A Guide To Pony Play BDSM: Gear, Training Exercises, And Bondage

Written By: Massimo Jenkins | November 13, 2025

Table Of Content

1) What Is Pony Play?

The pony play fetish definitely belongs to the category of kinks that isn’t for everybody. Nevertheless, it has been around for quite some time and has even gained popularity since the 2000s. In my humble opinion a very interesting fetish with endless possibilities in regards to training, activities, and tack (pony gear).

In pony play the submissive partner usually takes on the role of a pony while the dominant partner acts as their trainer or owner. While some ponies keep their human persona, others don’t. We will introduce you to tack, activities such as training, grooming, cart pulling, riding, and more.

2) What's To Like About Pony Play BDSM?

As with many fetishes, the aspect of submission and giving up control can feel very freeing, stress-relieving, and safe. The feeling of safety comes from the required trust and communication between both partners.

Others identify or envy the wild but somewhat safe life a horse can have; Being able to run, and train, but still having someone who takes care of their needs such as grooming, combing their fur, or petting.

Committed ponies participate in fetish communities and go to events where they show off their expensive and aesthetic tack or participate in competitions.

3) Pony Play Tack Options

To many ponies, their tack (pony gear) is sacred and essential. It’s part of their pony being and they take great pride in it. Since a lot of the tack is made from leather and additionally quite complex, the costs can become very high.

Apart from the incredible aesthetics, many ponies need tack to get into the right mindset, also called pony space.

What gear a specific pony buys depends on the activities the pony prefers. Show ponies for example pay attention to the aesthetics, while cart ponies might opt for functionality. Here is a brief overview:

Foot hooves – Boots that have a hoove aesthetic. But be careful with these, as they can be slippery.
Hand hooves – Usually attached to gloves.
Wraps – Real horses use these for protection. In pony play, they add to the aesthetic.
Tails – Are either attached around the waist or as an anal plug.
Masks – Often designed as a horse head with a mane.
Bits – Something a pony bites on. Often great to get into pony space.
Halter – A harness that goes onto the head. Used to lead and tie up the pony.
Reins – Ropes that help guide the pony in the wanted direction.
Bridle – Describes the halter + reins.
Blinders – Often part of a bridle. It restricts the view, which is a great way to assert dominance.
Riding gear – For riding ponies. Might be functional or simply aesthetic.
Harnesses – Used for pulling carts or just aesthetics.
Bodysuits – Often made of leather or rubber.
Collar (Discover options here)– Popular for sub-dom dynamics. Great to attach a leash.
Cart – Pony pulls their owner or trainer in one of these.
Whip, cane, or crop – Used to punish a pony or when signaling to start walking.
Hobbles – Restrain the pony’s legs together. Are used as punishment when the pony kicks a lot.

4) Pony Play Activity Ideas

As mentioned earlier, there are endless pony play activities to do. Not every activity proposed below will be of interest to you. Therefore discuss these with your partner and try out the ones that both of you are comfortable doing.

Grooming – This can be quite intimate. At first, make sure to restrain your pony to a stable object. The trainer will then hoses down the pony with water and scrub their skin with a brush. Next, dry them off and comb their hair/ mane.

Showing Off – Show ponies take great pride in their tack and like to show it off, for example during community events or fetish parties.

Dressage – Dressage ponies are usually well-groomed and wear aesthetic tack. What sets them apart from show ponies is their training. They can usually perform gaits such as walk, trot, or canter (more later).

Breeding – As the name would suggest, breeding ponies have their purpose in procreating. They only have sex with other ponies and not with their trainer.

Sexual Pleasure – Pleasure ponies are the contrast to breeding ponies. They serve (consent required) their masters through submission and sex.

Cart Pulling – Cart ponies usually dress up in more functional gear, that easily attaches and detaches to a cart. Ponies are either two-legged or four-legged, although being two-legged is considerably easier. As carts can be expensive and quite big, some owners prefer walking behind the pony, controlling them via reins and whips.

Riding – Riding ponies usually wear a saddle for the owner to sit on. During riding it is crucial that the dominant sitting on the pony always supports their own weight with their legs, as a human back is not made for heavy loads.

Events – Eventing ponies usually compete against other ponies in jumping courses, dressage, or races.

5) How The Pony Communicates

If there is actually something wrong, the pony must use the safeword or communicate with words.

Otherwise, the horse might stamp their hooves on the floor to indicate that something is wrong or that they are upset. Neighing on the other hand can be used as a positive signal.

6) Pony Play Bondage

A lot of pony players enjoy the sensation of being restrained one way or another. To make the scenario more fun, invent a reason why your pony needs to be restrained. Is it punishment? For grooming purposes? Be creative! Here are a couple of ideas for pony play bondage:

Restrain your pony to a post with their hands behind the back to safely check their hooves or foot wraps.
Wearing a full-body leather or rubber suit with a harness on top can feel quite restricting and is very common in the pony play BDSM scene.
If your pony is being wild and kicking out a lot, use a hobble to restrain their legs together.
Grooming or a medical check-up could be a reason to restrain your pony. Use ropes to tie them up.
A pleasure pony might enjoy being restrained to fully serve their dominant master

Important – communication and consent are essential not only to a great experience but also to a trusting relationship with your partner.

7) Pony Play BDSM, Punishments, And Rewards

Training is so much fun because you can try so many different things while including BDSM or a D/s dynamic. The pony might do this through obeying and disobeying, while the trainer gets to praise or punish their pony.

Always discuss punishments and rewards beforehand. Some subs love to be rewarded with rough sex and impact play while others prefer it as punishment.

Pony play-themed rewards might be an apple, a carrot, or a sugar cube. Verbal praises such as “good pony/girl/boy” go a loooong way. The same goes for negative criticism such as “bad pony/girl/boy” or “wrong”. A hands-on punishment would be a blow with a whip, crop, or cane. But you could get as creative as grooming your pony with cold water instead of warm one. They’ll hate it, trust me!

8) Pony Play Training

Some ponies are naturals and perfect every exercise straight away. If that’s you consider purposefully making mistakes or being disobedient to infuriate your owner and to receive that sweet punishment.

The following exercises start easy and progressively get more difficult.

Leading – The trainer leads their pony with the help of a rein attached to their collar or bridal. Meanwhile, the pony is expected to leave sufficient space between the trainer and the pony. Only when the pony starts to disobey, should the owner pull the pony closer and maybe even give them a blow with the whip. (target the ass or legs)

Simple Tie – Tie your pony to a post and have them adopt the correct posture; straight back, head held up, looking straight ahead with the legs shoulder wide apart below their body. Should the trainer not be satisfied with a certain body part they may use a crop to lightly slap that part and indicate a mistake.

Standing Still – Lead the pony to a post and say “stay”. Your pony is supposed to take on the correct position and stay put. Walk away and see if your pony follows you. If they do, express your disappointment and repeat the exercise again.

Cross Tie – Lead your pony to the middle of two posts, rings, or anything else to which you can attach a rope. Your pony should take on the correct posture by itself. If not, remind him with a light strike on their butt. Attach both ropes to each side of the halter and the corresponding post. The pony should be standing still.

Grooming – (Cross) tie your pony to a post. Start by scrubbing and washing your pony’s fur. Dry them off and comb their hair. If they’ve been good, reward them by petting them.

Medical Exam – After cross-tying or otherwise restraining them you may begin with the full body inspection. And yes, this could include genitalia and anus if you are both up for it. To make it more fun, you might want to test their reflexes by flogging their ass or thighs.

Communication Via Reins

The trainer uses this technique when being pulled in a cart or walking behind their pony. They use the reins to communicate in which direction their pony ought to go. The basic requirement is obviously that your pony is wearing a bit and bridle to which the trainer attaches the reins.

Default position – the trainer is behind the pony with a slight pull on the reins.

Start walking – say “walk on” (or cluck your tongue) and give them a light strike with your whip while releasing just a bit of pressure from the reins.

Stop – say “whoa” and steadily increase the pull on the reins. When stopped release the pressure to the default one.

5 Gaits Of A Pony

The five gaits to train your pony are walk, trot, canter, gallop, and back. These will be quite difficult to do for four-legged ponies as it does require a lot of coordination. For example, during walking one leg is in the air at all times, while in trot a diagonal pair of legs has to be in the air at all times.

Two-legged ponies will have it slightly easier as they would simply increase the speed. To add more complexity to the trott the two-legged pony could perform a high-step walk, which simply means that the legs reach a 90° angle.

Longeing – Your pony walks or trots in circles around you. Attach a rope to one side of the pony’s bridle and hold the other end in your hand. Start with a short distance between you and your pony and then increase it step-by-step.

We hope we could familiarize you with the exotic pony fetish and its fetish world. Remember, you don’t need a ton of gear to be a pony. Start with less and build up your collection over time.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Pony Play in BDSM?

Pony play is a BDSM roleplay fetish where one partner takes on the role of a pony (the “pony”) while the other becomes the trainer or owner. It can include tack (gear), training, grooming, communication rituals, and sometimes sexual elements depending on consent.

What gear is used in Pony Play?

Common pony play tack includes bridles, bits, reins, hoof boots, saddles, harnesses, blindfolds, and decorative accessories. Some ponies focus on aesthetics (show ponies), while others choose functional gear for cart pulling or riding.

What activities can you do in Pony Play?

Popular activities include grooming, dressage training, showing off at events, cart pulling, riding, longeing, medical exams, and obedience exercises like leading, standing still, or cross-tying. Each activity helps build trust, structure, and dynamics between pony and trainer.