Excuse me?

I was working on Sunday, and a group of three women walked past. My coworker asked them if they wanted a ride. They said, "No, thanks."

I chimed in as they passed me, "Well, if you change your mind, tours start at $30 for all three of you."

That actually got them to stop. I continued to explain all the aspects of the carriage rides. Two of the women were like, "OK, we'll see... We're going to go in the visitor's center." Which is fine. We're all being polite here.

Then the third woman--the youngest--screws up her face and asks, "Are these horses well-taken care of? I mean, do they get all the proper care and food and stuff?"

I'm so tired of that. It's not like she said, "You can tell this horse is well-taken care of," or "What kind of care does this horse get that he looks so good?" Her question was laced with the whole carriage-horses-AREN'T-taken-care-of-properly smugness of an outsider who has only read the anti-carriage propaganda.

So I straightened myself up, looked her right in the eye and asked her, "What kind of person do you think I am? Do you honestly think I would do this job if the horses weren't being taken care of?"

"I don't know," she stammered, "I don't know you. I don't know what kind of person you are."

"Well, look at Tomahawk," I continued, "Does he look like he's well-fed?"

She nodded.

"Does he look like he's well-groomed?"

"Yes."

"Well, then, what about him would make you ask me if he was well taken care of?"

She struggled for an answer. "Um... He's wearing harness."

"So?"

She didn't have an answer for that.

Since when is wearing a harness a bad thing? It's no different from a saddle or a bridle or a bareback pad or a surcingle or an Indian wedding costume...