I was shocked by what met my eyes as I turned into the stable yard at Madam Brank’s Ranch. I’d visited her many times in the past, always drawn by a span of young beauties I had trained at my own ranch, but this was the first time that I’d seen a ponygirl in the yard with so much freedom. Why, the bosomy brunette might easily have escaped from the ranch had she wished to!

My own girls came to a sudden halt, grunting behind their bits, when I jerked back on their reins. I had to see for myself just how this young lady was outfitted. There must have been some secret special apparatus that would control her, for otherwise she clearly had too little bondage to be effective in controlling her actions. “Girl,” I called to her, “Come here. I wish to inspect your restraints.”

She looked toward me, nodded, and moved quickly to stand before me. I shook my head in wonder. She stood nearly six feet tall, displayed exquisitely high, firm breasts, and her long shapely legs were themselves a delight to behold. But she wore only a slender metal collar, too thin and too loose to restrict any head movements, and only a thin chain hung in a short loop between her breast-rings. More surprising, her wrist cuffs were connected to the center of her corselet by chains at least 25 inches in length and there was about the same length of heavier chain between her ankles. I could see too that her body strap was far too loose to keep her constantly reminded of her servitude, and that she wore comfortably flat sandals rather than the hooved ankle boots that would force her to stand on the balls of her feet like other ponygirls.

The girl raised her head and said calmly, “Master, I am Jyndra, and my bondage demonstrates that I am a Trustee now, rather than just another ponygirl. I am given this much freedom so that I may help the guards in their duties – and because Madam Brank knows I can be trusted.” She paused and then added, “And I am totally committed to my work!”

I pursed my lips and frowned. “And how did you come to occupy such an exalted position, Jyndra?”

“It is a long story, Master. Have you the time to hear it?”

“Certainly, girl,” I answered. “Down on your knees first, and then begin your account.” She shrugged, dropped easily to a kneeling position, and spread her thighs to help maintain her balance. I remained in my vehicle, making sure my girls wouldn’t start moving about, and listened.

She cleared her throat. “At first, Master, I was just another girl in the stable. But I was proud and very competitive, and the guards knew that. It wasn’t long before I was not only winning races, but enduring more strenuous training than any other ponygirl and finding pleasure in all the extra punishments and indignities that my guards would inflict on me. I believe they took me as a challenge because I was so good that I rarely needed discipline.”

“So you were an ideal ponygirl, eh?” I questioned. “But that doesn’t explain why you are now a trustee. How did that come about?”

Jyndra sighed. “It was something of an accident, Master. I had asked to be given extra training in pulling a heavier, four-wheeled buggy, and a muscular guard called Stuffer was only too glad to let me pull her around. So I was put into heavy harness, had the drawbar strapped up between my legs, and cooperated while she doubled my arms inside some terribly compressive shortgloves. Then she climbed into the buggy, jerked at the reins which were run through the ends of my bit and then attached to my breasts, and we were off.” Her eyes blinked at the memory and her shoulders twitched uneasily.

“It was hard work, Master, and Guard Stuffer was very free with the whip. But I obeyed her every command and soon we had reached the practice field, almost a mile from the ranch. Then my driver decided to ‘bring me up to speed,’ as she put it, and used the lash quite expertly to get me into a full gallop. I did my best, and soon we were flying across the open field. My legs were scissoring rapidly, the buggy was bouncing a lot, and Guard Stuffer was shouting with excitement. I was very proud of myself.”

I took a moment to quiet one of my girls with a quick cut across her shoulders and then told the kneeling Jyndra to continue. She took a deep breath and went on.

“And then came the accident. I couldn’t see it because of the tall grass, but one of the buggy’s front wheels hit a small boulder. If I’d been going slower, it wouldn’t have mattered, but at this speed the wheel hit the rock with such force that it was bent sharply off its axle and flipped the buggy onto its side. Guard Stuffer, of course, was thrown from her seat and her cry of pain told me that something serious had happened. I was thrown to the ground too, because of the way I was hitched to the buggy, and gave thanks that I had suffered no more than a few bruises.

“My driver groaned, cursed, and then grunted, ‘Damnit, my leg is broken! God, this hurts!’ She was silent for another moment and then groaned to me, ‘Jyndra, girl, go back to the ranch as fast as you can and bring help! I can’t move from here!’

I whistled in sympathy for the girl, and she shook her head at the awful memory. Then she went on. “I’m sorry, Mistress Stuffer, I didn’t see that rock! I’ll bring help as soon as I can.

“With my arms so harshly doubled, there was nothing I could to with my hands to free myself. Finally, though, I was able to get to my knees. Fixed as I was to the drawbar, it was a real struggle to get to my feet. That drawbar really punished my crotch, but with a determined twist of my hips, I was able to get some traction and then to wrench the buggy back onto its wheels again. Then all I could do was hang my head and gasp until some strength returned. Guard Stuffer kept yelling at me to hurry, threatening horrible discipline if I didn’t obey her.”

Jyndra smiled to herself briefly. “This was a chance to escape! But the more I thought about it, the more I didn’t want to escape. Being a ponygirl was just too exciting for me to give it up. So I looked at my groaning driver and said, ‘Yes, Guard Stuffer, I will bring help as soon as I can.’ After some fancy maneuvering, I was able to get my reins free of the buggy. I knew they would trail behind me, but I would have to accept that. And so I began the journey back to the ranch, difficult as that was. Not only did the buggy’s bent wheel make it twice as hard to pull, even if there was no driver aboard, but the reins got stuck under a wheel now and then and I would have stop and free it before I could continue. Under these circumstances, as you can understand, I could not make any speed at all. It must have been a good thirty minutes before I finally got to the ranch’s gate.”

“And what happened then?” I asked, even more curious about the event.

“When the guard at the gate saw that there was no one in the buggy, he seized my reins as a leash and led me into the yard. I explained as quickly as I could what had happened, stressing Guard Stuffer’s broken leg, and pleaded with them to go to her right away. ‘She’s at the far end of the exercise yard,’ I told them, ‘and she is in serious pain.’ “

Within moments, two other guards had selected their fastest girls, hitched them to a pair of two-wheeled rigs, and set out. Their whips kept very busy, and their steeds literally raced back along the road. I didn’t envy them a bit! Then the guard led me by my breast-reins to Madam Brank’s quarters.”

Jyndra licked her lips and looked up at me. “C-could I have a drink of water, Master? All this story-telling makes me terribly thirsty.”

So I got down from my rig and said, “Stay, girl. I’ll bring a bowl of water. But you must lap it up like a dog rather than using your all-too-free hands, for you are still a ponygirl.” She grimaced and then nodded her agreement.

After a long drink, kneeling and lowering her face to the bowl, she sat back. “Thank you, Master. Would you like to hear more?”

“But of course,” I said firmly. “Go on with it.”

“Well, Master, of course I had to be taken before Madam Brank to explain what had happened. She listened carefully and then tilted her head. “A clumsy accident indeed! That will call for punishment. But since you were loyal to Stuffer, and thus also to me, there must be a reward as well.” She paused and then said, ‘Guard, take this wench to the rack in the center of the yard and prepare her for a good whipping.’

“And so I was led out to the yard, stripped of all my restraints, and then stretched nude in a brutal spreadeagle between two posts, leaving me utterly vulnerable to the whip. But this had to be a public affair, educational as well as punitive, so I had to wait while the rest of the ponygirls were called out and lined up to watch (if not enjoy) the spectacle.

“But there was more. Guard Stuffer had to be brought out in a wheelchair since it was my mistake that caused her injury, and she had every right to enjoy my punishment. And punishment it certainly was! The guard most expert in using the whip was called forth and handed a wicked cattail lash. As you know, Master, it has nine thin thongs, varying in length so that they will not all hit the same spot, and each is tipped with a small lead ball.”

I cleared my throat. “Tell me all about your whipping, girl. Describe it in detail.”

Jyndra heaved a sigh, murmured, ‘Oh, my,’ and then did as directed. “At first, the whip concentrated on my back, Master. Each lash-tip struck a slightly different place, and so every blow meant another nine vicious stings. I imagine each left a red spot, although not a cut, and my shoulders and buns must have been fiery red before the whipper came around in front of me.” She paused, breathing hard at the bitter memory, and then went on.

“It was my breasts and belly that received the next blows, maybe ten of them, and I was screeching and jerking back and forth against the straps that held me because the pain was so intense. And then my arms and legs got their share of slashes. That left me too hurt even to cry out. I was sure my entire body would burst with raw agony! God, if only it would stop! But the whipper saved her most tender target for the last – my poor pussy! The thongs whistled up between my legs again and again, biting and nipping my private parts there until I finally just had to scream again. I’m sure I kept up my howling long after the whipping stopped, but I couldn’t help it.”

“But you had reward to look forward to as well, didn’t you?” I prodded. “So tell me what happened after your whipping.”

She slumped forward, still experiencing the extreme pain of that ordeal, before she spoke again. “After the punishment had stopped, Master, and the girls and Guard Stuffer had left the yard, I was left to hang in my straps while a soothing lotion was massaged into every inch of my skin. After ten minutes or so, most of the pain was gone. It was then that Madam Brank came forward.

“She looked up at me and said, ‘You handled that quite well, girl. Others would have fainted, surely. And so I think I can reward your loyalty in a way that you will appreciate – and that I can enjoy as well. You will become a Trustee, a ponygirl trusted to help the guards in carrying out their duties without being tempted to take advantage of her unusual amount of freedom. Of course, if she betrays that trust, she will know no end of suffering!’ I nodded my grateful acceptance of these conditions. Then she turned to the Captain of the guards and said, ‘From now on, Jyndra will wear the new Trustee restraints I have designed. The details are posted in the chaining room, and you will put her into them before dinner. That is all.’ “

“And so this is your new, er, uniform?” I asked. “Does it please you?”

“Oh, yes, Master, it makes me proud of myself. With just a light collar, and belly-chains to my wrists that allow me to do many things, I can truly do whatever the guards ask. My hobble is long enough so that I can move rapidly and can catch any ponygirl trying to get away from me, and my new bodystrap provides coverage without pressure so I am relieved of that distraction.”

I frowned. “But doesn’t that chain hanging between your breast-rings bother you?” I asked.

“No, Sir, not in the least. It reminds me that I am basically a ponygirl, and it gives the guards a chance to correct me when I make a mistake. A firm jerk at the chain is all I need to remind me of my place and my duties!”

Then there came the sounds of a scuffle behind one of the barns and Jyndra leaped to her feet. “Damn,” she husked, “Some of the girls must be fighting again. Come watch me, Master!”

I ordered my own girls to pull my rig along behind Jyndra, and soon I was treated to a wonderful scene. The Trustee had thrust her body between two ponygirls who, although closely hobbled and with their arms bound behind them, were shouldering and head-butting each other with angry grunts.

“Break it up, you two!” Jyndra shouted, and used her strong hands to seize each of the combatants by her throat and force them away from each other. “I don’t know why you’re fighting, but you’ll learn that it is never, never allowed at this ranch.” She glared at each of them for a moment, and then ordered, “You, Billibar, down on your knees! The same for you, Westie!”

Cowed, the two ponygirls obeyed promptly. “As punishment,” Jyndra growled, “I’m going to hitch you back-to-back by your body straps, very tightly, and you’ll have to get around as best you can in that position until bedtime.” The girls mewed their misery, but to no avail. “If each of you will lean forward,” Jyndra added, “I think you’ll find that you can move about a bit. It will be slow and clumsy, but otherwise you’ll both go hungry this evening.”

Her victims seemed to accept their fate and Jyndra turned to me. “There, you see? I’ve saved the guards a lot of trouble and had fun myself at the same time! I don’t ever want to be more than a Trustee, and I hope I can still run races sometimes, but right now I’m as happy as I’ve ever been.”

I grinned down at her. “That certainly seems truthful enough, girl. I’ll go and pay my respects to Madam Brank, and will commend you to her.”

Then I hauled my girls around and we trotted easily toward the mansion up on the hill. Whether or not I will ever have a ponygirl like Jyndra, the idea of Trusteeship is one I will certainly keep in mind!