"Well. I guess it couldn’t hurt, plus if she’s not here it’ll help me pass the time."
"Excellent, well let’s go and pick one out for you then," the attendant said with a grin as she began leading you down the main row of stalls.
Upon passing them, you began to see that most of the stalls were empty, the horses were obviously all out taking people on rides or pulling carriages. Looking at the embossed naming plaques affixed above the stall doors as you walked by, you began noticing that the horse’s names all seemed to share something odd in common; they all seemed to be strangely human.
There was James, Sarah, Madison, Racheal, Arthur, Stewart, it was curious, where were the more traditional horse-like names? Buttercup, Ginger, Bramble or Strawberry? Someone here obviously didn’t have an appreciation for the classics, that or they didn’t have a lot of imagination when it came to naming their horses you thought to yourself with a snort.
Following at the attendant’s heels you eventually came to a stop next to two of the stalls near the end of a row. These ones were occupied. “So, I’m afraid your choices are limited to these two at the moment,” the attendant admitted apologetically, “but please don’t take that to mean you’re getting the bottom of the barrel, both of these animals are good-natured souls, and will be able to give you a very nice ride.”
“I’m sure they’ll be fine,” you said waving her apology away.
“Great, well let me introduce you then, first we have Jessie here,” she reached up to stroke the nearest horse’s neck, the horse shivered at the touch, looking distinctly uncomfortable, like it wanted to pull away. “Jessie’s a Thoroughbred, and you might have noticed she's just a little nervous at the moment; that’s because she just arrived with us today, and she’s still settling in, but I can already tell she’s got a heart of gold, haven’t you girl?”
The mare in question had a beautiful pure white coat, with clean smooth lines and a long blonde mane and tail, and she was also looking straight at you with what you could have sworn was an almost pleading expression. The look so caught your attention that your hand froze halfway up to pet her, the mare’s eyes remained fixed on yours then as she let forth a sad little whinny. What was wrong with her? You wondered. Was she trying to tell you something?
You quickly shook off the ridiculous thought, cursing your overactive imagination, you realised then that your attention had lapsed and that the attendant was still talking and rushed to catch up with what she was saying.
“…usually we’d give a new horse like Jessie more time to get settled in before we let anyone ride her, but something tells me the two of you would be just right for one another,” she winked, stroking the mare for a moment more before pushing off from her stall and leading you to the one next adjacent.
"And then over here we have Harry,” she said stretching out her hand to a magnificently, powerful looking creature with a glossy jet-black coat, long flowing mane and tail, the horse nickered at hearing its name called, and came over to the attendant to affectionately nuzzle at her hand, the attendant smiled at the horse, scratching it under the chin. “Harry’s an Irish Draught horse and one of our most prized breeding stallions, he’s had lots of experience with riders of all different skill levels and I think he could be the perfect fit for you." The big black stallion flicked his ears with pleasure as you stroked his neck, then butted his muzzle against your hand as you pulled away causing you to laugh.
“So which of these two do you want to take out?”