About a year ago, a social media post offering costumed goats rented out to parties piqued Hope Nelson’s entrepreneurial curiosity.
“I saw it on someone’s Facebook in Idaho or something, and I was like, ‘I’m gonna just try,’” said the 19-year-old, who now runs Risen Ranch LLC in the Boulder Valley and has lugged her impressively cooperative goats to about 20 parties since launching the business in August 2025.
The first was at a former teacher’s home in the Helena Valley for his son’s birthday. She brought four goats, dressed them up in dresses and button-downs and watched the crowd go wild. Word spread fast, and she’s barely been able to keep up since.
“I’m so busy that I haven’t even posted online,” she said. “People just reach out to me, which is really cool.”
This spring, she introduced something new: Easter goats. Risen Ranch offers two Easter packages for backyard parties, churches, schools and community events. The basic includes dressed-up goats, petting and interaction time and photo opportunities.
The extra package adds goats participating in the Easter egg hunt, Easter baskets, feeding and brushing, and a goat photo shoot depending on the event location. Spots for Easter weekend and Easter Day are limited, and had mostly been booked as of Monday.
The Easter offering is just the latest in a lineup of themed events. Nelson’s goats have added farm animal charisma to Halloween parties, birthday bashes, surprise parties and bachelorette party yoga with goats.
In May, she plans to bring the goats to Montana Technical University in Butte for an end-of-school-year event at which students will pie their professors. She’s also developing holiday specials for Christmas and the Fourth of July.
“You want them to show up in red, white and blue? I can do that,” she said with a laugh. “A lot of parties that I never would think that people would want, they want them.”
And the goats do not merely show up, they arrive fully turned out. Nelson brings four goats to each event, all of them around a year old: Jill, Parmesan, Gouda and Evan, each outfitted to match the occasion.
She sources their clothes from thrift stores and has over the past eight months filled up a decent goat closet: Halloween costumes, Christmas sweaters, Valentine’s Day looks, suits, swimwear, sunglasses and hats.
Party prices range between $125 and $350, depending on distance traveled, party length and add-ons. The first 30 miles are free. The most basic option is simply the goats showing up and mingling with guests. From there, clients can add brushing and feeding goats, as well as face pointing and decorations. At more elaborate events, the goats have even delivered presents to birthday kids.
The goats, for their part, appear to love the work. Nelson said that when she opens the back of her car – to unload groceries or head to an event – they race to get in. “They’re all trying to jump in at the same time, and I’m like, ‘Wait one second,’” she said.
During a slow stretch last summer when parties dried up for a week or two, the goats made their displeasure known by jumping in her car whenever it was open.
The party business is only one part of what Nelson manages. She breeds goats and rents animals to 4-H kids for the summer so families can participate without buying their own. She is also developing a weed-eating service and considering 4-H workshops where families could try out different animals before committing.
Nelson has been in 4-H since she was seven and said the program shaped her confidence going into college and beyond. Outside the ranch, her schedule is no lighter. She works as a paraeducator at Boulder Elementary School, teaches after-school clubs, rodeos and does Irish dance classes, all while studying nursing at Helena College.
“I don’t know how I have time for anything,” Nelson said.
She does most of it alone, with some help from friends. “One turned into 30,” she said of her herd, recalling that she had originally planned to use her goats for goat tying competitions before changing course. She now owns horses, dogs and chickens, and sells lambs and goats.
For Nelson, the work comes back to something simple. “Just to be able to see a lot of life and to be able to share it with people is really cool,” she said. “That’s what I like about the parties, to be able to share it with people that can’t really have animals.”
Looking to book goats at your next party? Contact Nelson at Risen Ranch LLC on Facebook or 406-461-7705.
