When people walk down the bustling streets of downtown Middletown, they are surrounded by boutiques, cafes, and all sorts of different shops. Community members and visitors alike wonder which stops to make on their afternoon out, when a charming shop with a horse pictured on the window catches their eye. Customers know they have made a good choice when they enter
and smile at the cheerful, strawberry blonde statue of a pony named Pudge that greets them inside.

Emily Nelson is the owner of The Pudgy Pony Equine Thrift, one of the several local businesses in the Middletown area. Located at 1368 Central Avenue, the store displays a wide variety of products: riding supplies such as saddles, spurs to help direct a horse, reins, clothing for the rider’s such as boots, shirts, and scarves, and other accessories like jewelry and wallets. Nelson buys both new and used items to resell in her store, enabling her to support others as well as her own business.

“We’re like a Plato’s Closet for horse stuff,” Nelson told Spark.

But her passion for buying and selling equipment isn’t Nelson’s first rodeo in the equestrian industry. She mentioned that she “happened into buying and selling” while working with horses at establishments such as Green Tree Stables.

“I taught riding lessons and trained horses,” said Nelson. “I rode horses all my life. Then, I really enjoyed buying and selling equipment and thought ‘Hey, I could turn this into a business.’”

On one of those afternoon outings, a customer named Katie Hester entered the store and began looking around. Hester and Nelson hit it off immediately, going from talking about the shop to selling saddles and other products back and forth, to Nelson asking Hester if she had considered working for her.

“I would browse around and I would always end up leaving with an armful of stuff,” Hester told Spark. “We kind of just got into this relationship where I would bring things in, she would purchase them, and I would buy new and better items.”

Much like her employer, Hester has been jumping hurdles with horses long before her time with Pudge The Pony at the store. Since 2009, she has been “bitten by the horseshoe bug” by spending her days leasing and bringing her two horses to different show events known as disciplines, participating in the stylized trotting of Western Pleasure to the swift and sleek English Riding. Hester even roped her husband into the fence by “convincing him to buy her a show horse.”

Even the community can not help but stop by when they ride into town. Events such as the ‘Women’s Wine and Chocolate Walk’ offer community members a tour of Middletown’s shops, restaurants, historic sites, and local businesses like the Pudgy Pony. Being one of the stops on the route, the store has a booth and an available punch card for the walkers to mark off while they explore the charming shop filled with strong equipment, colorful clothing, and even quality jewelry.

“It shows such a good sense of community,” said Nelson. “And it shows off the local businesses. You wouldn’t have walked into that store otherwise.”

Loveland resident Nathan Sabo said that the first time he stumbled upon the shop was a lucky day. “I was in the area just hanging out with friends and I saw that it was a thrift store and later realized it was for equestrian equipment and I really was excited,” said Sabo.“The store is honestly one of a kind, and as a rider, I have never seen anything like it.”

Community support for The Pudgy Pony goes far beyond chocolate prizes. Over a year ago, about six months after Hester began working at the store, her and Nelson realized more space was needed to showcase all of the store’s products.

“When Pudgy Pony started, we were in the building next door and it was about half the size of what it is now,” said Hester. “In October of 2023, we moved to the shop we’re in now and she was trying to explain to me how it was all going to work out. So, we worked evening after evening and weekend after weekend getting everything ready. It went from a little, simple store to so professional and so welcoming.”

In October 2019, a love of horses and business started in the next-door building as a one-woman team. Five years later, that love has expanded into a blue ribbon business of entrepreneurship, dedication, and community.

“I couldn’t see in my mind’s eye what [Nelson] was envisioning,” said Hester. “The day we finally moved in and I could see her vision, that was my favorite part because she improved Pudgy Pony so much. You walk in and you just love it.”

This story was originally published on Spark on October 14, 2024.