2025 - Volume #49, Issue #1, Page #08
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Mobile Petting Zoo Is A Thriving Business
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After working weekdays as a food researcher, she spends most weekends from May to October traveling to events in Minnesota and South Dakota, showing off her family of miniature, dwarf and small-breed animals.
Her traveling zoo includes a 30-year-old miniature horse named Froggy, a cow named Pitt Squeak, and a donkey named Oliver. An assortment of goats, sheep, ducks, rabbits and a Kunekune pig also belong to her animal clan.
She hauls the animals in a customized 3-horse trailer pulled by a 3/4-ton 2004 Dodge diesel truck, with husband-built panels for containing the animals at events. The panels conveniently attach to the exterior of the trailer during transport. The trailer has living quarters in case she stays overnight at an event site.
Jessica’s 9-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter often accompany her, helping with setup and talking about the animals. Her artist sister offers face painting at some events.
Jessica occasionally makes special appearances with Froggy, her all-white pony, who shows up in disguise as a unicorn. Jessica transforms the all-white Froggy into Rainbow the Unicorn by painting the pony’s hooves glittery gold and attaching a custom-made plastic horn to the pony’s halter.
Rainbow the Unicorn is also available as a live prop for custom photography or as a surprise guest at kids’ birthday parties.
“Froggy was a gift to me 25 years ago,” Kesteloot says, “and he’s still in excellent health despite his age. He’s lost some of his teeth, but hopefully, he’ll be around for many more years.”
When not at a weekend engagement, Jessica’s animals are housed in a barn and outbuildings at her parents’ farm, four miles from her home. She feeds them and performs other chores daily. For more details about her programs, visit her Facebook page (Jessica’s Family Farm LLC). Rates for events start at $250.
“I had no idea the opportunities for ‘agritainment’ with my animals,” Jessica says. “Now they’re not just my expensive pets, but they bring joy to so many others and pay their own way.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jessica’s Family Farm, Cottonwood, Minn. (ph 507-401-1807; jessicalouwagie@yahoo.com).
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