Passenger saddles up for American Airlines flight with pony

Passengers on board an American Airlines flight had an unexpected neigh-bour.

Fred the service pony kept handler Ronica Froese company in first class on her way to Michigan from California, via Dallas.

Dressed in a horse sleazy, Fred appeared to resemble some kind of superhero and he certainly has a positive impact on his handler.

In a delighted Facebook post, she said: "Thank you to American Airlines staff. You were prepared for us to arrive and treated us with the respect service animal teams deserve.

"Thank you to the pilot and flight attendants on the first flight who were all so excited to finally see a legit service horse that they had all been trained on."

She added she believed the two of them "represented the very small miniature service horse community proudly".

"Thank you to all the passengers who politely asked to take our picture and politely asked nice questions," she said.

"I'm happy to say that in all our travels 90% of the public was respectful and nice. Even the 10% that wasn't weren't as rude as I was prepared for."