The girls were all in bed by midnight, all but Jennifer and Kara who were stripped of their gear and in bed by one. The entire crew slept soundly. Their exhaustion worked as well as any sleeping pill or stiff drink. Jennifer and Kara were told to take a quick rinse under the shower again. Neither had taken so many showers in one day. It was an unfortunate drawback to wearing latex.

The girls were allowed to sleep only till six before their trainers came in to wake them. This being the first full day of activity they each complained about the early hour and the lack of sleep. But each was dressed in their latex pony outfit. Breakfast would wait till after their morning march since they needed to get outside before the sun came up. The path would be like an inferno only two hours after sunrise and the leather and latex suits would turn into saunas..

Each girl was visited by an Hispanic male and given the opportunity to please him with her mouth. Of course the girls were all arm bound and kneeling. The bits, bridles, corsets, and harnesses were installed, along with saddles for some of the girls. Before long they would find themselves pulling carts or being ridden in the darkness of the morning sky. For Jennifer and Kara the outdoors was a new experience. It wasn’t necessarily a good one for them though.

Jennifer was mounted to a self-propelled cart. The cart was fairly large and sported a two cylinder engine of approximately fifteen horsepower. The carriage, including rider, weighed in at nearly three hundred pounds. No single female of Jennifer’s size could pull this weight at any significant speed so a device to assist her was employed. The pull-bar of the coach was connected to a sensor that allowed the cart to be moved with hardly any effort at all. While she found the task demeaning it was a fairly effortless exercise.

Katherine was only concerned with her form at this point. She had two methods to maintain discipline at her disposal and both were in her right hand. The three-foot long riding crop contained a remote in the handle which would allow her to punctuate her commands with a small shock to Jennifer’s nether regions. The crop could also be employed in the traditional method but that was considered old fashioned. To be truthful, Kat enjoyed tradition and thought a tap or two on a pony’s rump was good practice.

Jennifer:

I had hardly awakened when Katherine dragged me out of bed and made me dress. I only had four hours sleep, for crying out loud! Couldn’t she let me rest? I was up till 2 a.m. But I really didn’t have any choice, did I?

Before I knew it she had me completely dressed and had ordered a man for me. Within minutes he entered and made me open my mouth for him. It was an impersonal act and I hated it. Yet I was beginning to accept it. I just didn’t care about this part of the deal. It was just something that had to be done. So I opened wide and followed the training I had from the previous day.

“Eat this banana,” she ordered. “That should hold you until you can get a full breakfast after your march. Let’s not take too much time. We need to get out before the sun comes up.”

“Why?” I asked.

“You want to bake in the heat? We’re in the middle of a desert.”

“Oh!”

After lacing the skyscraper boots she proceeded to put the rest of my gear on me. It was the same set of items as the day before with the exception of the corset. The corset had an integrated harness sewed to it. Katherine told me that I’d be pulling a cart today. After I developed some balance and coordination she’d saddle me. That sounded weird!

The armbinder was different too. Instead of putting my arms elbow to elbow this one forced me to cross my arms behind my back. That wouldn’t have been so bad except that the distance between my elbows was substantially narrower than my shoulders. I was forced to lift my hands and cross my wrists. Katherine didn’t bind my hands within the leather bag. Instead she simply zipped the enclosure shut. With the straps crossing my chest there was no way I would have any use of my hands.

“In a couple days we’ll start working your arms into a reverse prayer position. We’ll start with this binding so those muscles will start stretching properly. Eventually we’ll have your palms together behind your shoulders and your elbows touching,” she said. “It should take three to four weeks,” she estimated.

Eventually I was fully outfitted with the pony gear. She didn’t put me in a hood. I was grateful for that. I had spent enough time with my head in that awful latex! She added blinders and a tall feather to my headgear. I looked at myself in the mirror and actually liked what I saw. “Dear God!” I thought. “I’m already getting sucked into this kinky scene.”

“Let’s go,” she commanded as she clipped a leash to my bridle.

Stepping outside I was refreshed by the cool morning air. The entire complex was alight from the numerous lamps and fixtures. Everywhere the artificial light reflected off the stonework of the buildings, the islands in the center of the lane, and the cobblestones themselves. It was breathtaking!

When we stepped outside I had a moment to glance at the other girls who had already started exercising. There were girls attached to carts both singly and in pairs. There were girls under saddles that seemed erotically intriguing. But something was strange about them. As Kat led me to my cart it hit me! The girls were being cued. The girls were all marching to the same beat. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. It looked like there were two sets of cues. The girls doing the high knee step were marching to one beat while the girls marching with the half knee step were marching to another. I just couldn’t figure out how they kept in time. With everyone wearing blinders I knew they couldn’t see each other. It was pretty impressive nonetheless.

Katherine rigged me to the cart by attaching a series of straps to my corset. The corset’s rings were well made and would take the strain easily. I was wondering if I would since the cart looked pretty heavy.

“You won’t have to pull very hard to get the cart moving. It has power assist. You’ll be pulling roughly 20 pounds. That should keep you from tiring yourself out. We’ll be doing one mile this morning. You’ll get a second mile in the arena after lunch and you’d normally get a third in the evening after the sun sets. Unfortunately since you finished dead last in coordination you’re on the shit list for the week so you’ll have to forego the third mile. Tina has something special planned for you, just to remind you to shape up.”

“Oh look,” she suddenly said. “Here comes your friend!”

Elaine trotted up to Jennifer and Kat as the final harness strap was being tightened. Linda approached at a half knee trot but slowed smoothly to a full knee prance that seemed to be like something one would see in a Vegas show. Her gait wasn’t perfect. Linda seemed to be off balance much of the time but Elaine was able to compensate by shifting in the saddle to counteract her missteps. Still, Linda seemed to be tolerating the ordeal fairly well.

Elaine had put Linda in a red hood. Her hair emerged from a hole high on her head and was bound by a three inch wide leather strap. Her hair flowed behind her in a manner that made it look almost artificial. Behind her she wore a red tail that curved upward from the opening in her suit. The look was profound and made me self-conscious about the stuffing I felt in my own rear. Well, I was a ponygirl.

“How was the ride?” Kat asked Elaine as she continued with her business. Behind me she pulled a pair of earrings from a charging device mounted inside the cart.

“She’s not bad but she tires quickly. She gets clumsy when she gets winded,” she offered.

“They all do,” Katherine stated as she clipped the long pendant earrings to my lobes. It was then I realized that every girl was wearing them. I just couldn’t figure out if there was a point to what I was seeing.

“How’s that one? I heard she made the shit list,” Elaine noted.

“Well, every girl hits a low point sooner or later. I suppose it’s better to get this crap out of the way early and provide her with some incentive to improve. It sends a good message.”

“True enough. Did you take her out yet?”

“Just about ready. Want to lead? She could use a pace pony.”

“Sure. Let me get mounted up.”

“The earrings have speakers in them. They’re tuned to the signal coming from this cart. This cart is in time with all the others so you’ll stay in step with all the ponies. The tail doesn’t work in wireless mode yet.”

Katherine took my reins and climbed into the cart. The next thing I knew I was being gently whipped on the butt to get me moving. The thumps and clicks in my ear gave me my prompts to lift my knees in time with the other girls. When I lost step, Kat hit me with the crop and told me to pay attention. It didn’t hurt since my ass was covered in latex but it made me concentrate on my form.

I couldn’t help notice the sounds and sights around me. While my vision was limited by the blinders I still had a good view of many of the girls. They all seemed to be marching briskly, driven by their riders. While I marched slowly some girls sped past me, doing the half knee lift and seemingly flowing in their stride. Others seemed to struggle, especially the smaller girls. They were constantly stopped and corrected using the crop. It seemed almost cruel.

There were many sounds that were distracting. All the girls, including myself, wore bells on their breasts. Between that and the loud clip-clop sound coming from every girl’s boots it was almost unbearable. Since we were all in time with each other it sounded like an army marching in close order drill.

The heels were tough to walk in, let alone march. I really shouldn’t say the heels were the problem. It was the platform soles. It felt like I was marching on stilts! The heels really didn’t come into play because they were a quarter inch lower than the soles. When I marched I was forced to stay off the heels and stay on my toes. That made the sound of the soles that much louder. The only thing I had going for me was the support I gained from the harness and pull-bar. It helped keep me upright when I stumbled.

We marched for some time along the path following Linda. I seemed to get the high knee style of marching down pretty good. I felt comfortable with it. It almost seemed like a dance to me. The boots helped a lot more than I imagined. They kept me from turning my ankles and leant support. They also wouldn’t bend more than ninety degrees at the knees. This forced me to keep my lower leg vertical so the march seemed more robotic. I suppose that was the effect they were looking for.

Linda didn’t have the benefit of a cart or harness to hold her up. If she lost her balance she’d go down. But her rider was obviously experienced. She was able to keep her from falling by shifting her weight. That plastic corset must have been hell to wear though. I really felt bad for her.

After we had paraded with a high knee step for a half lap Elaine picked up the pace by signaling Linda into a half knee lift. That’s when I fell apart. The signals in my earrings changed accordingly and I suddenly had an awful time keeping pace. Between the heels, the sight of Linda pulling away, and all the distracting sounds and emotions I lost track of the beat. I had problems hesitating at the top of the knee lift. Kat whipped me and told me to pay attention again. I was getting winded after only a hundred yards and I fell out of step even more. Katherine pulled me to a stop and allowed me to rest for a minute. Suddenly my reins shook and I was forced to march again at the half step pace. My form improved a little but not enough to satisfy Kat. She had me rest again after another hundred yards. After my breathing slowed she forced me into the same march. She seemed to be patient but determined. Her method began to work on me. She didn’t have to say much. She simply punished me with the crop a few times and told me to pay attention. Each time I started I learned a little more. Eventually I understood. As I marched past the girls I realized I wasn’t paying close attention to the signals in my earrings. Suddenly it all came together. By the time I had returned to the starting position near the complex, I had developed a glide in my pace. As I paid closer attention to the other girls I noticed that they seemed to leap between steps and suddenly I found myself doing the same. I expected to stop at the end of the first lap but instead we continued around the course. We didn’t even stop at the far end. We continued beyond that point and completed the second lap. After a full mile of trotting I expected Kat to end the march. That wasn’t the case. Unexpectedly she drove me around the track a third time. Now that I had the hang of it I understood the pace. It may have taken me a little longer to acquire it but I mastered the trot. I had marched a full three laps before I was pulled from the cart.

“Good job,” Kat said.

I couldn’t have been more proud!

Linda:

The day started off with me dressed in my usual kinky red suit. Elaine wanted to check my flexibility so she had me put my hands behind my back with palms touching. “Lift your hands as high as you can and hold them there,” she politely ordered.

As I lifted them up and touched my shoulder blades she said, “Very good. I think you’ll need three weeks at most.”

“For what?” I asked.

“We’re going to improve your image by pulling your arms up behind your back. We’ll work on stretching those shoulder muscles so you can pull your arms higher each day. Eventually you’ll be able to touch your elbows in this position.”

“That’s crazy! Nobody can touch their elbows behind their back,” I said.

“Really? Just watch!” And so she turned her back on me and put her hands together in the “reverse prayer position”. It was like watching a circus act. Her hands rose slowly as her muscles strained. “Haven’t done this in four weeks,” she complained. As I watched she arched her back and touched her elbows with only the smallest grunt. “See?”

“How did you do that?” I asked totally amazed.

“Practice!”

A slightly smaller arm bag was used on me this time. Elaine had me cross my wrists but didn’t bind them. They floated inside the bag. I suppose I had to start somewhere. As she zipped the bag closed my hands didn’t have room to touch my elbows. Instead they were cocked upwards at a slight angle. It was a little uncomfortable but I didn’t really have a problem with it.

With the exception of the latex hood, the remaining gear was familiar. The bit, bridle, and corset were installed. These were followed by the boots. Elaine added a black plastic collar, a pair of blinders, my tail, and a long white feather. This she attached to my forehead. Finally the reins and the saddle were attached. With the tail finally installed I was ready.

Once I got outside I saw a number of girls. I knew Jen was being tended to by Kat but I couldn’t see her at that moment. I watched with fascination as several trainers combed their pony’s tails and primped and polished their outfits. It was at that point that Elaine turned me away from her and mounted me. “I need you to pay attention. You’ll get to visit later,” she said sternly.

Once she had climbed into the saddle she began guiding me with the reins. We moved along the courtyard, a paved staging area near the building. The high knee lift was the mode of travel for the moment and I was directed to lift my knees high. Elaine helped me by adjusting her weight to allow me to walk more fluidly. All I had to do was lift my knees. She handled the balance for me.

Every so often Elaine would pull me to a stop and chat with another trainer. They discussed each other’s pony but never talked to us directly. “How’s she doing, Brenda?” Elaine asked her fellow trainer.

“Good,” Brenda replied, commenting on the hooded woman she was sitting on. “She’s had first week jitters like all of them but she shows promise.”

“Train her well. I get her next week,” she said.

“Yea, I know. The next girl for me is a tiny one. I’ll have to use the cart on her. I think that’s her over with Molly. She’s cute!”

“Did you hear about the hair thing?” she said, shifting in the saddle. I grunted and adjusted my footing. Elaine ignored me completely.

“Yea. She’s one of the girls that get it. I don’t know if I’d let someone cut off all my hair.”

“She’ll grow it back in a few days so what’s the problem?”

“It’s experimental,” Elaine complained.

“Those guys are good. Didn’t they come through on the mane tonic? It’s almost the same thing.”

“I suppose. Hey, I gotta get this pony rolling before she gets bored. I’ll catch you later.”

“See ya.”

While we were talking I noticed a girl in a red hood with a long plume of blonde hair. I thought it was Jennifer until I saw the trainer who was sitting in the cart. I noticed her coming down the left hand lane. The trainer pulled her to a stop and Elaine rode me up to the side of the coach. “I see your girl’s taking well to the saddle,” the woman commented.

“She’s clumsy but she’ll come along. Saddle ponies take time to break,” she commented.

“Break?” I thought. Was she breaking me?

“You’re too much of a perfectionist. She wasn’t that bad. And besides, it’s her first day. How much can you expect?”

“True. So how’s the tall one doing?”

“She’s holding up. She can’t keep pace very well yet. I’ve had to use some persuasion to get her to pay attention.”

“You seem to enjoy using persuasion. How many crops do you wear out in a month?” she quipped lightheartedly.

“Just enough to get results. Anyway, not to change the subject but where’s your girl’s rocks?” she asked, referring to the earrings that I was missing.

“Damn, I forgot! Let me run back. I’ll see you in a few minutes. Hey, I wanted to mention that I am free for lunch. You available, Donna?”

“No, I have some paperwork to catch up on. Tomorrow’s open. Are you free?”

“That’ll work. If anything comes up I’ll call you,” my rider said as she pulled hard on my left rein.

I was ridden a short distance to a small office entrance. A large window shed light across the ground in front where four other saddled girls waited for their riders. Each girl had their reins tied to a hitching post. I was forced to take my place beside them as my rider dismounted.

“I’ll only be a minute,” she said as she tied my reins to the horizontal bar.

When she returned she had a pair of red earrings in her hand. They were pretty large, perhaps two inches in diameter. They were disk shaped. I noticed that the other saddled girls had the same type of earrings. I also noticed a couple girls pulling carts had different earrings. I was curious as to why.

As she clipped them to my ears, Elaine explained their purpose. “These earrings are controlled by buttons on the saddle. I can feed you signals for either a high step trot or a half knee canter. The signals are the same as the sounds you heard in the arena yesterday. You’ll get the idea once we start. OK, down.”

I stooped as taught and allowed her to climb into the saddle. “Up,” she said.

As she pulled on my left rein she guided me toward the right hand path that headed towards Gerry’s hacienda. Once there she started me marching. “OK, march in place. We’ll start slow with a high knee step. Take it slow and stay in one spot. On the cue, start your march,” she commanded.

The earrings began their clicks and pops, signaling me to lift my knees in time with every other pony on the circuit. I tended to lean forward when I started lifting my knees. Elaine leaned backwards and pulled the bit hard into my mouth. “Pay attention!” she demanded in a harsh voice. “Keep marching in place.”

I began to get my balance as my senses became overloaded with all that was around me. I wanted to look at the other ponies but had to pay attention to my own balance. The cues were distracting but necessary. They enforced a set pace that originally felt unnatural. I began to feel Elaine shift in the saddle in order to hold me still and prevent me from falling on my butt or on my face. She began giving me orders to improve my march. “Lift your chin higher,” she demanded. “Take deep breaths,” she ordered.

“Let’s go,” she said as she shook the reins and kicked me gently in the butt. I began moving forward, staying in step to the signals from the earrings. The march was slow but deliberate. I chomped on the bit as I tried to maintain concentration.

“Don’t look at the ground! Keep your head up,” she demanded again. I lifted my chin and looked forward. But I was concerned for my balance and had to resist the urge to look at the ground.

“Halt!” she commanded, pulling my reins.

“That was God-awful!” she said from behind me. “What part of the command, ‘Don’t look at the ground’ don’t you understand?” she said angrily. “Let’s start again. March in place and keep that chin up,” she demanded firmly.

We started again. This time I got the message and high stepped down the path while holding my head proudly high. “Better,” she declared as I continued to march. “Try and glide a little more in your march. Don’t be so robotic,” she said.

On that cue I began to smooth out my pace. I no longer hesitated between steps but instead seemed to float from one knee lift to the other. When I felt a light pat on my shoulder and soothing praise from Elaine I knew I had found my groove. “Very nice,” Elaine said.

We moved onto the half knee trot for the remaining half lap. I didn’t have any difficulty with it though and as we rounded the corner we spotted Jennifer and her trainer. Jennifer was being secured to a small coach that looked far too big for her to pull. Somehow I knew they had some way to allow her to march without effort. As we approached I noticed a tailpipe and knew at once there was some sort of engine in the vehicle. Now I knew how she’d manage.

Elaine and Katherine talked for a moment or two, allowing me to rest. Elaine dismounted. I appreciated the respite. They talked about us and how we were progressing. They didn’t pay any attention to us otherwise.

Once they had finished conversing Elaine mounted me and we took the lead. Jennifer followed but I couldn’t see her. We were back to the slow high knee trot. I was apparently being used a pacer. Jennifer was supposed to use me as an example.

After we had traveled a half lap we moved to the quicker pace but after a hundred yards Elaine told me that they were on their own. As I rounded the last island I saw they had stopped and Jennifer was being yelled at. “Well,” I thought, “I know the feeling!”

The third lap for the day was different than the last two. To improve Elaine’s feel for my quirks she began using the reins to guide me down the path at odd angles. My path took a strange zigzag path. She had me do half knee lifts during the majority of the time so I had to react quickly. To be truthful, I sort of enjoyed the variation.

We eventually ended up in front of the large complex. All the ponies were assembled in a line. We all faced east, the saddled girls relieved of their drivers and the cart ponies now standing unhitched. I wondered what we were being held there for when Elaine said, “Wait for it.” I didn’t understand until a few minutes later the golden sun peeked over the horizon and turned the entire desert into a mosaic that was so beautiful that it defied description. The trees, the stonework, even the sand itself seemed to glow with a brilliance I had never witnessed before.

As we watched, Tina came forward and addressed us. “You’ve done well, all of you. Enjoy the sunrise. Its magnificence will bless you each morning after your trot.

“I watched you all and I was very impressed The saddled girls were especially remarkable. I thought all of you showed that you could handle a rider quite well. You’re all well ahead of the curve in that regard. I thought all of you showed extraordinary poise, especially when you had marched for some time. I also noted that you all seemed to listen to your trainers and improved quite nicely as the morning progressed. I expect you all to continue your progress.

“I’ll let you all get a shower and some breakfast. You don’t have any activity for three hours so feel free to visit each other. Today you’ll be having your first lesbian encounters with your fellow ponies. That happens around ten. After that you’ll be served lunch at 11:00 followed by a noon trot.

“One last thing; today is gag day. Everyone has to be gagged in one way or another for the entire day. If you don’t wear a bit you’ll wear a ball gag harness. The only exception will be while eating or having oral sex. If you’re in your room or a friend’s you can remove them for ten minutes each hour. You will be monitored.”

As we returned I imagined who I’d be doing my tongue act with. I figured they force me to do Jennifer but Elaine told me it could be anyone. She didn’t even know. She did say that sooner or later the odds were that we’d have several sessions with each girl. Starting today we’d have one lesbian session with another pony and one with our trainer daily. After several months we’d certainly have several visits together. It wasn’t something I was looking forward to. But then again, was I looking forward to any of this?