Photo by Sofia Edelman DiFelice and Daisy at Starberry Acres in Mebane
It’s fitting that inspiration struck a lifelong horse rider on her way to the stables.
Susan DiFelice was used to the 45-minute drive north from her Chapel Hill home to tiny Bahama, N.C., but the trip felt long nonetheless. She’d often carpool with another horse rider, her friend Susy Shearer, to pass the time with conversation.
But those conversations would always wind and end up back at the same place: DiFelice, a graphic designer by trade, starting her own business. She had no idea how, exactly, she would do it, but the idea was a constant.
But during one of these carpools, in February 2017, it hit her. The thing she is most passionate about, what she always makes extra time for — horses — is what her business should be about.
But during one of these carpools, in February 2017, it hit her. The thing she is most passionate about, what she always makes extra time for — horses — is what her business should be about.
“I couldn’t let it go… It just took me,” DiFelice said. “I couldn’t stop. I didn’t sit down to really plan.”
As the two friends groomed their horses, rode beside each other and walked the acres of fields at Quail Roost Farm that same day, DiFelice felt pressed to start the venture as soon as possible.
Within a month, it was decided. The business would be a website that teaches kids about horsemanship through stories and games, and includes DiFelice’s own personal illustrations.
“I’m a lifelong rider and I love horses,” DiFelice said. “I grew up riding and I have small children. I’m also a fine artist and graphic designer and so this business married all these passions of mine — children, design and horses.”
And soon enough, there was a name for it all: Allpony.
“It’s kind of like the saying, ‘He’s all boy.’ There’s a saying that, ‘He’s all pony,’” DiFelice said. “Ponies tend to be kind of mischievous. I just like how it sounded.”
When DiFelice had her two children, she quit riding to take care of them. But when she started riding again two years ago, she remembered her love for the sport. And the confirmation of that love compelled her to finish Allpony within half a year.
“Whenever my kids were in preschool or in the evenings when they were just hanging out,” DiFelice said, “and I didn’t really need to be with them at that moment, I was on the computer creating all of this.”