"I'll be right back," Shawn told River, clucking his horse and urging her to move up to the front of the group so he could see how Ian and Danin were doing. Besides, River wasn't much fun to ride with; he was already shifting around in his saddle trying to find a comfortable position – and Shawn knew that he wasn't going to find one.

Shawn's horse was a little dun colored mare named Sunflower, who was more than willing to go at a faster than walk pace – even if it was only for a moment. As she trotted past Danin's horse, the gelding proved that Laptop wasn't the only horse he didn't like, and he tried to nip Sunflower. Instead of shying away like Ian's horse had, Sunflower lashed out with a rear hoof, causing Danin's gelding to dodge to the side, squealing a protest.

Hearing the commotion, Ian pulled Laptop to a stop and turned him, just in time to see Shawn's mare try for another kick. Obviously they were having problems with horses getting along, and that wasn't going to work. Luckily, the wranglers were just as quick to catch on.

"Hold up a minute, guys…"

The ponies all came to a stop then the strings halted, and Tom, who was leading the first string, clucked his horse forward to join the three counselors, just in time for Danin's grumpy gelding to take another nip at Laptop. Ian's horse shied again, violently, and this time he stumbled, and went down.

Ian managed to avoid being thrown, but when the black gelding rolled, he jumped out of his saddle; quick enough to avoid having the horse roll over onto him – which really could have hurt. Laptop scrambled to his feet, and Ian was quick to catch the reins he'd dropped when getting clear.

The black horse was trembling, and Tom got out of his saddle and came over to check him out, running his hands along the animal's legs and feeling for swelling.

"You okay?" He asked Ian.

"Yeah."

"His ride's over for the day."

Ian wasn't surprised. He could see the way the horse was favoring one of his legs.

"Want me to take him back?"

"You mind?"

"No, not at all."

Better that than trying to ride him or something and hurting him.

Tom looked up at Danin, whose gelding was now acting like a perfect gentleman.

"Ian, get up behind Danin, and head back with Laptop. Just let him loose in the corral and switch your gear over to another horse. Grab Buttercup, Danin. We should have given him a chance to come out, anyways, but I wanted to try out the new horses."

"We get to come back, though, right?" Danin asked.

Tom nodded, smiling.

"You can catch up."

Which meant they'd be allowed to gallop.

"Okay."

"Don't dawdle."

Ian nodded at the same time Danin did, and she moved her foot out of the stirrup and offered him a hand to help him up behind her. As much as Ian would have rather gone with Shawn – or even River – Shawn's mare wasn't big enough to easily carry double, and River was not a competent enough rider to manage away from the group.

"We'll be right back," Danin promised, as she clucked to her horse, urging him to get moving. Laptop followed willingly behind as Ian held his reins, limping a little, but moving well enough that they could manage an easy trot.

"Where are you going?" River called to Ian as the two horses went past the group, going the wrong direction..

"Shawn can tell you."

Ian didn't feel like explaining, and he didn't have to.

"What's going on?" River asked Shawn when the younger counselor came back to his position beside the Californian.

"Ian's horse is was injured, so they're going to go back and exchange him."

River wouldn't have minded going back. He'd pretty much decided that riding wasn't something he enjoyed. His ass was killing him, his thighs were already knotting up, and every time the horse moved, the motion pushed him against that freaking saddle horn, no matter how far back on the saddle he tried to sit.

"I'm jealous."

Shawn grinned.

"They have to come back."

Oh.

River sighed, and adjusted his position in the saddle – again – and wished that the torture would end.

OOOOOOOOO

"Which one's Buttercup?" Ian asked fifteen minutes later.

It hadn't taken them long to get back to the corral (the ponies weren't the fastest creatures in the world, and even at a trot the horses' long legs were enough to make up ground quickly). Besides, it wasn't all that far. Now Danin was unsaddling Laptop, while Ian said he'd get the replacement.

"The brown horse with the black legs." Danin said, pointing at a horse that was standing by himself at the far end of the corral.

Yes. Buttercup was a perfect name for a brown horse, Ian decided sarcastically. With a name like that, he'd expected a yellow horse – and a mare, even though Tom had referred to it as a he when he'd told Danin to get him.

"Watch out; he's not a very social fellow."

Well, then, they'd have something in common, wouldn't they?

The New Yorker entered the corral, pushing aside a curious pony that came over to see if he had a treat.

"Get back, you little goompa."

He didn't fool the pony – or Danin, for that matter. Both could hear that he wasn't annoyed with the attention – and Danin could tell from his tone of voice that Ian actually liked horses. She smiled, watching him as she started to slip the bridle off her horse.

With the pony – and then a couple of other horses following him – Ian made his way to the brown horse standing alone. It was a gelding, too, which wasn't a big shock, since geldings were normally far more easy-going than stallions – and a hell of a lot brighter, as far as Ian was concerned. After all, stallions were a lot like River; they had one thing on their minds when a female came into view, and every other thought ran out their ears like rainwater through a sewer.

Buttercup laid his ears back when Ian got close, warning the New Yorker that he wasn't really in the mood to make friends.

"Hey, I didn't name you, shit for brains," Ian said, his voice relaxed and warm. "So don't hate me. Come on… I need a ride, and I'm tired of riding double…"

The horse snorted, and sniffed at Ian's outstretched hand. And then tried to take a bite out of it. Ian was way too quick to fall for something like that, though, and he slapped the sensitive nose lightly, reminding him that a hand wasn't edible. The horse's head came up sharply, but he didn't move away, accepting the reprimand. He'd been testing him, after all.

"Come on, dickless. We need to get going. I promise you can bite River if you want to later."

Buttercup whickered, almost as if agreeing with him, and Ian reached out and scratched the horse's jaw. After a moment, just to make sure they were going to get along okay, Ian took hold of the halter the horse was wearing and led him over to the gate, where Danin was waiting. She'd already turned the Laptop loose into the other corral, where he'd be alone until the wranglers returned to decide where they wanted him, and was waiting with Ian's tack.

"Good job…" she said, opening the gate for Ian and Buttercup.

Ian shrugged.

"He's a pushover."

She smiled.

"Uh huh."