The Widower

John clambered into the racing sulky, and settled himself into the seat. This thing was simply built for speed, the seat little more than a skeleton of carbon fiber, matching the rest of the sulky. Marie passed him a long carriage whip.

'Remember, hold this in your right, and the reins primarily in the left. You can grip the reins partly with the right hand, but you need to keep a good grip with the left. Try it now.'

John grabbed the reins, and pulled to the left. Joanne, already harnessed and between the shafts, felt the pull on the bit, and pulled her head around to the left. John repeated this in the other direction, and Joanne moved her head around to the right.

'Good. Now, when she's running, she'll actually steer in those directions.' She moved up to beside Joanne, and indicated an area on Joanne's right shoulder. 'You can reinforce that pull with the whip. Flick the end in around here, and that'll also show you want the pony to turn.'

John gave the whip an experimental flick, and watched as the end curled over Joanne's shoulder and onto her chest, bringing a stifled cry of pain from the pony.

'Easy, John. Less extension with the arm. Just flick the wrist.' John tried again, and this time the end of the whip landed pretty squarely in the area Marie had indicated. Joanne tossed he head a little, and Marie reached for the head harness. 'Easy, pony easy....'

'Try alternating, left and right.'

John did as he was asked, and after a few flicks, he started to think he was getting the hand of it.

'Good, John. Now, to get a pony moving, you can treat her like a horse, with verbal commands. Gee up, walk on, that sort of thing. You can also use the whip. Flick it again, aiming for that very nice arse you have in front of you.'

The whip flicked out, and unlike the first time, John judged it well this time, catching Joanne with a good stroke that made a satisfying crack as it hit her backside.

'Good, good.' Marie smiled. 'I reckon we can try a spin around the track here. 'She leaned into Joanne, adjusting a strap on the harness, and whispering something to the pony.'

When Marie stepped back, John gave a quick command. 'Walk on...', but Joanne refus d to do anything except toss her head back. 'Walk on...' John repeated himself, more forcefully, only to have Joanne stamp her right foot.

Marie was grinning. This was planned, John realized, and he flicked out with the whip, catching Joanne square across the arse, and she started to move forward.

'Once round at a walk, then get her up to a trot and then back down again to a stop!' called out Marie as the sulky set off.

John couldn't help but smile. Not much more than a couple of weeks ago, he had no idea any of this existed, that his wife had been a human pony, and now here he was, driving a pony himself. He wished now that Lesley had shared this with him, though he didn't truly know how he would have reacted if she had said 'Oh by the way....'

React is what John had to do next, as he realized that Joanne was continuing to play with him, and was happily continuing straight on as the track started to turn. He pulled on the left hand side of the reins, but Joanne stubbornly carried on straight, until John was forced to give her a couple of flicks with the whip. This got her turning and soon they were rounding the curve and heading down the straight section again, Joanne seemingly taking heed to what John was having her do.

As they passed Marie, who looked like she was very amused by the whole proceedings, John called out 'Trot Joanne' and gave her a light flick across the arse. She responded well, kicking up her legs, setting off at a light trot for another run round the track. John still needed to give her the whip at the corners, but as he pulled back on the reins at the end of the second circuit, and gave a clear 'woah girl' command, Joanne pulled up a halt fairly close to where John had wanted.

Marie caught up with them quickly, rubbing Joanne's hair. 'Good Girl.'

She turned to John. 'Not bad. You didn't panic when she didn't do as you expected, and you've a good grasp of the whip.' She stepped back again. 'Let's see how you handle things at speed.'

-*-

John jumped out of the sulky, and went up to Joanne between the shafts. 'Good girl, Joanne, good girl.' Joanne, her sweat slick chest heaving as she started to recover from her exertions, wore a big smile, even behind the bit in her mouth.

Marie came up to John's side, and indicated a couple of buckles on the head harness Joanne wore. 'Loosen those two and the same on the other side John, let's get the bit out.'

John did so, and Joanne gave a bright 'Thank you Master' when the bit was removed.

'How did John do, Joanne?

'Pretty well, Mistress. He could use the reins a little better, a little more guidance from those, but he handles the whip well, once he got the hang of it'

'I'd agree John,' said Marie. 'For a trained pony like Joanne, they should be steered with the reins rather more than the whip.' She undid a couple of extra buckles, and removed the harness even more, letting it hang onto Joanne's chest. 'So saying, when you drive Luci tomorrow, the whip will probably be the best tool you have to keep her going on the right direction.'

'But that's for tomorrow. For right now, time to show you how to look after a pony after a good run.'