Like all horse girls, 15-year-old Katelynn Conner was scheming of ways to buy more tack and equipment for her paint mare Sassy, when she came up with a brilliant business idea.
Katelynn, who is a Western pleasure rider from Ohio, learned to sew so she could repurpose horse feed bags into cute tote bags.
With the help from her mom, Kelly Conner, Katelynn created her own sewing pattern and began cleaning and recycling the bright blue Essential K feed bags by Tribute.
“We found a pattern on Pinterest that we started with. It didn’t turn out very good,” said Kelly, with a laugh. So they tweaked the pattern themselves.
Katelynn didn’t know how to sew before she started making the tote bags, but Kelly did. Kelly learned from her mom, who ran her own craft business, selling goods at craft fairs for many years. And now Katelynn learned from hers.
Eventually Katelynn’s best friend, Kyra Griteman, 10, helped make the bags, too. That’s how their business, Painted Pony Kreations, was born.
“Katelynn has always been very creative and artistic,” her mom explained.
The girls make the tote bags in two sizes, a large costs $15 and a smaller one is $7.50. They will ship them to customers across the country and can design a bag based on any horse, cattle or chicken feed. They started advertising their bags online, and interest in them exploded.
Now the bags are offered for sale at two different stores – Top Ranch Hands in Oklahoma and a feed store in Georgia.
Since they started in the spring, the girls have made and sold nearly 200 bags. The Tribute bags seem to be the most popular because of the colors, Katelynn said.
“I didn’t expect this at all,” said Katelynn, who is already thinking of ways to expand her business line. She wants to create feed bag stockings in time for Christmas. Then maybe add fabric liners to the tote bags, or a chicken-inspired apron. Maybe she’ll even try to make purses, she said.
“I don’t always want to depend on my parents for money,” she explained, about her motivation to start her own business. “I want to be responsible and save my money.”
But also, maybe splurge on her horse Sassy, too. Like a blingy new barrel racing tack set.