and horse-themed costume jewelry that you find at the dollar store or order online. You can also make home-made chocolates in the shape of horses using molds purchased from a baking supply store. A company called Foodoodler offers “My Little Pony” cookies that can be colored with edible markers. They offer kits with a pony cookie and three edible markers so the girls can color their own cookie at home. Other ideas include giving each child a paintable pony kit from Celebrate Express, a candy apple and an issue of a kid’s horse magazine such as Blaze Kids.

Purchase a horse mug for each child. Fill it with jelly beans or other candy and stick horse-shaped lollipops in the top. Wrap in clear mylar with a bow.

Horse-shaped cake (CHALLENGING): If you’re an advanced baker, you can use this sculpted horse cake pan from Wilton to create a beautiful horse cake. If the birthday girl has a favorite horse, you can adjust the icing colors to make the cake look just like it.

	Vintage Wilton Hobby Rocking Horse Cake Pan		US $.99	More Details

	WILTON HORSE SHOE CAKE PAN		US $.99	More Details

	WILTON HORSE SHOE HORSESHOE CAKE PAN 502 3258 GREAT CAKE PAN TAKE A LK		US $7.99	More Details

Horse-head cake (EASY): If you want to create an easy horse-shaped cake out of a simple sheet cake, take a look at this idea from the Family Fun website. It shows you how to make a few cuts in a square cake and assemble the pieces to create a great-looking cake in the shape of a horse-head. Cover with chocolate or butterscotch frosting and create a mane by piping contrasting icing. Finish with a shoestring licorice and life-saver bridle.

Horse corral cake (EASY): You can make a striking horse corral cake by baking a rectangular sheet cake, covering it in vanilla frosting colored grass-green, and then arranging plastic horses cake toppers and a white plastic fence on it to create a corral.

Mini-field cupcake (EASY): Bake a batch of cupcakes and top them with grass-green frosting. Place a plastic horse on each one to create a “field full of horses.” You can find little plastic horses at the dollar store or online. You can find 12 for $10 here.

Horse-shoe Shape Cake (EASY): You can make a horse-shoe shaped cake rather easily by baking a regular cake in the horsehose cake pan. Then simply decorate with whatever colors and objects you like!

Start by using a chuck-wagon triangle to call the girls in for chow. If you’re eating out-of-doors, you can make burgers, veggie burgers and hot dogs on the barbecue, along with corn-on-the-cob and baked beans. If you’re indoors, grill everything in the kitchen, and set up a station where the girls can add their own condiments: mustard, mayonnaise, relish, ketchup, grated cheese, tomatoes, pickles and lettuce.

Horse Feed: If you can find little tin pails, you can fill them full of “horse-feed”: a mixture of pretzel sticks, potato chips and corn chips. Each guest will get her own little pail of horse feed. Try a craft store or order them online from amazon. If you can’t find mini pails, you can load up a big tin pail and let the girls help themselves.

Green Apple Horse Punch: Make up a batch of Green Apple Horse Punch. Mix equal parts white grape juice and green apple soda and serve in a big glass punch bowl. Float whole green apples in the bowl, and serve with a dollop of green apple sherbet.

Haystack treats: These haystack treats are very easy to make and delicious! Melt one cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, butterscotch chips or peanut butter chips, add ½ cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy) and ½ cup peanuts. Finally, add two cups crispy chow mein noodles. When the noodles are just coated, drop by big spoonfuls onto waxed paper, and refrigerate until set.

Horseshoe cookies: Make almond crescent cookies, and serve them as “horseshoe cookies.”

However, if it’s not possible to arrange for an activity involving a real horse, there are still lots of exciting horsey activities that you can organize for the birthday party:

Horseshoe decorating: If you have decorated the party room with horseshoe cut-outs, set up a decorator station with stickers, glitter pens, stick-on gems and other craft items. Invite guests to decorate the horseshoes.

T-shirt decorating: Set up a horse t-shirt decorating station. The girls will love this activity, and it’s surprisingly affordable. The resulting t-shirt can also double as a wonderful party keepsake.

Buy some inexpensive plain white t-shirts in sizes that will fit the guests. Find a black-and-white horse clipart online. You can choose a horse head or a full horse clipart. Enlarge it as needed and print it out on your home computer using iron-on transfer paper. Iron the horse picture onto the t-shirts and set them aside for the party. Next, pick up some fabric paints from your local craft supply store or at Fabric.com. You can also look for special fabric decorating puffy-pens and any other easy-to-apply fabric decorations. On the day of the party, hand each guest a t-shirt and invite them to design their own horse t-shirt. Set up a table with all the decorating supplies they’ll need. You will probably need a helper to staff the ironing board, as the t-shirts will need to be ironed after being painted to set the colours. All these supplies are available at Fabric.com.

If you don’t have the time to gather all the supplies needed for the t-shirt painting actitivy, you can order pre-assembled horse figurine painting kits at Celebrate Express. Give each guest a painting kit and invite them to paint and decorate their horses. You could even have a contest and award prizes for the most realistic, most imaginative, funniest, etc.

Play “Rustle Up the Horses”: Hide little plastic horses all over the house and/or the yard. Tell the girls that 20 horses have “escaped” and that they will need to find them and bring them back to the corral. You can set up a little corral using a little plastic fence from the dollar store and a patch of Astroturf. Give them a little prize for each horse they “rustle up.” Prizes can be horse stickers, horse plush doll, keychains, horse-shaped chocolates etc.

Play “Horseshoe”: If the party is outside, you can play this game with real horseshoes and a stake driven into the ground. Whether you’re indoors or out, you can play with an inexpensive horseshoe game set like this one available on Amazon for under $12.

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Play “Pin the Tail on the Horse”: You can find a “Pin the tail on the horse” game at a novelty or party supply store, order one from Celebrate Express online, or make your own. Cut out a silhouette of a horse and tape it to the wall (or tape it to a corkboard if you want to save your wall from pinholes), and then cut out some matching tails that the kids can attach with thumbtacks.

Play “Horse Races”: Draw an oval “racetrack” on a large piece of card, and draw in enough tracks so that all the guests can play at the same time. (If this isn’t possible, they can play in sets of six or so.) Now draw lines at right angles to the tracks at regular intervals, creating a checkerboard pattern. Set up a horse for each player at the starting line, and then have them roll a pair of dice to move their horse that many squares down the track. If they roll doubles, they miss a turn. Whoever gets all the way around the track first wins the game.

Play “Lasso the Horse”: This is a variation on the popular ring-toss game. You can use rings from a ring-toss game, or make rings from heavy tubing or rope. Clear a space in the room or in the yard and scatter small wrapped gifts within a certain area. Have the guests take turns trying to “lasso” a gift by throwing the ring over it. Make sure the rings are wide enough that the game is challenging but not frustrating. Alternatively, in place of wrapped mystery gifts, you could purchase small stuffed horses or horse beanie babies and have the kids try to lasso the horse they want. Check the dollar store for inexpensive mini-horses, or find them at Celebrate Express.

INDOORS

Make hobby-horses as described here, and line them up at the entrance to the party to greet the guests, or arrange them in the party room. Choose a theme color for the party and tie crepe paper ribbons in this color around the horses’ necks. You can also create a “horse corral” by leaning white fencing against a wall. You can find premade fencing for $15 or $20 at home hardware stores. Make grass by crumpling up green tissue paper and piling it against the wall. Lean the hobby-horses against the corral fence. If you have enough room, you can also create a three-dimensional corral in the corner of the room by making a square enclosure out of the fencing and heaping the square with tissue-paper “grass.” Put the hobby-horses inside so they lean out against the fence, and tie bunches of balloons to the corners of the corral. You can also tie co-ordinating crepe bows to the fence corners. If you don't have time for a great display like that then consider a Horse Wall decorating kit!

Cut out big horseshoe shapes in theme colors from construction or craft paper, either freehand or using a template. Later, when the guests arrive, you can encourage them to decorate the horseshoes with glitter pens and stickers.

Get the guests in a horsey frame of mind by handing each of them a cowboy hat as they arrive at the party. You can find inexpensive straw hats at the party supply store or dollar store, or order them online from Celebrate Express. These also make a great party favors for the little guests! You might also find inexpensive kerchiefs they can tie around their necks.

Remember that a horse themed party-pack will usually save you money on your tableware and decorations as you're buying the items in bulk!

If you want a simple no-fuss, no-muss decorating scheme, you can dress up the outdoor space with bunches of balloons and crepe streamers. Order some horse-shaped mylar balloons as well. In fact, a horse-themed party pack will usually save you money and time with your decorations!

If you have access to a larger vehicle and if there is a farm, ranch or petting zoo nearby where you can pick up some hay bales, this can be a great way to create a horsey theme outdoors. Range a few bales around the yard to create a ranch-like atmosphere. If you’re able to borrow a saddle or other horse tack, drape it over the bales.

Make hobby-horses and pose them around the yard. Get several lengths of four or five-foot wooden doweling from the hardware store, and cut out horse’s heads from brown, black, tan and white cardboard or craft foam. (You can also go for a “fantasy horse” look and make horses in blue, pink, purple, etc.) Cut twice as many heads as you will need hobby horses. Glue long yarn or crepe-paper “manes” on each head and hide the glued part by sandwiching it between another head. Glue the maned, double-sided horse head around the dowel. Draw on eyes with a Sharpie pen, or buy stick-on googly eyes at the craft store. If you make enough, each guest can take one home with them at the end of the party.

If you have a tree in your yard, make a “horse corral” by hanging horse-shaped mylar balloons from the branches of a tree. (This also works if you have a circular outdoor clothes-dryer!) Or you can hang the balloons in a line along the fence. Choose a color theme for the party (perhaps the birthday girl’s favorite color?) and twine crepe paper in those colors through the fence and around the tree or clothes-dryer.

Finally, a horse-themed party banner is a great way decorate and set the mood. You can even personalize it with the name and age of the birthday girl (or boy)!

If you want to create something unique and handmade, here are a few ideas:

Purchase plain cards and envelopes from a stationery store, and then look for small, inexpensive horseshoe charms at a cake and baking supply store, a dollar store or a party supply store. Tie a thin, pretty ribbon in a bow around it and glue a single horseshoe on the front of each card for an elegant and understated invitation.

• Use a horseshoe stamp to create “horse tracks” across a plain card.
• Purchase a large horse stamp and stamp each card. Help the birthday girl color and decorate each card individually with pencil crayons, felts and glitter pens.
• Purchase some horse magazines and spent an afternoon with the birthday girl cutting out her favorite horse pictures and gluing them on plain cards.
• Cut horse-head shapes out of brown felt. Add a googly eye and brown yarn bangs and mane and glue a horse head on each plain card.
• For these homemade cards, print out the invitation copy on your computer printer and glue it to the inside. Carry the horse theme into the copy:
• “Saddle up! [Birthday girl name] is having a birthday party right in the NEIGH-borhood. There will be lots of horsing around and happy trails for all!
• It’s also a nice touch to throw some horseshoe confetti into the envelope.