It was time for a horse for Sarah Cronan. Jimmy had Sarah's mother Mary Anne sold on the idea of purchasing Santana's Best Man, but found that he had the job to do all over again when Sarah's father Mike Cronan checked in on the idea of a new mount for his fourth, and youngest, child. Justifying the purchase for their extraordinary rider -- but trying to assure the parents who already had two sons in college (and a third one soon to be enrolled) that the horse experience wouldn't be too expensive -- Jimmy suggested to Mike that the horse would go mostly to nearby Kentucky county fair horse shows. Mike nodded thoughtfully, and agreed to the purchase.
Sarah's first show with Best Man was at Louisville's Rock Creek Riding Club -- where, conveniently, Jimmy was trainer and the horse resided. The Cronans' expense was quite modest, and the new combination did well in competition. Mike was pleased, but Jimmy was ready to step up to some other shows on the stable's schedule.
The next show was in Asheville, North Carolina. Summing up the difference in costs between the two shows, Mike sidled up to Jimmy and asked, "Just what county is this, Jimmy?" By the time Sarah and her horse were closing out the season at the American Royal in Kansas City, Mike had the drill down-pat. He looked around the showgrounds at one of the season's largest, longest (and, for most exhibitors, most expensive) horse shows, and said ...
"Now what county are we in, Jimmy?"
