As we try to figure out what kind of ponyplay scene we want here in the Boston area, it occurred to me that we should ask some of the more well-established folks about their experiences. After all, learning about some of the ponies and handlers that inspire us could help shape our expectations for a local scene.
It didn’t take me long to pull my first choice from the global herd: Nighty. While there’s a good chance you’ve seen his photos online, you may also know him as the designer of Fury Fantasy’s amazing Marathon Harness. I had the privilege of chatting with this fine stallion about his life as a horse.
In The Beginning
Flutters: THANK you for taking a little time here, I really just want to get a feel for your relationship with the pony scene. How long have you been into pony play? Can you remember when you first took notice of it?
Nighty: When I was 18 or so, stumbling over pictures of fetish stuff on the internet… rubber and leather. Also I found the idea of anthropomorphic animals exciting… like werewolves and such. I was actually more a canine person. I started doing ponyplay or at least getting in touch with the “scene” IRL in April 2008.
Flutters: What happened in April of ’08?
Nighty: It was Easter Saturday and I was not very content with my life as it had been. I was a pretty introverted and somehow strange person back then. No sex, no girlfriend at all… and that at the age of 27. I had those ponyplay fantasies but I was afraid of them. So I decided at that moment to try to not be afraid any more and joined a petplay chat.
[Note: Now I’m trying to picture a horse that’s taking pole-dancing lessons as an introvert… This filly is confused, but she can deal with it.]
Flutters: The internet has certainly done wonders for teaching some of us weirdos how to socialize, hasn’t it?
Nighty: Well the organizer of the chat asked me if I would like to meet in person as he would be in Berlin the next weekend. I was really really scared, but I found out that he was just a friendly guy… Now we are very good friends.
Flutters: Well that’s certainly good to hear!
Nighty: So then I visited my first munch in Hamburg (there was none in Berlin), and I found out that the people were even nicer and less creepy than I always thought.
Flutters: How many people were at the munch? Was it a big gathering?
Nighty: I think about 12 people, so not that much, but enough to have a good talk with everyone about perspectives and their thoughts. …Very relaxed people who didn’t take things too seriously or tried to sell you “the only true way of doing BDSM or Ponyplay”
Inspirations
Flutters: Once you got turned onto the scene, did you find any people or events that really made you want to get more involved?
Nighty: Well, I once met FrieseAragon… He was more or less the first Fury Pony being very public about what he did. He once allowed me to wear his gear during an event for some pictures and I am still grateful for that.
Roles and Roleplay
Flutters: So clearly you’re a pony… do you dabble in training/handling? You know, the other side of the spectrum?
Nighty: Oh I am only the pony… Never found interest in controlling someone. I really love the idea of being controlled and at the mercy of someone else. The role as an animal allows for this feeling while allowing some more personal freedom than a classic slave role.
Flutters: Do you have a specific image of who/what you are? I fancy myself a show pony, not a plow horse, but I’m kinda new at this.
Nighty: Depends on which of my two Nighty’s you are referring to. The feral one I use for petplay and the anthropomorphic one I mostly use in my fantasy. …I consider myself to be right in the middle of petplay and furry, I like the [anthropomorphic] kind of body.
Flutters: So when you’re a feral pony, it’s not a sexual thing at all? And it’s primarily sexual when you’re anthro?
Nighty: In my fantasy, the anthro Nighty has lots of kinky situations and also sex. The feral Nighty is not sexual at all, more something like a character for relaxing and taking a vacation from one’s own personality. For me those two characters are fundamentally different from each other. One is the projection of my kinky desires while the other one is a calm place for me to step back a little, to calm down and to experience a very different way of relationship and communication with my partner
Flutters: What is your ultimate pony fantasy?
Nighty: Oh… the feral one I already live.
[Note: Lucky bastard…]
The Anthro one? Something like Nighty getting abducted, chastised and trained into some kind of kinky slave role while he continuously tries to break free.
Flutters: Sort of an unwilling breeding stud?
Nighty: Something like that. In for humiliation, showing around, sexual work, other work and whatever. It’s fantasy though mostly for me and I had to experience some stuff being quite different in reality. I am not sure if I would enjoy all of it in reality as well and therefore am quite content with the way things are.
Flutters: How often do you drift between the two preferences anyway? I mean, is it a 50/50 thing, or are you usually feeling like a two-legged stallion?
Nighty: I prefer to think about myself as the 2 legged station. I can’t help myself but I find that combination of horse and human body extremely erotic.
Bio-Horses and You
Flutters: Did you have any experience with bio-horses before getting into this scene? I mean, clearly you can ride now in your pony gear. Which is fucking awesome. But what about beforehand?
[Side note: If you’re on FetLife, you really should see his photos of meeting and riding Olé.]
Nighty: I did some very basic riding here and there, but I would not really call it experience. But actually I started doing real riding lessons about 1.5 years after I started ponyplay.
Flutters: You have a particular breed of horse you identify with?
Nighty: Mecklenburger Warmblood. It’s a not very common breed that originates in northeast Germany. Very versatile and the small brother of the Hannoveranian.
Flutters: Given that you didn’t grow up with horses, how’d you figure THAT one out?
Nighty: Internet! Just searched for horses that I liked and that were not thaaaaat common while also not being too special.
The H Word
Flutters: The big, holy grail term that’s used a lot is “headspace”. You been there?
Nighty: Only a few times, mostly it’s like playing a role. I’d say 9 out of 10 plays I don’t manage to get into headspace at all.
Flutters: Do you remember the first time you left the “pretending” behind and actually felt like you were a pony?
Nighty: Hmmmm… Yes, it was actually during my first try of ponyplay at all. Summer 2008 when I had my first ponyplay session. [The same guy I met from the internet] gave me my first introduction and it was a blast: longeing, carting, cross tie between pillars, even some log pulling. Hell… was I exhausted afterwards.
Flutters: How much of the GEAR is necessary for you to really get into the pony space?
Nighty: Well, what I really need to get into ponyspace is a bridle and a tail. The tail being the most important one.
Flutters: I would’ve figured the part that straps onto your head as a very present reminder… but the tail really does it for you more than any other piece of gear you own?
Nighty: Yeah… I really like butts and the tail belongs to that
Flutters: Ha! simple enough. When did you start picking up your own gear?
Nighty: Right after I converted to ponyplay. First things I got was a tail and my first harness, which actually was just a BDSM harness. I am actually in the process of getting a tail that can be attached to my chastity belt.
Flutters: How much pony gear do you own now?
Nighty: Well, the Harness, the Suits (Spandex and rubber), the hoofboots, the hoofcovers, the mask…
Flutters: How long did it take you to get all the gear that made you LOOK the way you really wanted?
Nighty: About 3 years I guess. Started in 2009 and finished somewhere in 2012, but there is still small stuff left and right to get in order to get more perfect. I am trying to get a posture collar to accentuate the neck.
The Urban Stallion
Flutters: So you live in Berlin… do you do urban pony stuff then? Like pulling carts through city streets?
Nighty: Not at all, only on occasions like pride parades and such. I am trying not to be public too much. A few weeks ago we were booked by a fetish store who celebrated 25th anniversary to do some advertising in the city by pulling a carriage around.
Flutters: Well on the topic of being public, I guess that leaves me with one last question… Do your family or coworkers have any clue that you’re into this kind of thing?
Nighty: My family knows it, my coworkers don’t. When I started with ponyplay, quite a bit of stuff changed for me and also I changed. My family noticed that. Also that I started traveling a lot. So when they asked I didn’t want to lie.
Flutters: Good pony!
If you’d like to know more about Nighty, you can follow him on FetLife or ask to join the Pony Union (I’m member #44!). You can also congratulate him on recently becoming a father, too! In the mean time, how did you become interested in ponyplay? Leave a comment!