The gate was open. The horse bolted; Coffee ran.
It was around lunchtime on Monday, and federal MP for Paterson Meryl Swanson was travelling between engagements at Rutherford and Maitland when she reached Long Bridge on the New England Highway and spotted a cappuccino-tinted miniature Shetland pony, aptly named Coffee, trotting off down the road with three young boys in hot pursuit.
Without hesitation, an improvised rescue to extract Coffee from hot water was pulled into action. The MP pulled over, leapt out of the car, and was off like a shot.
"She's off. She's gone," a handler said down the phone as Ms Swanson leapt from the car.
"I thought it was going to get hit," the MP told the Newcastle Herald. Coffee isn't a big horse - really about the size of a large dog - but there was no telling what damage she could have done in an accident.
Coffee didn't belong to the boys who were chasing her, she was the loved companion of a resident in Regent Street, Maitland. The boys were trying to lend a hand and bring Coffee to safety. But the horse had other plans.
Another pair of good Samaritans stepped in and helped slow the runaway down. They handily improvised a halter from a length of rope in the car, and Coffee was duly handed over into Ms Swanson's care.
"She was such a good girl," Ms Swanson later wrote on social media.
"As soon as she had the halter on, she was like 'OK, I'll come with you; the gig's up'.
"The young boys with me were wonderful, too."
Thankfully, it wasn't long before Coffee's owner arrived on the scene, and the jittery pony was returned home safely.
