No matter how old you are, the rising costs of riding and owning a horse can be a tough challenge to meet. For two enterprising young sisters, starting their own business to make extra money to support their riding was the best and most creative (and fun) solution.
The booth at the Royal Winter Fair. Stop by!
Teagan and Rylee MacIntosh, 13 and 15 respectively, hail from the Kawartha Lakes area in Ontario, and began sewing masks during the pandemic with their grandmother. “We saved all of our mask money, and we bought a pony named Mango,” says Teagan, who describes her as a cute but naughty chestnut mare. “After the masks were not needed anymore, we needed to think of a new idea to keep paying for Mango, so we started making items for equestrians.”
Mango’s Magic Creations was born. The items the siblings designed and created include belts, stirrup covers, blanket tags, and other equestrian accessories. “We make the belts at home in our dining room, which my mom is not a fan of,” Teagan admits. “We have a huge table which is always covered in fabric, elastic and sewing machines.”
Their mother, Jennifer, pitches in and according to Teagan she does most of the embroidery on the items. The division of labour between the sisters consists of Teagan handling the communications and marketing (hence her responding to our interview request), while Rylee does most of the sewing. However, when there’s a lot of orders to fill, everyone pitches in with everything — including grandma!
As they girls have been on the show circuit selling their wares – only Rylee competes – they’ve met lots of supportive equestrians along the way. And they’ve inspired other young riders to become entrepreneurs.
“Our friend Harper started Luxy Charms and sells very fun charms. And our friend Elle and Liv started Simpl.eq and have designed a very fun riding journal, and lots of fun horse stickers,” says Teagan. “This has been fun for us to teach them some tips and tricks we have learned along the way.”
As for future plans for their fledgling brand, the MacIntosh sisters are hoping to continue to be vendors at shows, including some of the bigger events. “We have Pony Finals on our mind!” says Teagan, referring to the prestigious show held annually at the Kentucky Horse Park. In the meantime, they are developing ideas to expand their belt line with new colours and designs.
The girls with some of their brand ambassadors (l-r) Olivia Hineman, Rylee MacIntosh, Kaia Couch, Teagan MacIntosh, Ashlynn Crowley, Molly Brown, Heather Milovanovic.
Mango’s Magic Creations can be seen at this year’s Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, where the sisters are having a wonderful time. Their friends are also at the Fair selling their own work. “This week at the Royal we’ve gotten our best feedback, which is many repeat buyers from last year!” Teagan adds.
