My little pony
 
Toy horses are usually pink and plastic - and aimed at young girls.

But this little pony is 100 per cent natural - and ready to make friends with anyone her size.

Born ten days ago at a stud in the southern state of Victoria , Australia , the 15 in. miniature horse - which is yet to be named - has already formed a bond with Sam Leith, 12.


Going for a walk: Sam leads the way, followed by Bliss and her tiny new daughter


Silver dun tovero in colour, she was given a clean bill of health - and should reach 24in when grown.
The birth has generated such excitement in the community that local people are entering a competition to give the horse a name in time for Christmas.
Owner Lee Scown said she wanted a name that reflected the tiny, unique nature of the horse.
'It's the smallest horse I've ever had and she's so gorgeous,' Ms Scown said.



The miniature horse snuggles up to mummy as local people try to come up with a name for her



The horse, currently only a little taller than this book, is expected to grow to about 24 inches

'It's amazing to see a horse so tiny, and she's about the size of a week-old lamb.'
The horse is the smallest born at Riverdance and its arrival surprised even its breeder.
'We got told the mare wasn't due for another four weeks but on Sunday morning I walked outside and called her, and out ran the little foal behind her.'




Tight squeeze: The horse is so small it can fit underneath her mother

Dog eats baby goats, survives on remote island

Australian cattle dog Sophie Tucker spent her life as a pampered house pet, but when the going got rough, showed mettle that could put her human counterparts on "Survivor" to shame.

The plucky pooch was separated from her owners when she fell overboard in choppy waters, but swam five miles to an island, surviving on a diet of wild goats for four months until miraculously being reunited with her family.

"She surprised us all," ecstatic owner Jan Griffith told the National Australian Associated Press News Agency. "She was a house dog and look what's she done, she's swum over five nautical miles, she's managed to live off the land all on her own. We wish she could talk, we really do."

Sophie's mind-boggling survival story, chronicled on TODAY Tuesday, began as Jan and husband Dave took their pet along for a sailing trip off the coast of Australia last November. When the sea grew rough, Sophie dropped into the water.

"We searched well over an hour," Jan Griffith told the Brisbane Times. "We thought once she hit the water she would have been gone because the wake from the boat was so big."

Not so. Sophie - named after the bawdy American vaudeville entertainer - dog-paddled her way to the remote island of St. Bees, in Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The island, largely bereft of humans, is known for its koala bear population, but island rangers were taken aback by the sight of a seemingly wild dog in their midst.

Griffith said she was told Sophie looked thin and mangy when first spotted, but told the AAP "all of the sudden she started to look good and it was when the rangers had found baby goat carcasses, so she started eating baby goats."

Becoming wild in the wild
The family's inside dog underwent a fundamental personality change to survive in the great outdoors. "She had become quite wild and vicious," Griffith told the Brisbane Times. "She wouldn't let anyone go near her or touch her. She wouldn't take food from anybody."

After four months, rangers finally managed to trap the dog. And when news broke that a wild dog had been captured on St. Bees, the Griffiths met up with a ranger's boat bringing Sophie back to Australia's mainland - and saw, it was indeed Sophie in tow.

The story of reuniting is one for the ages. "She'd been ferocious in the trap, but we called her and she started whimpering and crying, and so did everybody," Griffith told NBC News.

"They let her out [of the cage] and she just about flattened us," Griffith told the AAP. "She wriggled around like a mad thing."

Sophie not only showed amazing adaptability living in the wild, but returning to domestic life - the Griffiths reported the dog's transition to house dog once again has been seamless.

The dog's survival story has even animal experts scratching their heads. Australian veterinarian Vicki Lomax told the Brisbane Times that Sophie's is a hardy breed, but virtually no dog would have been likely to survive what she went through.

"Cattle dogs are probably the most suited type of dog to survive something like this, but it would have been a major ordeal for her," Lomax said. "Five nautical miles is an incredibly big distance for any type of dog ... she is lucky she wasn't taken by a shark."

HOLLAND, Mich. (WZZM)- A Holland woman has an unlikely hero to thank after breaking up a domestic fight.

The 32-year-old's estranged husband beat her and attempted to abduct her from her safe house in Holland.

The plan was foiled thanks to a dog which usually gets a bad rap.

The fight between Steven Schumacher, 33, and his wife was very public. Witnesses say he beat and dragged his wife across the street, attempting to get her into his vehicle.

But the fact the fight was public may have helped. That's how Blitz saw the events unfolding from his window, and 'blitzed' to the rescue.

Judging by his barking through the window, we're presuming Blitz is no fan of cameras.

Blitz is a two-year-old, hundred and something pound pit bull; yes, the kind many fear.

"He'll protect us when we need it," says his owner. "But he's a great house pet, he's great with my kids, he's wonderful."

Due to the nature of this tale Blitz's owner does not want to be known.

She says close to 11:00p.m. Wednesday she heard screams for help.

"It's still surreal," she says. "I haven't even slept yet, (I'm) still kind of shaken about what could have happened to her."

She saw Schumacher beating and dragging his estranged wife.

"(I was) scared of what could have happened to her, because he was close to getting her in his car."

Blitz saw it too.

"He about knocked me out of the door to get to them. I heard her screaming, 'help me', repeatedly and I came out my front door and my dog spilled past me and went and scared him a little bit."

She says he never bit anyone, but scared Schumacher just enough that he loosened his grip on his wife, who then ran inside Blitz's home and waited for police.

"He was still in the area, I believe in the front yard of the residence," says Captain Rick Walters of the Holland Police Department. "He was taken into custody without incident."

Walters isn't sure how long the couple had been separated, but says they were living apart.

"He went to that residence, broke into that residence and then confronted her and assaulted her in that residence," says Walters.

What Schumacher's intentions were are still not known.

Police say they did find a knife in Schumacher's pocket but do not think it was used during the attack.

What is known though is the dog many fear, saw fear, and became a hero.

"It's hard to tell what may or may not have happened if not for that dog," says Walters.

"I'm very proud of him," chimed in his owner. "He would never do anything unless the situation was like that when he feels that we're in danger."

K-9 Congressional Medal of Honor Winner

The K9 above is Brutus, a military K9 at McChord. He's huge - part Boxer and part British Bull Mastiff and tops the scales at 200 lbs. His handler took the picture.   Brutus is running toward me because he knows I have some Milk Bone treats, so he's slobbering away! I had to duck around a tree just before he got to me in case he couldn't stop, but he did.   Brutus won the Congressional Medal of Honor last year from his tour in Iraq . His handler and four other soldiers were taken hostage by insurgents.   Brutus and his handler communicate by sign language and he gave Brutus the signal that meant 'go away but come back and find me'. The Iraqis paid no attention to Brutus.   He came back later and quietly tore the throat out of one guard at one door and another guard at another door.   He then jumped against one of the doors repeatedly (the guys were being held in an old warehouse) until it opened.   He went in and untied his handler and they all escaped. He's the first K9 to receive this honor.   If he knows you're ok, he's a big old lug and wants to sit in your lap. Enjoys the company of cats.

The Duck Who Thinks She's A Dog