The Pony Express

I wouldn’t use these people they are very unprofessional they were supposed to come on my daughter’s birthday and didn’t show and when I wrote a bad review they tried to bribe me with free services and said they will come on a alternate day and once again never showed and when I proceeded to write a bad review he threaten me with law enforcement

I’m amazed at how someone can claim to be a business but not be able to actually communicate with it’s customers. They are incapable of making a professional transaction, except to send automated messages trying to get u to give them money and urging you to pay now. I repeatedly tried to call both office and cell phone numbers that were given. After calling and leaving voice messages repeated times for four days I was never contacted back. They continued to send quotes by message telling me to book now saying they still had my time available and then they raised the original price they offered me. I then made a effort to email explaining that I wished to speak to someone direct to ensure it wasn’t scam they soon sent a message saying they could no longer accommodate me. So I posted on Unilocal where they then pursued me through email and Preyed on my weakness to have my daughters party to go on as planned and bribed me with free pony rides If I’d just remove the post and give them a chance to satisfy me where they then disappointed me again pony express in no way is reliable or the professional business they claim to be they lack basic customer service if they have any at all and is not the type of people anyone would want to work with parties are stressful enough you dnt need any more added stress from so called professional vendors.

We had Kevin bring in the ponies for my son’s Bday party, and it was just awesome. Kevin arrived early and encouraged the kids to watch, as he got the ponies ready. He in fact brought 3 ponies…
Kids enjoyed the rides, and although it was hot, Kevin didn’t complain.
I am super happy with the service and will recommend you guys to anyone…
Thanks Kevin and the pony express team

FYI, I asked Kevin to make a CD of the pics for my daughter because I love them so much and he drove all the way to Livermore to drop them off for me. Seriously an awesome experience that I recommend for any daycare. I am hoping my daughters school will consider doing it again next year.

Awsome. We tried pony party first time for my daughter’s 5^th birthday and felt lucky to get Kevin and crew. Kids loved them and party was superhit. My daughter kept asking if she could have them again next year. Kevin was on time, he was very friendly with kids and engaged a group on 10 kids very nicely. I would recommend them all the time.

WOW! I was so impressed with everything Pony Express had to offer. We had an event at our school on 1÷9÷15 for about 25 kids and several adults. Pony Expressed arrived on time and with not 2, but 3 ponies for the kids to enjoy. One was the photo pony to sit on and take photos (Bonnet), the second was the riding pony (Ginger) for the kids to ride while their friends were getting their pictures taken and the 3^rd was a baby pony (Junior) that was there to be with his mommy since he was still nursing. Pony Express also brought six leather vest/​chaps outfits for the kids and countless hats and bandannas to complete the look for their photos.
The photographer was magical. I say this because once the children were on the photo pony the photographer had their full attention. He was able to get them to smile and laugh for their pictures as well as capture the moment on film AND the kids were not distracted by anything else while they were having their pictures taken. I was thoroughly impressed since I take tons of photos of my kids, but have never gotten them to focus on the camera for such a long period of time and smile at the same time. ;-D Pony Express also cleaned up very well after the event and made sure that the school was back to normal when they left.
Pony Express came back to our school with the printed photos on 1÷16÷15 as they had planned. The price for prints was great! I ended up getting full packages for both of my kids and just love how they turned out. Not only was this an amazing photo experience, it is something that the children will remember forever.

Experience of a lifetime through the eyes of the kids!!! What fun!!! Everyone was in awe of these beautiful, well behaved, ponies! An added treat was a visit from the 4 month old pony named Junior. He enjoyed the kids petting him & feeding him apples. We have used Pony Express twice now and are always in awe of these amazing animals! I highly recommend Pony Express for a great time & a great value!!! Thank you Kevin for your professionalism & clean up after! (Ponies poop too you know!)

I would’ve given a zero rating if I could!
First appointment: they cancelled their visit only 5 minutes before their scheduled time
Second appointment: showed up 2 hours late and they said their «photo pony» was not cooperating, so no pictures!!!
Very very disappointing. Stay away!

We hired Pony Express to come to our 6 year old twins birthday party in June. We live at the end of a dead end road with a grassy dirt road for the ponies to walk down, so it is a nice environment for the ponies. Kevin and his helper arrived on time and unloaded their 2 adorable ponies (Ginger and Bonnet) and also brought along a tiny baby foal that was born about a week before. We had about 20 children at the party. Some were afraid of the ponies and did not want to ride, but those who didn’t ride loved the baby foal. Kevin and his assistant were friendly and cheerful for the kids, and although one of the ponies (Bonnet) was a bit feistier than the other, I felt the kids were safe and in good hands. Many of the kids were proud of riding the feistier pony. Our kids had a blast with the ponies and we would hire Kevin again without reservation.

Appalled by the customer service of this company as they were scheduled twice to come to my daughter’s school. The first time they canceled last minute explaining that the pony came down with colic. Yesterday, they showed up late and refused to have the children take pictures with the pony. Why advertise that you are a photography company that specializes in children’s pictures with ponies? Also, don’t tell us your photo pony is not cooperating when you say you have «well trained ponies.» A well seasoned company in the event planning arena would know that toddler/​preschool children follow schedules and arriving 45 minutes late is unacceptable.
Extremely disappointed with the lack of communication and poor customer service. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY as you will walk away extremely disappointed.

Very negative experience. Horrible customer service. They have no consideration for their main customer base — kids! My daughter was waiting for the pony rides at her preschool and it was all she could talk about. Appointment got cancelled. Kids were extremely disappointed. The following week, they tried to reschedule again. But when finally scheduled — the «photo» pony wasn’t in the mood to take pictures. The communication with the representative was flat out bad. Would not recommend.

Here is Pony Express’ company description:
«Company specializing in children’s pictures with ponies for preschools and day care centers… We bring gentle, well trained ponies, western outfits, and a professional staff to your location.»
Pony Express was originally scheduled to come to my daughter’s daycare 2 weeks ago. They called last minute to cancel because of a colicky pony. I didn’t know ponies got colic, but we gave them the benefit of the doubt.
The school rescheduled for Pony Express to come back today. Not only did they arrive a couple hours late (without notice), but the operator said the pony was in a bad mood, so no pictures. Lots of kids were left disappointed today.
Referring back to the original mission statement above, Pony Express DOES NOT specialize in bringing ponies to your location and their ponies are temperamental and NOT well-​trained. The staff is definitely NOT professional.

Kevin has come the past few years to our preschool to take pictures of the children and give pony rides. The children love it! The parents love the photos. He has great way of getting the children to smile and relax. The ponies are gentle and calm.

The pony rides were a huge hit with the birthday girl! We booked pony rides for one hour for a very affordable rate. Kevin arrived with ginger and bonnet. One of the ponies wasn’t really up for the occasion but since we had such a small group of kids it worked out fine. Those that chose not to ride had fun just petting her.
Kevin is really nice and encouraged the kids to try it at least once since some of them were shy or scared. He also let us walk the ponies ourselves since some kids felt more secure with their parent pulling the pony. The Unilocal page seems more like pony pictures than rides, I guess that’s another service they offer. I found him through craigslist and luckily for me he had a great promotion for rides.