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"Keeper John, I think I want a bay horse," William said. "With good, strong bones and a wise head. Perhaps one broken to saddle last year, which has had some experience already. I need one that I can rely on, and I want to be sensible."

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"Now here's a bay. That's the color you want and he might suit you better," said John. Two intelligent ears pricked as the horse turned and shifted in his stall. --- A groom was just finishing brushing out his tail. With four white socks and a white stripe, he was the horse William had been dreaming about. "Oh, John," William said. "What's his name?"
"We call him Dargent," said the keeper "He came in the same lot as the gray. He is three and was quite a handful when he arrived. But he's better now, eh , Peter?" he asked of the groom.
"Yes, sir. He is the best horse we've got." replied Peter --- Williams eyes shone "Can I try him?"
"Get him ready, Peter," Keeper John demanded "If Master William likes him, he may take him back to the castle today."
It was as William turned to leave the barn that he caught sight of the tops of two ears in the stall at the end. They looked so like Sacramenta's ears that for a moment he thought Hal must have led her inside to be in the shade. "What's in there?" he asked. "Oh," said Keeper John " A fine little courser. Three years old. Actually he is your Sacramenta's last foal. H e had a bad beginning, poor fellow, and is proving difficult to train. Pity he is so small. He was bred to be a great horse, but can't quite make the size.

I particularly liked this passage because as a reader you can feel Williams excitement at being able to choose his own warhorse. William had waited for his father to give him permission to choose his warhorse. William sees this as a sign that his father believes he is grown up enough to train a warhorse for when he becomes a knight. William has always dreamed of owning a beautiful bay warhorse with a white stripe and four white socks, to rival Montlouis, his brother Gavin's horse. However, although Dargent is his dream horse, when he lays eyes on Hosanna he feels this is the horse for him. Hosanna is a small, liver red colored horse who proves to be a handful. William knows his father will expect him to choose Dargent but he feels that he can train Hosanna well enough to become a champion warhorse.

Orla D.