Corvans Creations... Musings on a Second Life » Training

Forum’s second pony event started today!

corvan — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 06:09:12 +0000

Forum is hosting another week long pony event, kicking off with an amazing, long and challenging cross country race course. The official start had a half dozen of us competing on the first run. I came in fourth… I’ve got all week to improve my scores, and I’m sure with practice and a good mouse, I’ll be in contention.

Like last time there is dressage and Pretty Pony coming up on the weekend. A good friend of Miss Tara’s and mine is training me hard for the dressage, and we’re plotting and scheming for the Pretty Pony as well. We’ll be training every morning for at least an hour or two until we’re a completely seamless team. There are a couple of individuals she really wants to beat, and she’s determined that we’re going to sweep the dressage and Pretty Pony. I’m definitely game!

So once again, I’m in tack, 24/7 for the next week and loving it. This will be the most sustained training I’ve ever had. When I was living at FFF it was fairly hit-n-miss whether there would be a trainer available. This week, pony and trainer both are committed to training times. My competitive hackles are up!

I’m even keeping what we come up with for Pretty Pony a secret from Miss. She’s okay with it, so there’s no problem, otherwise… I have a hard time picturing deliberately keeping anything from her. I’m really hoping she’ll be able to watch me competing in dressage and Pretty Pony, that would cap off what’s going to be a very fun week.

A fairly quiet day with a slightly disquieting ending

corvan — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:05:00 +0000

Work was really slow today, and so I ended up spending the better part of the afternoon in SL. I mainly came on for the quiz at 1:00 at the Forum, but then I couldn’t drag myself away. That needs to not be repeated too often. Work has to come before SL.

All in all a fairly quiet day otherwise, spent some time at FFF practicing the lower steeple course, and also at AliKat’s to practice their course. I’m getting my confidence back on the steeples, though that hasn’t translated into high scores yet. I think Saturday I’ll spend most of my time on the steeples.

Miss was able to be online for a little while until a storm knocked her offline. There is some good news to go around, by early to mid week next week she should have a computer again that will allow her to be online more. I’m really looking forward to that because I’m starting to make some foolish choices while she’s away and I’m worried that will start getting me in (deserved) trouble.

Last night was a case in point. Chrissy found a cursed chocolate egg. Having the insatiable curiosity I have, I couldn’t resist trying it out. There’s a cursed apple that turns you into an apple tree, a cursed glass of water that turns you into a fountain; the egg turns you into a chocolate bunny… All well and good and much fun except for the fact that the damned egg knocked my locked, RLV-enabled, non-detachable collar off in order to put on its Bunny Bow-tie. That’s not supposed to be able to happen, and I knew going in that it was going to try, but figured it wouldn’t be able to and I’d just attach the bow-tie somewhere else. No such luck.

In talking it over with Tara, I’ve come to the decision that until Miss deka is back online consistently enough, I’m going to remain as a tiger except on pony days. On those days, I’ll need someone (either Miss deka or Tara) to unlock my tiger collar so I can change and at the end of the day I’ll change back and relock the collar. I expect to be punished because I screw up, I’d rather not be punished because something that shouldn’t be possible happened, and it feel like I’m getting careless so it is time to exercise some self-discipline.

Not much to report, a quiet day

corvan — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:56:00 +0000

A fairly quiet and short day in SL for me as I returned to work yesterday. My time inworld was spent in latex doll form, training up my ballet boots. I’d like to have them fully trained in before Miss returns. Same for my training Pony boots.

Miss deka and I got a chance to chat a bit just before I had to go to bed, we’re both missing each other tremendously and as of yesterday it’s been three weeks since Miss collared me. I was off by a week on Saturday. Saturday was two weeks since she first actually put her collar on me, yesterday was three weeks since my trial started. Miss has renamed my latex doll form to DN-01, the 01 designating 1 month that I’ve worn her collar.

Today will be much of the same with the main difference being that I’ll be in pony form for the next few days. I’ll probably be popping back and forth between FFF and the Forum to see if I can get some quality training time in. Meanwhile Miss is going to see if there is some way she can get SL installed on the one computer where she is. It’s an older machine so may not work terribly well, but at least it will give us an opportunity to be together for a little while.

A really nice way to start the day…

corvan — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:54:00 +0000

Ever wondered what the best way to start the day with a spring in your step is? I have found the secret.

First, spend some time with good friends just chatting about random things of interest. In my case, the Forum is my preferred location. Second, meet your owner at the farm for a quick morning workout. Pony gear is of course not optional in this regimen, and no you can’t borrow my owner. Get your own. Unless she says otherwise of course.

I was fighting lag, my first couple of runs on the training steeple really weren’t all that good, though I did manage to pull out an 1197 after a few runs, but I didn’t care at all. Miss had me on the steeple while she was teaching Snow about whip commands and I was just in pony heaven. Nothing elaborate, nothing time consuming, nothing big and flashy. Just simply being a pony, doing what his trainer had asked of him. It really doesn’t get much better than this.

Okay, so maybe it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it certainly sent me off to work with a smile on my face and a spring in my stride this morning.

Sometimes life is just good, you know?

corvan — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:13:00 +0000

I’ve been doing some reflecting over the last few days and I’m really liking what I’m seeing.

It’s now been exactly eight days since Miss Enigma first collared me, and four days since we made it permanent. In that time I’ve met some of Miss’s other subs, we’ve found a lot of easter eggs, and we’ve gotten to know each other more.

There’s a dynamic that develops between a Domme and her sub, it’s a dynamic that came on very strong with Wednesdai and I but eventually petered out badly as other dramas (RL and SL) interfered. It becomes almost eerie how much you end up in the other’s head. I can’t speak for Miss, but I’m starting to feel that with her. She’s getting inside my head pretty well, and I’m starting ot pick up on things from her as well.

Take yesterday for instance. Since we started the Bunny Hop egg hunt, that’s mostly all we’ve been doing. Jumping around from sim to sim searching for eggs. It’s fun, and I get to spend lots of time with Miss doing it, but it means no pony play while we do it. Given how immersed I’ve been lately, that’s been a bit uncomfortable, and was beginning to get a bit frustrating. It hadn’t reached the point where I needed to speak up, I was going to, when Miss took me over to a couple of different sims for some Steeple practice. She had noticed how little time we’d spent training and she took care of it. I didn’t have to say anything, she was already in my head. How cool is that?

If it weren’t for my ISP dropping out from under me every 10 minutes last night, oh well… Just before I logged out last night she told me how happy she is to have me as her pet. I echoed the sentiment with great enthusiasm. There’s a much different feel to it than with Wednesdai, and I’m not entirely sure where that’s coming from. It’s definitely a good thing though! It may be that Miss Enigma is more settled and comfortable in her role as a Domme, I was Wednesdai’s first and now that I think of it, only sub. It may be that I’m more settled and comfortable in my role as a sub. Certainly I learned a lot being with Wednesdai. Either way, there’s no question of our roles, there’s no question of our growing closeness. There’s also no question who’s in charge. Miss has described herself as a big marshmallow and on one small point I’ll agree, but only one small point: She can be quite quick to adopt strays.

Since she collared me, she’s picked up a stray puppy girl, and most recently a “sub” demanded that she collar her. I honestly don’t think the latter is going to last very long (she’s a serious “Topping from the Bottom” type), I’m already suggesting to Miss that she send her packing… Beyond that, she’s a really nice fit for me. Shes sweet, gentle, kind and at the same time fully in command.

The day just kept getting better…

corvan — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:57:00 +0000

It’s now the next morning and I’m still kind of floating from the day I had yesterday.

I need to keep checking back to my chat log to make sure I’ve got the ordering correct, but who really cares about what came before what?

The best part started off after just royally sucking at the weekly Forum trivia game. My team got destroyed. There’s really no other way to put it. It was pathetic. I think we lost by 20 points. It was great fun though.

Following the match, I headed back to FFF as Miss was online still and I was hoping to spend some more “getting to know you” time with her. A minor confusion on my part later and I’m following Marianne to the dressage field with four other ponies! At the time, I thought Miss Enigma had asked Marianne to bring me down, oops. My mistake turned into one of the most enjoyable training exercises I’ve had so far. Marianne had a peak of seven ponies all around the dressage field and she turned it into an impromptu precision walking exercise with all of us walking the outside of the field. From time to time she’d call out for different ponies to enter the field and either walk the circle or the figure-eight. Keeping from running each other over was a real challenge, as was fighting the occasional bursts of lag we were inducing. As we were heading over, Marianne said something about ponies being “weapons of sim destruction”

A few of the ponies dropped out or crashed out, which eventually whittled our numbers down to three. At this point Marianne turned it into a dressage training for the ponies and for Enigma who joined the half dozen or so observers while we were all walking. Dressage is one of those things that can really show off how wel a pony and his trainer are in sync with each other. It’s all about style and grace and precision. I did pretty reasonably, though the backwards line still gives me trouble, I can never quite tell when I’ve reached the end of the line before I pass it.

Once dressage practice broke up, Enigma took me on a tour of some steeple courses she knows off-sim, and I did a credible job I think.

There is a grid-wide easter egg hunt going on right now and we decided to meet up a little later and go hunting together. This marked the first time in about 10 days that I’d been out of tack for any appreciable time. It felt really strange! I didn’t hear my hooves as I walked, my hands were sticking out all over the place, it just felt unnatural at first. Once we got to the hunting I didn’t notice so much, but it sure felt good to be back in tack later on.

We got maybe half a dozen of the eggs, some were fiendishly difficult to find, and overall had fun. The shops that the hunt takes you through are a wide variety of places. I’m pretty sure that Miss bought something at one of the shops so it’s also turning out to be a nice way to get to know her tastes without badgering her.

Later on we met up with Aeris who was practicing on a race course. Miss Engima and I took turns being pulled around the course by Aeris. I just realised that that was the first time ever I’d been pulled by a pony rather than the other way around! It was a lot of fun, but I think Aeris was getting frustrated as her times kept increasing. There’s some turns that are really hard to negotiate at full speed and she was fighting lag as well which didn’t help.

Miss asked if I’d like to give it a try, which of course I was itching to do, and I took her and Aeris out for a few laps. I didn’t mean to show up Aeris, I really didn’t, but my times were quite a bit better than hers. Miss was really proud of how I did which made me glow a bit. At every stage, with the sole exception of getting better at emoting as a pony, everything just seems to be coming naturally. I’ve not felt anything quite like it before, it’s almost like… I don’t know, almost like it was meant to be.

It’s funny too, I’m such a bondage slut, and yet I’m not really terribly restrained in pony gear. Sure, I have my bit in almost non-stop (I’m only taking it out now when I visit the Forum), and there’s plenty of options for restraints, a number of ponies use the same arm binder I have, and one of my hoof sets includes options for hobbling. Yet I’m finding that I’m getting that same sense of restrained freedom being in tack that I had a few times when Wednesdai had me all trussed up for extended periods. I’m almost tempted to ask Miss to let me take it to the next level up, moving to a strict training regime like Chrissy is about to begin.

Strict training is when a pony is locked into their gear 24/7. They don’t leave their stall unless accompanied by a trainer and they don’t leave the sim. It sounds like an amazingly immersive experience but I go back and forth about whether I’d gain anything significant over how life is now. I’m in tack 24/7 except on Miss’s instructions. I rarely leave the sim, since joining FFF I don’t think I’ve gone anywhere else except to the Forum and to a few pony shops (still looking for the ultimate set of gear…). So what’s the real difference between that and Strict Training? I guess it’s mostly the choice thing. I can choose to wait in my stall for a trainer to be free, or in the paddock, or I can pop over to the Forum. Miss can (and may some day, who knows) instruct me to remain at the Farm, she can tie my reins to a post in my stall guaranteeing that I can’t go wandering. These last two options remove choices from me which of course is a big piece of the whole BDSM dynamic.

I guess when it comes down to it, I’m happy enough knowing that if She feels it necessary to restrict me she will. Until then, I’m just not going to worry about it.

A question of protocol

corvan — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 11:38:00 +0000

Well, a few questions of protocol actually. Really one or two questions of protocol and a couple of questions of expectations.

First to protocol, and here I’m referring to pony-trainer protocol, especially that between a pony and a trainer who is actively working with another pony. In a nutshell, is it appropriate to just barge right into their scene? I’m using somewhat inflammatory wording deliberately. Not because I feel like others have been doing so, but rather to highlight the reason for my own reluctance to approach a trainer and pony who are busy working together. When I see a pair working I tend to shy back, at best entering the periphery of chat range so I can learn about how they are interacting, but otherwise trying not to disturb them. Is that the right approach? I’ve seen others come right up to my trainer as we’ve been working and it seems like it’s not considered rude so perhaps I’m being to reticent.

My other protocol question is regarding posture. When gathered around with others, what is the appropriate stance for ponies to take with respect to the trainers? I know that ponies by their nature are submissive towards the trainers, it’s part of the basis of the relationship. I’ve seen some ponies who kneel when with trainers, I’ve seen others who don’t. What’s “proper”? When I was with Miss Wednesdai, I was always required to kneel by her side when we were just standing or sitting. Should I be doing that when I’m just standing around with others here? On the one hand, as a pony it seems somehow unnatural, horses never sit after all; on the other hand, as a sub it seems like a natural and proper thing to do. The gripping hand is that I haven’t seen anything consistent among the folks I’ve observed.

I’m starting to slowly get over my shyness on the farm. When someone new comes into range I’ll whinny a greeting to them and if they respond I’ll do my best to interact with them. I’m still fighting my shyness but I’m definitely making progress. There have been cases when I’ve been ignored, which is fine, especially when it’s a visitor, but there’s been a few times where I’ve been ignored where I was caught off guard. Two cases come to mind and I’m wondering if my own expectations are out of line.

The first time, I was in the paddock and Marianne was lunging a pair of ponies. I stood just at the fence line, barely inside chat range and watched. It was really interesting to observe how she handled the ponies. I wasn’t shy about making my presence known, whinnied a few times while there, but wasn’t expecting much in the way of acknowledgment because Marianne was obviously busy with the two. As they left, she grabbed their reins, accidentally grabbing mine as well (it’s an SL thing that this could happen). I whinnied and tried to hop the fence because the reins were pulling me through the fence, and Marianne stopped briefly to release my reins. Nothing that I could hear was said, and the trio continued on to the barn.

The second time was last night. I was again waiting in the paddock when Jo dropped in on top of me with another pair of ponies and Josephine one of the farm’s puppies. Once again, I whinnied greetings to them as the landed on my head, but otherwise kept a respectful distance within the paddock. They didn’t stay long, but none of them even acknowledged by presence. Jo left with her horse and bade Josephine a good night as they left without her, but not a word was spoken towards me.

My question here is, is this to be expected? Are ponies routinely ignored? I’m not complaining, just trying to understand the rules. What can seem rude when looked at one way can be entirely appropriate and correct when viewed in the right context, and I’m trying to figure out that context.

To finish off on a very positive note, Jaydana came by and took me through a session on the walker, teaching me the right way to walk as a pony. In RL, learning the proper gait is a major component of becoming a pony. In SL all you need is the right AO and *Poof* you’re walking like a pony. In this case, Jaydana wanted me to be able to correctly emote how I was walking. It was a really good lesson, which unfortunately ended when my internet connection crashed badly (I’m going to be yelling loudly at my ISP in the morning). She also made some comments on how she would be training me were she my owner… It’s a damned shame there’s an ocean between us. If there is one rule I learned being owned by Wednesdai it’s that more than 2 or maybe 3 hours time difference just doesn’t seem workable.

More learning and an interesting observation

corvan — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:50:00 +0000

I spent some time being trained by Jaydana this afternoon. She started off teaching me how to be properly lead, something I hadn’t encountered before. It makes complete sense, the pony stands close to but behing the trainer whenever on lead.

She then took me to the lunge circle, or as she put it the whip circle (may be a British vs. American thing) and gave me a lesson on cart commands. I did pretty well, only forgot which was my left and which was my right once, but I remembered in time to correct it. After that it was to the slalom course where I did okay the first couple of tries, better after she showed me a steering trick.

An interesting thing happened while we were up there, and continued as we headed down to the steeple for a few minutes before I had to leave. We stopped being pony and trainer. As I was leaving I realised that we’d been peers for the last several minutes and on the one hand that bothered me a bit, because I wasn’t supposed to be acting like her peer in that situation, she was training me! It wasn’t until a fair bit later that I realised when it happened and why neither of us really noticed, well I can’t speak for her but I know it’s why I didn’t notice: Jaydana changed into tack to demonstrate something with the slalom and didn’t change back. She was a bitted pony now, the same as me. We were peers now so why shouldn’t we have interacted as peers.

We had a great conversation in IM, I really do enjoy talking with her, but all semblance of pony-trainer interaction was long gone by then. I’m wondering, in that sort of situation, if it would have been better for me to deliberately continue as the pony in training, endowing her with being the trainer even though we’d both lost that. I’m really not sure, but I am glad that it makes sense why it ended the way it did after all, we were just a couple of ponies parting ways…

No faults, 48 seconds, 1200

corvan — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:11:00 +0000

The pony prances around happily after getting a perfect score on the training steeple…. I earned some humility back though, went over to the NW Steeple which is 10 gates longer with much more difficult gates and spacing… Best so far is 2 faults, 88 seconds for a score of 1016… Related posts:My how things [...] Related posts: