Outside of politics, few topics are as polarizing as service animals on airplanes. However, one woman detailed a positive experience with her miniature service horse on recent roundtrip flights between Michigan and California.
According to Fox News, Ronica Froese and her companion, "Fred," flew from Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan to Ontario International Airport in California by way of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on February 7 and returned home via the same route on February 14 without issue.
"All of the airplane employees and airport employees were incredibly kind. It was so wonderful, even every pilot wanted a picture [with Fred]!" Froese told Fox News.
"I purchased two first-class seats in bulkhead seating, I paid an arm and a leg for tickets but I did so because it was Fred's first time and I wanted him to be comfortable. I wanted him to have the most room," she added. "Everyone was sweet as pie, TSA was amazing. The experience was way better than I actually anticipated."
It's worth noting that Froese has a leg up on most service animal owners as she runs an animal-assisted therapy nonprofit called Little Horses Big Smiles Inc.
She took to Facebook to thank all of her flight crews in a post that also mentioned the recent proposal from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) that would limit the definition of service animals to only trained service dogs.
"Their excitement to have a legit service horse on board, and in first-class, no less was a breath of fresh air. Their kindness and comments about how well behaved Fred was made me the proudest Mommy, handler, and trainer EVER," Froese wrote on social media. "They were all super respectful and I think if they all commented on the coming changes the DOT is trying to [implement], it could help our very small community of miniature service horse handlers keep our right to fly with our horses."
Late last year, two passengers and their emotional support dogs were removed from a Norwegian Air flight from London to Austin, Texas after the flight crew deemed that the animals were "showing signs of distress on board."
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