The little boy was excitedly repeating a phrase he had learned from a TV show: "Hold your horses! Hold your horses! Hold your horses!"
His mother smiled and asked, "What does that mean, little prince?"
"I heard it on TV," the little boy replied. "It means stop!"
His mother was impressed with his new phrase and decided to teach him more about where it came from.
"Do you want to know when people started using that phrase?" she asked.
The little boy nodded eagerly.
"You know how we use cars to get around today?" his mother asked.
The little boy nodded again.
"Well, a long time ago, before cars were invented, people used horses to get where they needed to go. Horses were like the cars of that time."
The little boy's eyes widened as he imagined a world without cars. "Oh Mummy, that must have been so much fun riding on a horse!"
His mother smiled as she continued. "People used to ride horses to school, to work, and to visit their friends. Can you imagine riding a horse to school every day?"
The little boy continued to imagine what it was like to ride horses every day!
"So, when people needed to stop their horses on the roads, someone would shout...?" his mother asked, pointing to her son.
The little boy thought for a moment, and then his face lit up. "Hold your horses!" he exclaimed.
"Very good!" she said smiling at him.
From that moment on, the mother and little boy played a game of "horseback riding" around the house. The little boy climbed onto his mother's back, and she began to gallop and trot around the room.
As they played, the little boy suddenly shouted, "Hold your horses!"
And "Mummy Horse" came to a complete stop, making the little boy burst out laughing!
The End!
If you enjoyed this story, you might also like: The Donkey Ride
Comments