Need a bartender? The Spiked Lil’ Burro delivers drinks, delight in Evansville area
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A unique bartending duo based in Posey County is licensed, insured and ready to celebrate special occasions in the tri-state area.
Kaelen Rice, owner of The Spiked Lil’ Burro, serves alcoholic beverages at weddings, company gatherings and other events with the help of Busch, a miniature donkey. Guests are free to grab drinks from the burro’s baskets and take pictures with the animal in his festive attire.
“He’s an overall chill little dude. Which is absolutely fantastic because donkeys have that reputation of being stubborn. He is not that. Otherwise, he would just be a pet. He wouldn’t be doing this,” Rice said.
Rice has a full-time job as a financial systems analyst for the Metropolitan School District of Mt. Vernon, and she’s also a horse exhibitor. The entrepreneur started working on the bartending venture last September to fill some of her downtime.
“The plan was, it was going to be a nice little side business outside of show season and lake season to give me a little something else to do, a little something fun. I am gladly sacrificing most of my show season for this,” Rice said.
Meet Busch
Rice said she developed The Spiked Lil’ Burro concept after seeing something similar on TikTok. Even though her family has a standard donkey on their Mt. Vernon farm, the business owner felt he was too tall and excitable to be part of the bartending business.
“We have all of these animals mainly because my mom and I are suckers when we see animals in need,” said Rice. “I show saddlebreds and a hackney and a Clydesdale. So adding another four-legged friend was nothing new to us,” said Rice.
Once Rice realized she needed a shorter burro with an easygoing temperament, she found Busch in Alabama.
“He came up here just in time for winter, which he was not a huge fan of the snow and ice, but he got a nice big winter blanket, and he had shelter and lots of good food. And he just absolutely loves people,” Rice said.
Rice said it didn’t take long to train Busch for his bartending duties, which include carrying beverages, wearing costumes and getting along with new people.
“I got him used to the saddle pad being on his back and getting used to the different pieces of tack being put on him. Then we started walking around the neighborhood. We’d go on nice little trips and visit the neighbors. He’d sit there and squeeze his way into the middle of the circle where all my neighbors would be standing, wanting all the attention.” Rice said. “By pack trip number two, he was already broke. He was used to the ice slushing and the drinks.”
‘He was so gentle’
Justin Calvert hired The Spiked Lil’ Burro for his son’s wedding last fall in Posey County. The ceremony was held at Calvert’s home in Wadesville.
“We had the barn doors open because it was a beautiful day. He stayed at the front of the barn,” said Calvert. “It was a great attention getter. Everybody flocked to it. It was a bigger hit than I expected.”
When Steve Sitzman, owner of St. Phillip’s Inn in Evansville, needed some last-minute entertainment for a customer appreciation party, he recruited Rice and Busch to serve drinks.
“He was so gentle. We were kind of afraid of how skittish he may be because some of our patrons get a little loud. I wasn’t quite sure how he would react around all those people, and he did great,” said Sitzman. “The biggest surprise was to see the people that came from the bar room, the adults, how much they wanted to come out there and see Busch. I expected the kids to be interested in it, but I didn’t expect the adults to be so tickled by it.”
Rice also takes Busch beyond the Evansville area. The bartending duo attended a wedding shower near Indianapolis earlier this month.
“I have wedding venues over in Illinois that have me in their wedding packets to hand out to brides. We will travel wherever you want us if it’s Indiana, Illinois or Kentucky,” Rice said.
What to expect
The Spiked Lil’ Burro is available for indoor and outdoor events where a licensed caterer or venue provides the alcohol. Prospective customers may contact Rice by phone or email for pricing and booking information.
“For any event, I will show up 30 to 45 minutes early to make sure Busch is nice and prepped. And that does not count toward your time slot, because we do an hour minimum with a two-hour maximum, mainly for indoor events. If it’s outdoors, we can go a little longer,” said Rice. “Busch has shoes he wears for indoor events. He has little Build-a-Bear shoes because those are the only boots small enough for his little feet.”
In the future, Rice plans to add more animals to her bartending business, including Guinness, a Clydesdale horse, and Moonshine, a miniature pony.
“[Moonshine will] have flowers or a costume kind of like Busch. And he’ll eventually have a pack to carry party favors. He’s not built to carry heavier weight like Busch is,” Rice said. “We’re going to have a white fence in front of [Guinness] on three sides of him and have custom coolers in front of him. It would be incredibly difficult to reach up and try to grab a drink or a party favor. He’s a massive horse.”
Rice and Busch will be at The New Harmony Experience Wedding Showcase at the Ribeyre Center in New Harmony on July 20. Anyone interested in booking the burro is encouraged to stop by and say hello.
“Busch is just as lovable as he looks, and he’s guaranteed to be entertaining if you’re wanting to fill a time void or you’re looking for something a little bit different at your event,” Sitzman said. “I like to support small businesses like that when they’re worth it, and they’re definitely worth it.”