When I was at school all the girls in class either had a pony or wanted one. Many of them worked for peanuts at a local horse farm on Saturdays and in their holidays and competition for these jobs was fierce.

One day I was in science class with a girl called Laura who had a job at this particular farm and asked about it. She said the best bit was exercising the horses but that mostly the older girls and women did this. If she had a turn, it was usually the less biddable horses that weren’t so much fun.

I asked what did she do then, use a whip or something? I had no idea about this stuff and was just making conversation. She gasped and said something like, “God no, if I did that she would use the crop on me.”

This was more my interest even then and I asked if they would really do that.

Laura muttered something like, “Sometimes,” and quickly changed the subject.

As it happened a friend of mine’s older sister, Janet, worked at the farm, she was 18 or so at the time I think, so I asked her. I was told they were pretty strict and I might be surprised what went on.

Of course my imagination worked over time for years, but I never found out much more than that until much later.

Then a few months ago I got an email from Kerry complimenting the blog and saying it was good it came back. It is always nice when women say such things. She asked about horse related stories and told me a short anecdote.

She said that when she left school she had worked as a stable girl and that the owner was given to swatting and swiping girls across their bums if they were lazy or late. “It must have been hard to resist all those tight bottoms in jodhpurs.”

She said “one day I entered one of the stables to get a broom and shovel to use to clean out another stall and walked in on the owner with one of the young women across her knee getting a spanking on the bare bum.”

Kerry made a swift exit but thinks the girl had been cruel or impatient with one of the horses.

She hinted at other such stories but hasn’t got back to me.