We got the beasts

Chico the chihuahua (right), Legally Blonde

Photograph: Joan marcus

Barnyard…and Broadway

Farm animals,  Queens County Farm Museum
Sure, your preschooler knows that the piggy says “oink”—but has he ever seen the animal outside a board book? Take him to one of the last working farms in the city (it’s also the oldest, dating back to 1697). Kids can inspect the old, freaky-looking farm machinery, feed goats and sheep, visit the duck pond and chicken coop (fresh eggs are sold year round), grunt at the Vietnamese potbellied pigs and even go on a weekend hayride.

Horseback riding, five boroughs

Little urban cowpokes can saddle up for trail rides and lessons all around the city. Kensington Stables offers pony rides ($3 for two times around the block), trail rides in Prospect Park and pony parties. 51 Caton Pl at E 8th, Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn (718-972-4588, kensingtonstables.com). Subway: F to Fort Hamilton Pkwy.
• Jamaica Bay Riding Academy offers lessons, pony rides ($15 for 15 minutes), birthday parties and trail rides ($37 for 45 minutes) in the Gateway National Recreation Area and Park. 7000 Shore Pkwy, Jamaica Bay, Brooklyn (718-531-8949, horsebackride.com). Subway: B, Q to Sheepshead Bay; then take a car service.
• Pelham Bit Stables, at the Bronx Equestrian Center, offers trail rides ($30 per hour) and pony rides ($5 for three times around the ring) for younger riders. 9 Shore Rd, Bronx (718-885-0551, bronxequestriancenter.com). Travel: 6 to Pelham Bay Park, then take the Bx5 or Bx12 bus to the stable.
• In Queens, the Forest Equine Center offers lessons, pony rides ($5 for up and down the block) and trail rides in Forest Park ($35 per hour, plus $5 insurance). 88-11 70th Rd at Sybilla St, Forest Hills, Queens (718-263-3500, forestequinecenter.com). Travel: E, F, V, G, R to Forest Hills–71st Ave, then take the Q23 bus to Metropolitan Ave.

Chico, Legally Blonde
Even strays can be stars: Animal trainer Bill Berloni rescued Chico the chihuahua in 2006 from a shelter near Newark, New Jersey, and trained him to play Elle Woods’s Bruiser on Broadway. Kids can meet Chico and his costar Chloe (who plays the hairdresser’s bulldog, Rufus) on Monday 9 at 7pm when Berloni presents his new memoir, Broadway Tails. The book profiles the animals he’s trained for stage and screen, including Sandy, the shaggy mutt in Annie. Barnes & Noble Lincoln Triangle, 1972 Broadway at 66th St (212-595-6859). Subway: 1 to 66th St–Lincoln Ctr.

—Reporting by Charlotte Cusamano, Julia Israel, Emily McInerney, Alison Rosen, Louise Witt