SLPonyplay - where the ponies meet - your 'hoofbook' for SecondLife ponies

Now I do not intend to try to furnish any answers here for the simple reason that as far as I am concerned Ponyplay is whatever two folk choose it to be.  However many folk have many different ideas about what Ponyplay SHOULD be.

So, I ask "Just what IS Ponyplay" and perhaps more germanely here, what is SL ponyplay?

I await responses.

Pony Ayesha

I guess most people would agree on your statement that ponyplay "is whatever two folk choose it to be". You might have to replace "two" with "one". Also I think noone would refer to ponyplay without at least some idea of pony-girls or pony-boys being dressed up as ponies and behaving in some way like an animal. Beyond this level answers will of course differ.

You are asking specificly for SL-ponyplay and I agree the distinction is necessary. Restrictions are an essential part and they work differently in SL/RL. For instance physical restrictions feel very different, being able to log off has it's effect too and the list certainly doesn't end here. But also unlike RL in SL you can add skills you couldn't add RL. The notion of jumping over high obstacles, or pulling heavy carts in RL, possibly even while wearing ultra-high heeled ponyboots is a fancyful idea but otherwise leaves me with a gentle smile only. Real transformations may work on the scale of reality provided by SL, but certainly are a virtual thing. Still the basic idea of making/being one person to look and act in some way like a pony is the same. We will however choose from all the available but partially different options to create our version of pony-play.

Many people will of course end up with diverse ideas about what ponyplay is. SL has accordingly has a variety of ponyplay-stables which do differ in their aims and concepts. I think this diversity is a good thing to have and deserves support as long as we all allow for some shared basis to form something that is bigger than a single stable or sim.
I thus think that being respectful implies making a good effort to honour a particular stable's idea of pony-play. Visiting stables that put an emphasis on strict D/s can expect visitors to have their ponies leashed, bridled, not chatting maybe even ask ponies not to visit on their own in non-human shape. Places that concentrate on pony-sports can expect their visitors to be informed about good practices and behaviour, e.g. not entering their sim being heavily loaded with scripted attachments. Places that have a pronounced social attitude mustn't be overly happy about ponies that stand still, not being able to talk nor IM and no owner being close by. I think by stressing differences to some extend we can make the entire experience much more colourful.

There is some common basis shared between all places and we should respect that too. It is of great value to have activity across sims. However I dare to say that most trainers already now will be able to direct a trained pony from any other stable and all trained ponies will be able to respond fairly well to commands given by an informed trainer. This (luckily ;-) ) might not always work out perfectly from the start but gives plenty of opportunity for entertaining pony-play.

I am not that naive to think all is well. There have been unpleasant disputes about what to do and what not to do. However there is no concept and no understanding without people willing to support the idea of a common SL-ponyplay. And sometimes I am afraid this is the problem and not the question of "just what IS ponyplay".

Yours
Cassa

PS.: I am not entirely sure what the question "Just what IS ponyplay?" is aimed at. If this is a survey, make a tick mark at "D/s play (including owner chosen restrictions) in a failry realistic setting" for my person ;-).