There were 16 ponies saddled up and waiting for them when Romania and Australia reached the corral. There were also four men there, all wearing dusty western gear that marked them as the horse wranglers. Two of them Shawn knew. They'd been the wranglers at Millcreek camp as long as Shawn had been coming there. Jacob and Tom recognized Shawn just as quickly, and both smiled when they saw him.

"Shawn! What are you doing here?"

Shawn smiled, shaking hands with the two brothers.

"I'm counseling the six year olds."

"Are you old enough for that already?" Tom asked, feigning surprise. "We're getting old, little brother."

Jacob smiled as well.

"It happens, I suppose. Ready for a quiet ride?"

Ian had been looking at the ponies, watching while the boys gathered around just as excited at the prospect of a ride as the Romanian girls were. He noticed that none of the ponies wore bridles; they were wearing hackamores, which were bitless, and wondered how the kids were supposed to guide their mounts with the reins that were looped over each saddle horn. Before he could ask, though, one of the other two wranglers stepped forward, smiling warmly at the campers who were gathered around their counselors.

"How many of you have ever been on a horse before?"

Only a small handful of hands went up, and three of them belonged to Shawn, Ian and Danin. Two of the girls from Romania raised their hands, and Chance was the only boy from Australia.

"Well, that's more than we normally get," the wrangler said, reassuringly. There were a lot of relieved sighs, since some of the kids had apparently been concerned that if they hadn't ridden before they might not be allowed to ride that day. "Let's get you each a mount, okay?"

He, Tom and the other wrangler started matching kids to ponies, while Jacob gestured for the counselors to join him.

"I know how Danin and Shawn ride," Jacob said to Ian. "How much time have you spent on a horse?"

Ian shrugged.

"Enough to know that I'm supposed to face the same direction as the end with the ears."

Jacob grinned.

"You ride well?"

"Yeah."

"Good." He looked at Sierra, Ann and River. "Don't worry. We have fairly docile animals for those who've never ridden before."

River didn't look reassured at all.

OOOOOOOOO

It took them a bit to get prepared, but they had all afternoon for riding so it wasn't as bad as it might have seemed. The ponies were sweet-tempered creatures that were the perfect size for the small children, and each child was supplied with a helmet, which they were sternly warned absolutely had to stay on or they wouldn't get to ride. This was simple safety and the counselors were glad to see it. They were also glad to see that the ponies weren't really going to be controlled by the kids. Yes, they had reins to hold onto, but they were mostly for show, since the ponies were divided into two groups and put on a lead rope, which strung each group out between two of the wranglers. Plenty of room for them to move freely and for the kids to think they were on their own, but with enough tautness that if a pony became unruly (which had never happened during a junior camp) that the wranglers would be able to keep it under control.

The counselors, however, were on horses, and they weren't a part of the string. It didn't bother those who had ridden, of course, and River scowled when he saw how effortlessly Ian swung up into his saddle, which was on a big black gelding named Laptop.

Adept at anything to do with the surf, and not so good with the turf aspect, River had a bit more trouble getting into his saddle, which was sitting atop a solid-looking gray horse name Fruit Fly that looked to be almost asleep. And promptly winced when he hit the saddle horn.

"You okay?" Jacob asked, noticing the look.

Since the last thing he wanted to do was mention whacking his family jewels with eight six-year-old girls watching him, River just nodded.

"Ian?" Tom said, gesturing at the New Yorker. "You and Danin take point. Just follow the trail, and try to keep your horses at a steady walk for the moment."

They'd already been told that they wouldn't be going faster than a trot, which would seem plenty fast enough to the young riders.

Ian nodded, and he and Danin urged their mounts to the front of the group, looking back to see the ponies start out, moving easily in their long lines, and the kids clutching saddle horns at the sudden motion.

"Where did you learn to ride?" Danin asked Ian, once they were all moving. "I thought you were from New York…"

"We have horses in New York," Ian said.

She blushed.

"I didn't mean that I didn't think they didn't have horses," she said. "I meant… where do you ride in the middle of a big city?"

Ian shrugged.

"Not all of New York is the city – although there are riding trails right there in Central Park. My mother had a friend who had a stable of riding horses in the upper part of the state, and she taught me."

"I see."

Ian's horse shied to the side, dancing a little, and for a moment he was preoccupied by keeping the horse under control. Danin's horse ended up being the reason he'd shied. The gelding she was riding apparently didn't like the horse Ian was on, and he'd tried to nip him while the two had been talking. When he tried it again only a few moments later, they figured it out, even as Laptop danced sideways once more. Luckily, Ian and Danin were both experienced enough to know that they needed to keep their horses separated to avoid any trouble, so Ian moved Laptop just a little ahead of Danin's horse, which was fine, since he didn't want to carry on a conversation anyways.

"You're so abused," Ian told his horse, slapping its shoulder with the hand that wasn't holding his reins.

Laptop snorted his agreement, and danced again, frisky and ready to run.

"Is he having trouble?" River asked, looking ahead of them at Ian and his horse, who seemed to be trying to escape.

Shawn shook his head.

"Doesn't look like it. Probably just has an energetic horse." Shawn's horse was just as frisky, but much better in a crowd, which made it possible for Shawn to ride beside River and keep an eye on him. So far, the Californian seemed to be doing okay – although he looked uncomfortable.

"Better him than me."

Shawn grinned, and looked back at the string of ponies following them. The boys and girls were interspersed and were chatting happily, whooping it up and generally having a grand time, which was what they were supposed to be doing.

So far, so good.