[Kieran gladly takes the skirt and... actually, you know what, no. He doesn't ask any questions. Leather is leather, and he has a feeling if he digs deeper into this skirt's dubious history, he's going to learn a lot more about Ben's family than he needs to. For now, at least.]

Thanks! This is gonna help out a bunch. Should be enough leather here for the seat and the fenders. Maybe the stirrups, too.

[He folds the skirt up and places it on his lap, playing with the material to check for its pliability.]

The saddle helps make sure the rider doesn't bounce all over the horse's back. If yer not experienced enough, it's hard to stay in the center. Then yer weight can throw the horse off balance and it's a bad time fer both of ya.

[It's nice, honestly, to be able to talk about something that's old hat to him. Cathartic, even.]

Plus when yer ridin', yer usually doin' a lot of postin'--that's uh, that's a fancy way of sayin' bouncin' up and down along with the horse's stride. If yer doin' it right, then yer gonna make the ride a lot smoother. The saddle helps with that, too.