FemWorld Estate

Stephen knelt before Ms. Reicher as she scanned his application papers. She

was Headmistress over FemWorld Estate, a very exclusive, very secret complex

dedicated to female dominance. Males applying to serve at the Estate were

all referrals from members, and had to be vouched for by at least two

resident Mistresses. Stephen had been proposed for acceptance by his

step-mother, and his two aunts, all long-standing members. Stephen had been

raised by all three women since early childhood. Now, just having turned

eighteen and legally an "adult", he knew of no other life than that of

serving women in whatever way they desired.

Ms. Reicher looked over the sheaf of papers at Stephen and spoke. "You know

Stephen, the only openings we have at present are in the stable." "And",

she continued, "those openings are for ponycart slaves. Your step-mother

and your aunts must have told you that there are some very 'special'

requirements for pony cart slaves. Are you quite sure you want to apply?"

Stephen only knew that his step-mother and aunts had proposed him for the

opening and fully expected him to be accepted. Having a son or nephew as an

Estate slave was a mark of high distinction among members and guests, and

Stephen knew that they wouldn't be in any mood to listen to excuses as to

why he failed to be accepted. "Please Mistress", Stephen begged, "Please

let me try; I just know I can be a good and obedient slave, just let me try."

Ms. Reicher considered a moment longer, and spoke again. "You realize, that

you will have to sign both a contract of pre-conditions agreeing to anything

we may do with you or to you, as well as a release form absolving us of any

liability whatever for anything that may actually happen to you?" In

essence, we cannot be held responsible for anything at all, do you fully

understand the implications of that?" She called his attention to the fact

that the documents he would have to sign would literally give FemWorld

Estate the power of life and death over him.

Stephen replied that his step-mother and aunts had informed him of the

contractual documents and release of liability, and he had no problems with

signing them, as long as it meant he was accepted and could report that fact

to them. "Hmmm, I wonder", mused Ms. Reicher, "But in any case. . . we will

see." She laid the documents out in front of him and gave him a pen.

Stephen signed them all without even looking at them. Ms. Reicher chuckled

softly and said that she was certainly glad he felt that way. Ponycart

slaves were somewhat hard to come by, and that was the reason the vacancies

had stayed open so long.

Now her friendly manner changed abruptly. "Now listen and listen well", she

barked. "From now on, you will speak only when ordered to speak, or when

granted permission to do so. You will instantly obey any order from any

woman on this Estate, and you will show the utmost respect and courtesy at

all times, is that perfectly clear?" Stephen meekly nodded his head in

agreement, but Ms. Reicher just smirked, "Why do I doubt that?" "It doesn't

matter now in any case, but I have the feeling you are going to be rather

unpleasantly surprised to find out just how unclear things have been to you."

She picked up her office phone and glanced at Stephen. "Oh, and don't worry

about notifying your step-mother and aunts about your acceptance, we'll take

care of that." She dialed an extension, and when it was answered said,

"Send a couple of clinical mistresses right over, we finally have a new

ponycart slave to be processed."

She hung up the phone and turned again to Stephen. "You may as well strip

out of those clothes right now. Ponycart slaves have to get used to the

fact that they are no more than beasts of burden, mere work animals. And,

mere work animals do not wear clothes while on this Estate."

Stephen obediently began to strip and when he was down to his briefs,

realized how strange it felt. As he was getting dressed that morning for

the trip to the Estate and this interview, his step-mother had removed his

locking cock and ball harness. Since the age of 12, he had worn one form or

another at all times. He had never had a conscious erection, and those

which started during sleep quickly became so uncomfortable that he woke up

every time. Similarly, he had never had a conscious ejaculation. "Wet

dreams" happened every couple of months or so, but he never remembered much

after he woke up. Now, for the first time in over six years, his penis was

free and unrestrained.

By the time he had stripped completely and resumed his kneeling position, he

could hear the noise of some sort of conveyance approaching down a corridor.

The door to Ms. Reicher's office opened and two white-uniformed women came

in, pushing a wheeled gurney. Ms. Reicher ordered Stephen get up onto it

and lay on his back. The two women immediately began fastening him down

with leather restraint straps on his wrists, arms, chest, and belly. One of

them reached under the gurney and took out some leg support stirrups and

inserted them into sockets on the gurney's frame. They lifted Stephen's

legs up into the support stirrups and fastened them with buckling straps.

He began to look about, obviously nervous and desiring to speak. "Go ahead

Stephen", Ms. Reicher laughed. "I assume you have a question or two, so ask

away."

"Please Ms. Reicher", Stephen gulped, "I have already promised to obey; why

must I be fastened down like this?"

"My dear boy", Ms. Reicher purred, "I'm surprised, no....I'm shocked!" "You

mean your step-mother or your aunts didn't inform you that all ponycart

slave applicants who are accepted to the position have to go through a minor

'modification procedure?' Why, I know I made it explicitly clear to them

last week when they approached me with your application for the position.

In fact, they all said it would make absolutely no difference to you, as it

was such a small, insignificant procedure."

"Wha-what kind of procedure?", Stephen stammered. "No one told me of any

modification procedure."

Ms. Reicher came over to the gurney and walked up between Stephen's

spread-open legs. She reached out and took hold of his dangling scrotum and

testicles and pulled them cruelly out from his body. "My dear Stephen, here

at FemWorld we only use geldings in our stable; these have simply got to go."

Stephen froze as her words sank in, and then he began to beg and plead that

this had never been discussed with him, and that he wanted to retract his

application. Ms. Reicher just fastened a ball gag onto him, silencing any

further protests. He began to struggle, but his efforts were in vain as the

gurney and the straps were strong and unyielding. Ms. Reicher continued to

laugh as she waved them out of her office, and the two women began wheeling

their struggling and now sobbing cargo down the hall to the clinic.

There, Stephen lost track of events. Everything blurred into a rush of

activity. He was injected with a tranquilizer to calm him down, and was

only vaguely aware of his pubic hair being shaved off. He felt the sharp

stings as he was injected with local anesthetic, but then everything faded

as the sedative took full effect. He was only dimly aware of the pulls and

tugs, and the occasional stab of burning pain as the cutting and stitching

took place down between his legs. Before he realized what was happening, he

was being wheeled again down the corridor.

They kept him moderately sedated during his healing, and his stitches were

removed a week later. By the tenth day, most of the swelling had

disappeared. His sedatives were withdrawn, and his world slowly came back

into focus. He was in a dormitory cell, lying on a cot. The cell was quite

small; just large enough for the cot, a sink, and a toilet. He was still

completely naked, and as he sat up on the edge of the cot, fragmented

memories of the past ten days began to flash through his mind. With a

sudden rush of horror, he now remembered Ms. Reicher's last words as he was

secured to the gurney.

He got unsteadily to his feet and looked down at himself. With sick dread,

he lifted his penis and saw the puckered mound of scar tissue that was all

that remained where his scrotum and testicles had been. Now his own rash

words came back to haunt him, those he had foolishly spoken to Ms. Reicher

when he agreed to anything if he could only be allowed to join FemWorld Estate.

He didn't have long to muse on his situation as that same afternoon Ms.

Linda, the stable mistress, arrived to transfer him there. Although he now

knew that as a stable "pony", he wouldn't be wearing any clothing, he still

felt self-conscious as completely naked and exposed, he followed Ms. Linda

from the clinic, across the entire compound, to the stables. There were a

few Estate mistresses about, but no one paid him any mind at all. Still, he

was grateful when they entered the low, stone building. The stables

contained the individual holding stalls the pony slaves would occupy during

the day, as well as the sleeping cells, training areas, and washing facilities.

For the first month, Ms. Linda kept him on a non-strenuous program of

stretching exercises and walking to limber up his joints and ligaments.

Every other morning, she would have Stephen get up on a low table and lean

over on his elbows and knees. She would sit on a stool behind him and place

a plastic bowl under his dangling penis. Then she would spread oil over her

hands from a squeeze bottle, reach under him, grasp his penis in both hands,

and begin to milk it with firm downward stripping strokes. She told him

that it was necessary to keep him as empty as possible of any remaining

semen still present in his system, as this would lower his male hormone

level as rapidly as possible.

These were the first conscious erections and ejaculations Stephen had ever

experienced in his life, and the first time she emptied him, he almost

collapsed in spasms of ecstasy. It didn't last long however; he was rapidly

losing his ability to erect, and his ejaculations were becoming smaller and

smaller. By the end of the month, Stephen's penis no longer thickened or

lengthened at all, and it took Ms. Linda considerable time and effort just

to coax out a slow oozing of clear fluid. She told him that he was now

"cleaned out", and that was the end of Stephen's short "sex life", such as

it was.

Over the next month, Ms. Linda worked with him every day to get him ready

for the pony carts. She began with a program of calisthenics and jogging to

get him in shape to pull a cart. After calisthenics, she followed him in

her electric golf cart as he jogged and ran the many paths and lanes that

made up the ponycart trails on the Estate. Then she started him on wearing

control reins and harnesses for longer and longer periods of time, and

introduced him to the "ponytail" that was traditional for all ponycart

slaves. Ponytails were made of nylon or rayon strands. They were long,

full, and flowing, and colored in pastel tints. One end was gathered

tightly together into a metal socket which fitted into the end of an anal

plug.

Ms. Linda showed him that the plugs were inflatable, and once inserted and

pumped up, were nearly impossible to expel. She selected a small sized plug

and lubed it with K-Y jelly. She ordered him to bend over and to try not to

"fight it", but to slightly push against it as she inserted the tapered tip

of the plug in his trembling anus. After overcoming the initial resistance

of his tight sphincter, it suddenly slid right in. As she inflated it with

a squeeze-bulb, Stephen knew it would be a long, long time before he would

ever get used to it.

With the plug inflated, Ms. Linda instructed him to walk around in the

stable. To Stephen, it felt just like he had to defecate, and he was in

moderate distress whenever he moved. The sensations were most

uncomfortable, and he wondered if he would ever get used to them. Ms. Linda

had brought in a full length mirror and told him it would help in teaching

him correct poise and posture. She took one of the long tails and inserted

its end into the socket in the back of his anal plug, and got him harnessed

up. She stood behind him, and by pulling one way or the other, signaled

which way she wanted him to go. Around and around the stables they went,

Stephen responding to right, left, whoa, back, and "giddap!". Ms. Linda

carried a riding crop which she used on his buttocks to emphasize a command,

or when he incorrectly responded.

She stopped him in front of the mirror and had him turn sideways so he could

see himself. It felt strange to look into the mirror and see a young man

with an otherwise smooth, hairless body, but with a great, bushy, flowing

tail extending out and down from between his buttocks. He also noted that

his penis no longer arched strongly out and downward in a thick rounded

curve as it had when he still possessed virile young testicles. Now a thin,

dangling dead weight, it limply drooped straight down in front of the

puckered mound of scar tissue where his scrotum once had been.

The reins harness which buckled on his head also included a one-way air

valve gag which permitted inhaling, but which required Stephen to exhale

through his nose. This made it impossible to speak, or request permission

to speak. Stephen had to "stomp" his right foot three times to request that

the valve be opened for speech. He had been warned not to use the signal

unless it was a true emergency; any trivial use would bring swift, severe

punishment.

After four weeks of training and conditioning, Ms. Linda decided it was time

to introduce Stephen to the ponycarts. Carts superficially resembled those

that harness racers rode, but had a comfortable seat with a back and a

sunroof. Most ponycarts were single-seaters, but there were a few available

for multiple riders. The carts had two drawbars which the ponyslave grasped

rickshaw-style in order to pull the conveyance. As a safety feature, both

drawbars were fitted with locking manacles which were attached to the

ponyslave's wrists. Even if he should accidentally let go of the drawbars,

the short manacle chains would prevent the cart's drawbars from falling

fully to the ground.

Ms. Linda got Stephen harnessed, inserted his ponytail plug and inflated it,

and backed him into position between the ponycart drawbars. She locked his

wrists to the bars and then got a pair of blinders that she attached to his

head harness. She told him that since it was his first time out with a

cart, the blinders would minimize any visual distractions so he could fully

concentrate on his gait, poise, and posture, and on her commands and reins

signals.

"You must understand", she said, "You will eventually be made available to

serve visiting mistresses from all over when they come to the Estate, as

well as the resident mistresses already here." "As such, you must maintain

the highest order of appearance." "You must learn not to break stride

unless signaled by the mistress, and you must never let yourself be

distracted by anything that goes on around you."

She went to a wall cabinet and removed a device, and came back to where

Stephen obediently waited. She showed it to him, and he saw a small box of

some sort, a length of wire or cord, and a small round metal band with a

wire socket. Ms. Linda explained that it was an electric shock generator,

and should she press the button on the control box, an extremely powerful

electric current would be sent through the wire to the metal band.

She smiled and said, "By now, I'm sure you've guessed where the band goes."

She reached down and grasped Stephen's skinny limp penis, which since his

gelding, had shrunk considerably. She slipped the loose tip of his foreskin

through the metal band, then grasped it and used it to pull the rest of his

penis through. She worked the small band down until it slipped over the

ridge of the glans. It was a snug fit, and the flesh on both sides of the

band bulged up when it was in place. She nodded to herself, satisfied that

the band would not slip off accidentally, and released the limp organ.

She connected the wire from the box to the socket on the band, and without

warning, pressed the button. Stephen was instantly knocked to his knees by

the most intense pain he had ever experienced. Had his harness not

contained a gag, he would have been screaming uncontrollably. Ms. Linda

kept the button depressed a few seconds more and then released it. Stephen

had almost blacked out, and it took him a few minutes to recuperate. Ms.

Linda ordered him to stand and then told him, "That's just a taste of what

you'll get if you screw up out there and embarrass me. I'll be using the

buggy whip as usual, but if you don't pay attention and give me your best,

I'll fry that useless little worm of yours right off....do you understand?"

Stephen rapidly nodded his head to show that he understood perfectly, and

Ms. Linda mounted the ponycart. She signaled for a right turn, and flicked

the reins to indicate a medium trot. It was a bright summer day, and the

sun gleamed off the bright paintwork and chrome trim of the ponycart.

Stephen was fit and tanned by now, and looked resplendent in his shiny black

harness. His long flowing ponytail, colored pastel orange, streamed out

behind him as they went down the cart path by the main house.

By now, Stephen was fairly used to the anal plug simply being in place, but

the constant friction of having to trot for extended distances still caused

him problems. With every bouncing step, it rubbed and bumped against his

prostate gland, and even though he was now a gelding, this still caused his

penis to semi-erect. Ms. Linda said that it would just be a matter of a

little more time for that problem to take care of itself. Another problem

was that the constant rubbing and pressing expressed what little prostate

seminal fluids he still produced.

As he trotted, long glistening strands of clear "pre-cum" oozed and dripped

from the puckered opening of his foreskin. By the time Ms. Linda turned him

around to return to the stables, the fronts of his thighs were criss-crossed

with shining threads of the sticky liquid oozing from his half-erect cock,

which bobbed up and down, and from side-to-side as he trotted along.

When they got back to the stables, Ms. Linda unharnessed him and released

his wrist manacles. Glancing down at the mess on his thighs, she tossed him

a towel and told him to wipe himself off. As he did, she told him that in

her experience, time would also take care of that problem; his lack of male

hormone would eventually cause his prostate as well as his penis to atrophy.

"In another few months, your prostate will almost cease producing fluid, and

it will have shrunk enough so that your ponytail plug won't press against it

so tightly when you trot. That will greatly reduce the amount of

stimulation it receives, and in turn will also do away with your tendency to

partially erect."

She unplugged the wire from his penis band, and then worked the band down

and off the limp organ. Then she removed his ponytail from the plug,

deflated it, and had him remove it. She instructed him to wash it

thoroughly as usual. "All in all", she said, "It was a good first outing.

I believe you will do well as our ponycart slave, and I'm going to so inform

Ms. Reicher."

"we will continue to build your stamina and work on your poise and posture

with twice daily excursions. By the time you're ready for guest mistresses,

I'm confident your problems with erections and oozing will have disappeared

completely. In fact, since it's been quite some time since you were gelded,

I'm fairly sure that prostate stimulation is just about the only way you can

still get any kind of erection. Come here, I want to check you out."

Stephen stood before her as she bent down on one knee. She grasped his

penis and began to pump and stroke the flaccid organ. After two minutes of

Ms. Linda's vigorous ministrations, Stephen's penis remained completely

limp. "I thought so", Ms. Linda said with satisfaction. "As soon as your

prostate fully atrophies, you should have no further problems in that area."

Stephen had mixed feelings; he felt elated that his erection problems seemed

close to an end, but he still felt a small measure of personal loss, and

remembered wistfully those few exciting weeks when he had been able to erect

and ejaculate.

The next day, she had Stephen stand before her as she used a needle and cork

to pierce the bottom lip of his foreskin. She inserted a small gold ring

through the piercing and epoxy-welded the ends together. She knew he was

curious as to its purpose, but just told him, "You'll see what its for in

good time."

So it went for the next couple of months until the Estate was scheduled to

host a convention of visiting mistresses. One more slave had finally been

recruited for ponycart service, but he would not be ready in time as he had

been castrated only last week. It would fall to Stephen to fulfill the

demands of those mistresses who would avail themselves of ponycart services.

With the convention only a week away, Ms. Reicher herself came out to

evaluate him.

Ms. Linda got him prepared and then presented him to Ms. Reicher for

inspection. She looked him over and nodded her approval, but said to Ms.

Linda that because he was still new to her, he should be fitted with the

penis shock band for this outing. Stephen's heart sunk within him. Not

since that terrible first day had he experienced the agony that box had

given him. Indeed, he had resolved to himself there and then that he would

be perfection itself in his performance, so as to never incur such pain again.

He trembled in fear as Ms. Linda stretched out his penis, slid the cold

metal band on, and connected the wire to the box. Then he was manacled to

the drawbars and braced himself as Ms. Reicher climbed aboard the Ponycart.

Then came the flick of the buggy whip across his buttocks and they were off.

His training and experience took over as the reins signaled the turns,

slow-downs, stops, starts, and speed-ups. Occasionally, the buggy whip

flicked across his left or right buttock to emphasize a turn or command, but

it was no more than a light sting.

Stephen had been apprehensive that he might still shame himself by partially

erecting or leaking from his penis, but after the first half mile, he

happily realized that neither was going to occur. He was now so used to his

anal ponytail plug that he scarcely noticed it, or the sensations it

produced anymore. With a new, odd sense of pride he realized his penis

would forevermore remain completely limp, even as it bounced and flopped as

he ran.

His thighs stayed clean and dry, without any hint of a smear of sticky

fluid. When at last they pulled back up at the stable, he felt elated when

Ms. Reicher told Ms. Linda that Stephen was one of the best new ponycart

slaves she had ever used, and that she was very pleased with his appearance

and performance. She said that from this day on, he would no longer be

known by his old human name of Stephen, but by his new pony name of Stepper.

Later that day, after he had been unharnessed and tethered in his stall, Ms.

Linda came in with a plaque with his new name on it, and nailed it up over

his stall entrance. Then she came over to him and opened a small box she

took from the pocket of her riding pants. In it was a small silver bell

which she clipped and epoxied to the small gold ring in his foreskin. She

told him, "As long as that thing flops and bounces around like it does, we

might as well get some music out of it." She took his neck tether off and

ordered him to trot around the stable floor. As he did, the bell tinkled

rhythmically as his penis bobbed to and fro.

Ponycart slaves were by no means the only permanent slaves at the Estate.

There were groundskeepers and maintenance slaves, domestic slaves such as

cooks and housekeepers, as well as specialized personal services slaves.

For the most part slaves other than ponycart slaves were still intact males,

but the "specialized personal services" slaves shared the same condition as

ponycart slaves, and even more so. The Estate had a combined physical

therapy and pleasure spa. All slaves working in those areas were, at a

minimum, castrated as stepper was. Women using those facilities were most

often nude, and it had been found that non-eunuch slaves simply could not

keep their minds on services such as massage, bath attendance, or exercise

assistance without frequent, almost constant erections.

There were also a few slaves selected for the pleasure spa who could be used

by mistresses for either oral service, or for penile service. These slaves

had been selected for their larger than usual penises, but were castrated as

the others were. Then, their penises were fitted with erection prostheses.

Inflatable cylinders were surgically implanted in the shafts. These were

connected by small tubes to testicle-shaped fluid pumps installed in their

now empty scrotums. Should a mistress desire the slave to have an erection,

she merely had to grasp his scrotum and squeeze one of the pump "testicles."

One side would erect the penis, the other side would pump it down; she could

make it as large and firm as she desired, and keep it that way for as long

as she desired. The slave was still a eunuch and had long since lost the

capability for sexual sensations or to ejaculate. Such a slave felt nothing

as he was ridden by a mistress; he had simply become a living dildo solely

for her pleasure

Then, the day of the convention was upon them. Ms. Linda inspected Stepper

to make sure his entire body was shaved smooth and clean. He could do most

of it himself, but Ms. Linda had to help with parts of his back and

buttocks. It was now summer, and Stepper had a golden brown, all-over tan.

As she readied him for the day, Ms. Linda got out a bottle of tanning oil

and began to apply it. Soon, his back, arms, and chest glistened with the

sheen of rubbed-in oil, and she moved down to his buttocks and legs. She

noted with satisfaction that his penis did not so much as twitch as she

massaged oil into it also. Stepper had a very tightly regulated daily

schedule. He ate, drank, urinated, and defecated at the same times every

day. Once his ponytail plug was inserted, Ms. Linda knew he shouldn't have

to have it removed before evening.

The tail chosen for today was a pale creamy gold, which nicely set off

Stepper's deep tan. Guest mistresses were expected within the hour, but Ms.

Linda decided to wait before getting him fully harnessed up and manacled to

the ponycart. Although now thoroughly trained and prepared, Stepper was

still nervous. He was quite used to Ms. Linda, but the thought of so many

strange women observing and controlling him was very unsettling. Then, Ms.

Linda heard the first guests coming, and said, "This is it Stepper, make us

proud."

Suddenly, a middle-aged woman came into the stables. Stepper was prepared

for that, but not for the very pretty young girl who followed the woman in.

To Stepper, she looked to be no more that 15 or 16 years old. The woman

came up to Ms. Linda and introduced herself. "My name is Ms. Karen, and

this is my daughter Ms. Ellen."

Ms. Linda introduced herself and they all talked for a while. She made sure

that the two were familiar with ponycarts and with handling ponyslaves.

Then, she brought the two over to Stepper. "This is Stepper, and he will be

your cart pony today. He's fully trained and quite obedient, and I don't

think you will have the slightest problem with him." With nervous

embarrassment, Stepper watched as the girl came closer to have a better look

at him. Suddenly, she turned to Ms. Karen and said, "Look mother, he

doesn't have any testicles!" She was pointing to his groin, and Ms. Linda

said, "Yes, it's our strict policy that all ponycart slaves must be

geldings." As she spoke, Ms. Linda used her riding crop to lift Stepper's

limp penis up so the two could see the puckered scar where his scrotum once

was. His penis bell tinkled musically as she let his penis drop, and she

began to get him prepared for the cart.

In only a few moments, he was harnessed and manacled-in, and the two

passengers got into the cart. Then, with a flick of her whip and a twitch

of his tail, they were off. Both the woman and her daughter delighted in

their tour of the Estate grounds and made mental notes to visit the

mini-golf course, the swimming pool pavilion, and the tennis courts.

Stepper was in excellent condition and the muscles of his tanned and oiled

body flashed in the sun as he ran on. Depending on the speed demanded by

the woman, his penis bell merely tinkled as he jogged, or it beat out a

frantic staccato when he was put into a full gallop. In the ensuing days,

all the visiting mistresses and their guests became familiar with the sound

of his bell, which announced his imminent arrival on the path circuit.

By the end of the week, it was a good thing that Ms. Linda had gotten him

into such superb condition. He was used literally every day, all day. It

was also a good thing that Estate policy required all ponycart slaves to be

geldings. Some of the mistresses were Lesbians and had brought their female

partners or slaves with them. Stepper saw everything as they swam nude, and

even engaged in open sex. Most of them paid him no more attention than they

would have to a real pony. But, none of them would have appreciated it much

if their "pony" suddenly sported an erection either. Some of these

mistresses wielded pretty mean whip arms, and for once, Stepper was actually

thankful that Ms. Reicher had had him gelded.

Ms. Reicher received many, many compliments on Stepper before the convention

ended, and almost as many offers to buy him. He nearly panicked the first

time a woman inspected him; looked at his teeth, felt his arms and legs, and

even lifted his penis to inspect his scar before offering a purchase price.

With a rush of relief, he heard Ms. Reicher say to all of them that he was

not for sale. Still, he found himself holding his breath every time the

embarrassing procedure repeated itself.

After the convention was over, another ponycart slave was recruited. Like

Stepper, it was a considerable length of time from when he was initially

gelded, to when he was fully trained and conditioned. The new ponycart

slave was named Pacer, and both he and Stepper became permanent fixtures at

the Estate. Because the Estate was located in a southwestern state, it was

sunny and warm most of the year. In the few chilly months of winter,

Stepper and Pacer were moved into the main house to provide domestic chores

and services. In late March, they were moved back out to the stables and

the yearly cycle began once more. Year by year, mistresses came, visited,

and departed, and it seemed that the high point of everyone's visit was to

ride a ponycart around and around the Estate.