But Molly didn't move. She simply put her head down and started eating. Maggie kicked and kicked, but Molly ignored her.
Finally Maggie slid off and started home. Next time she would bring the bridle. She would get Dad to teach her how to put it on.
Dad laughed when Maggie said she wanted to bridle Molly. "You're too short," he said. "You can't even reach the top of her head."
"Then Molly will just have to put her head down," said Maggie.
"What if she won't?" asked Dad.
"I'll feed her oats while I put the bridle on," said Maggie.
And that's what she did. While Molly gobbled oats from her hand, Maggie pushed the bit into the horse's mouth. But that was the easy part. Molly spit out the bit before Maggie could get the rest of the bridle over the horse's ears. Dad had to hold the horse's head down until Maggie could get the bridle completely on.
"Good work," said Dad. "Molly's pretty stubborn, but so are you." Then he lifted Maggie onto the big horse, and she rode for awhile.
Mom came along just as Maggie put Molly back in the pasture. "Well," she said, "at least our horses are giving pony rides. I don't see them doing anything else that's useful."
Dad heard that, and he said, "I'll use them tomorrow when I haul in straw bales."