"Yeah, I can imagine that plowing a field by hand would be...exhausting." And strenuous, and a whole bunch of other things.

He went still for a moment when Missy sniffed his hair and all of that and- he felt his heart melt a little. He wasn't about to say why a horse was way less nerve-wracking than at least a half-dozen other things he'd experienced. Instead, he smiled. "Well, there's always a first for everything." Making a good impression, he meant.

"Those are all good reasons. I like animals, too. Never managed to have one before, but I think I'm gonna work on changing that here."