Rescue pony finds new job delivering novels to socially distanced book club
The delivery method was inspired by the group’s February read.
A rescue pony has found a new job delivering novels to a socially distanced book club, inspired by one of the group’s monthly reads.
Micky, ridden by his owner Abi Eliot-Williams, first stepped into the role as a way to cheer up isolating residents during the lockdown but has proved so popular he could become a regular addition to the Hullavington Book Group in Wiltshire.
The delivery was inspired by the group’s February read, Giver Of Stars by Jojo Moyes, about a group of librarians who deliver books by packhorse across rural Kentucky in the 1930s.
“Micky just has the ability to make people smile,” Ms Eliot-Williams told the PA news agency.
“He has such a lovely smiley face. And so not only are people getting their book delivered, which they tell us they really look forward to anyway, but then we turned up with a nice pony and it’s an extra reason to smile.”
The group has been unable to meet for more than a year, and Ms Parry-Williams said it can be “hard to keep the momentum going”, but delivering with Micky gave the group something new to focus on and said he would be used to help deliver books in April and May.
Ms Eliot-Williams adopted Micky from the Blue Cross, after initially visiting to look at another pony in October last year.
Micky was rescued as a colt after being found abandoned in poor conditions on a farm and taken in by the charity
“And we said, ‘He’s a lovely friendly pony’, and they said, ‘Oh no, he’s normally very timid with people and doesn’t make much of an effort’.
“It was purely just he decided to speak to us, and that was that — we had to have him.”
Abigail Leach, the horse rehoming coordinator at the charity, said: “It’s really wonderful to see Micky now doing so well in his new home and bringing a smile to everyone in his local community during these difficult times.
“We’d urge anyone looking for a horse to consider rehoming from a rescue charity, or if anyone is struggling with a horse during these unprecedented times to contact us for advice and support.”
