Max does community service

No, not as a punishment for defacing public property or nicking polos from the local shop - the other kind of community service; being kind and helpful to a local person in need.

In this case, the local person is one of the neighbourhood children, and the service is that the old pony on our yard that she and her brother "borrow" is now a little bit old for the role, so I told their mum (my friend, K) that if they wanted to move on up to play with Max, I'd be very happy for them to do so. They're both good kids, cheerful and caring, they won't be unsupervised and K knows what she's doing and has ridden Max a few times herself.

So today, while I was at the yard cleaning tack and organising my grooming kit, Max was ridden in the indoor school by a very enthusiastic young girl. I watched for the first little while, and was pleased with the care Max was taking. Unfortunately, it became clear he was rather pleased with himself too, and he kept coming into the middle of the school to stand in front of me, offering his nose for a kiss in hopes of a click treat. I removed myself from the school and apparently this bewildered him at first, but he decided K was a good enough adult supervisor and carried on bravely.

Max and his young charge worked on serpentines, mainly, and a little bit of trotting on either rein, but mostly walking while they got the feel of each other. K's daughter is a fine beginner with kind hands and was delighted to learn Max's "trick" - shift your weight forward a little and he stops.

Max may not have taxed himself with hard work, but he sure did plant a big smile on a little face today.

Yesm's is a good boy, Max!