X smiled sadly. "Well, where I'm from, the only people who use harnesses are..." He gestured around at the cheering crowd. "... not like this. They're the kind of people who also use chains. And whips."

He didn't sound casual about it, but he also didn't sound as passionate about changing it as he used to. He sounded tired, really. He didn't blame individual people anymore, but that didn't make any of it more palatable.

He pulled himself back to the present and took a deep, steadying breath. "At least here, they care about the animals' well-being, so I'm trying not to cause problems. What about you? You don't like the idea of riding?"