In days gone by when the monarch issued a command to his realm, the Knights of The Court would be sent off round the realm to ensure that the commands were being applied as the monarch intended and not used as a way of oppressing the populace.
This of course meant that the Knights were away for weeks at a time and were extremely tired after a few weeks. One particular Knight was near the end of his allocated tour and both he and his horses were very worn and tired but he had only one more village to visit.
On the road he saw an inn with a livery stable attached and decided to borrow a horse so his own could be rested while he carried on the rest of his now short journey to finish his task. He enquired of the innkeeper if he would first see to his horses and then lend him another. The innkeeper agreed but said he had no horse to lend him but had a huge dog that would carry the Knight minus armour of course. The Knight, eager to finish his task, agreed and told the innkeeper to produce the beast.
He was horrified when he saw it. True it was huge but mangy, flea bitten. no teeth and watery eyed. The Knight turned to the innkeeper and said...
'Tell me innkeeper, would you really turn out a Knight on a dog like this?'