Back to the Riding School

I was surprised when my editor called me into his office. He'd received a letter inviting me back to Pieter van Eyck's riding school to attend a dressage riding practice and asked if I would like to interview his star pupil who had recently been chosen to represent her country. Obviously I made a good impression, he said.

So there I was once more sitting in his comfortable office. My appointment was for 11.00. I was gazing at the photos on the wall again, some new ones since last time. The girls all seemed
so proud and posed with obvious pleasure for the camera, I jumped as Pieter van Eyck touched me on the shoulder and said Ms. Robbins lovely to see you again, thank you for coming and went on to say "I was slightly disappointed that you didn't take me up on my offer of a riding lesson, perhaps after the interview".

I know I must have gone quite red, he smiled but before I could answer, there was a knock on the door and a beautiful blonde haired girl arrived, she must have been around 22, 'Ah Joanne, come in and meet Ms Robbins, Ms Robbins this is Joanne our star pupil, it is a great honour for our school that she has been chosen to represent her country. Joanne, take Ms Robbins to the practice ring and I'll join you in a few minutes.'' She was strikingly attractive and looked very familiar to me but I couldn't think from where, then it dawned on me, she was the girl in two of the wall photos, one on the horse and one with her hands chained behind her back.

The dressage practice was excellent, so elegant the girls looked in the outfits astride their horses, from my meagre knowledge I could see why Joanne had been chosen, she was magnificent.

After the practice we sat down in Mr. Van Eyck's office for the interview.

Joanne you must be very proud to be chosen to present your country.
Oh yes, I can't tell you how much, it's a great honour. I've worked very hard for this. My parents are over the moon. They will of course be there to watch.

You were very good out there, very precise, elegant. I suppose it takes a lot of practice to get it so precise and make it look so easy.
Thank you, that's very kind of you to say so. It is hard work, Sir is very strict about practice, he won't have any of us slacking. We practice for 6 hours a day,5 days a week. Not always with the horses, we do indoor work as well. We are each in charge of our own horses,mucking out their stables, exercising and grooming them.

I notice you say Sir, not Mr. Van Eyck?
Sir is what we girls are required to call him.

Have you been riding for long?

Yes, I've been riding since the age of four, my parents said I took to it straight away. They are are both excellent riders. Sir says I'm a natural in the saddle.

I've heard that there’s a huge waiting list to join the school.
The name of the school is extremely well respected, we have girls from Europe, even as far away as the USA and Canada waiting to join us.

What do you put it down to?

Sir of course, if it wasn't for him, the school wouldn't have the name it has. His standards are second to none, excellent and he expects nothing less from us . He won't have it any other way. We all have pride in what we do. Discipline, Discipline, that's his motto.

Last time I visited I asked Mr. Van Eyck about certain rumours I'd heard to do with you girls here, about....

But before I could go on, Joanne answered

Ha Ha, we've heard all sorts of rumours but I can assure you Ms Robbins, there's nothing going on at this school except riding and lots of hard work and self discipline. Sir keeps very tight discipline.

Discipline, yes, I want to ask you about that. Mr.Van Eyck also said last time I visited that if a girl breaks the rules, he umm, has to discipline them, I took it that the girls accepted it, am I correct in my thinking?
Oh yes, we all know before we join the school what to expect, we are told the rules and if any are broken or any of us miss a practice or are caught wearing the wrong riding attire he disciplines us by spanking us and I can tell you that girl doesn't miss a practice lesson again. Sir is very respectful of us in spite of his strict attention to discipline, he will normally spank us with either the crop or cane and we are always fully clothed, nothing sexual..

How do you girls feel about that, surely it's wrong and some of the girls must be under eighteen, do their parents know their daughters get disciplined in this way?
We come here because it is the best riding school, it is for high achievers, it gets results and yes it has it's rules. If we do something wrong we're punished for it, simple as that, we see nothing wrong in that. Yes some of the girls are under eighteen, though most are in their mid twenties and a few into their thirties and forties though you wouldn't think it, and yes certainly their parents know, or at least the ones I've talked with, and they agree with the rules. Sir wouldn't take them into the school if they didn't agree. I even know that some parents have been present when their daughters have been disciplined.

I felt slightly awkward asking the next question but I couldn't help myself, I was intrigued.

The photo over there on the wall, the girl with her wrists tied is you, isn't it? What had you done?
She blushed slightly. Yes it's me. I had been punished for an offence and sir said a photo serves as a reminder and a warning against further infractions. You asked me what I'd done but I don't want to go into that, suffice it to say I'd breached the rules, unfortunately it was the second time in a relatively short period and Sir said I had to be caned which I was. The reason my wrists are tied was to make me keep my hands from straying........she seemed uneasy now......... because anything sexual attached to, or associated with, punishment isn't allowed.

I thought you said there was nothing going on, you know, sexually I mean.
There isn't, not in the Sunday papers sense of 'sexual goings on', really, it isn't allowed. But sometimes some of the girls get feelings, I think quite a few of them do, me included, and the punishments can make them worse. Which can lead to more punishment if they act improperly, which I did.

I was totally taken aback by her frankness, I felt I was at last starting to get to the bottom (no pun intended) of Pieter van Eyck's riding school but before I could ask anything else Mr van Eyck entered the room.

''I hope Joanne has answered your questions honestly, Ms. Robbins.''

''Oh yes, Joanne has been very open.''

''Good,'' Pieter van Eyck said, ''now perhaps we can persuade you to take a riding lesson with me.''

I made my excuses, strict editor keeping me on a leash (Oh god wish I hadn't said that), fumbled to get my coat, Mr van Eyck helped me on with it, I said I'd call and make an appointment soon (what am I saying), Joanne nodded and smiled approvingly. I left.

Driving out of the school along the tree-lined driveway I felt as if I was escaping something and losing something at the same time, I was almost light headed at the thought of returning for a lesson, I flushed and stretched to catch my face in the rear view mirror, I couldn't hide it from

myself, I was excited at the prospect.

I enjoyed writing these interview. I'm toying with the idea of her going back for a lesson and maybe some more fictional interviews.

Enjoy the weekend.

Ronnie

xx

Reporter risks spanking to get her story

Reading the Sunday Time Review this weekend, I came across an interview with Max Mosley the FI boss, conducted by Camilla Long, poor girl she should have had a minder with her. I'm sure Mr Moseley was joking but at the end of the interview he told the reporter that if he didn't like the piece she published on him he'd call her up and arrange to spank her. She apparently left his office blushing.

Reminds me of a snippet I captured ages ago, its a reporter sent to interview the owner of a riding school which has been rumoured to have unusual disciplinary methods. True or false,
I'll leave you to guess, here it is...............

Interview with The Riding Master

The school is immaculately kept. Tree-lined drive, fields to either side, glimpses of girls on ponies, somebody’s jumping over piles of white polystyrene bricks, it’s 7.50am Saturday, they’re obviously enthusiastic, my appointment is for 8.00am sharp.

I’m sitting in a comfortable office, there’s a window to the corridor, a couple of women walk past, one looks in and seeing me nods. Friendly. At 8.00 the owner, Pieter van Eyck, walks into the room and strides towards me, hand outstretched, confident, warm smile, we introduce ourselves and he offers me coffee. I start the interview while he’s pouring from a jug on a corner table.

So, Pieter, tell me about how you came to take over the school.

You can call me Mr van Eyck, I think we’ll both be more comfortable with that.

Sorry, of course. Is that what the girls call you?

That and Sir. Now about the school, I’m sure you want a little bit of the background but I think we both know your story is likely to focus on other aspects. Anyway I took over nearly three years ago after the previous owners put it on the market to retire, it was pretty run down but the area is good and I liked it immediately. A deal was agreed after a few days and within a month I’d started reorganising and refurbishing.

According to reports your membership is over subscribed and there’s a waiting list, what was it like in the early days.

I can tell you exactly, there were 43 members when I took charge and within a week over half of them left. I’m pleased to say that new members took their places quickly enough and we soon recovered and increased membership. The current tally is 102 and we can’t take any more until we get more instructors. We have quite a list of applicants I'm proud to say.

What do you put it down to.

Htt that’s an easy one. Excellent standards and good discipline, the members have pride in what they do and the standards they achieve, just look around the walls at the awards. Htt it speaks for itself.

He uses ‘Htt’ a lot, I don’t know if its an affliction or normal speech in his country.

And the good discipline?

I knew that wouldn’t be far down your list. Htt well it’s been wrongly reported that the school is a cover for exotic goings on but I can assure you that is far from the truth. I do have very high standards of discipline in all matters, personal business and leisure. To achieve and compete successfully a person needs discipline, I help members attain that.

Tell me how.

I make rules. They are always sensible, fair and imposed for good reasons. If a girl breaks those rules she is disciplined, the discipline can take many forms but most normally it's corporal as that seems to be the most effective.

I noticed you said ' if a girl breaks the rules', does that mean you don't have male members and when you say corporal you do mean physical admonishment, could you please clarify that.

Htt. It's plain enough, I don't exclude male membership but the overwhelming demand comes from women. As for 'corporal', in plain words I spank them.

How, can you describe how you would do that.

Well I'm sure you know what a spanking is, childhood days and all that. I'm dealing with adult girls here of course and my spankings take that into account as well as the offence and frequency, a typical spanking will be carried out with a cane or riding crop, occasionally a strap. The recipient is always treated respectfully, never unclothed and there is never any sexual interaction if that was going to be your next question.

I'm disarmed by the frankness of his answer. I feel awkward.

I notice some of the photos on the wall have girls in tight pants, some are holding whips provocatively, one has a girl whose wrists seem to be tied behind her back. Can you explain them.

Of course. The correct attire for riding includes jodhpurs which are often worn tight fitting, some of the girls perhaps like to display their attributes more than others and that's up to them, as for the whips well there has always been innuendo attached to riding crops and whips, they do tend to look provocative in the hands of an attractive person but that's about as far as it goes.

And the girl with her wrists tied?

Htt. I can tell you precisely, that is Joanna, the photo was taken about a week ago after she'd been caned for an offence I won't go into, the photo serves a a reminder and warning against further infractions. The reason for the tied wrists is frankly that Joanna has been known to gratify herself after previous punishments, I mean gratify herself in a sexual way you understand. I will not have that kind of behaviour so her wrists were restrained, not in an unkind way, but to prevent her gaining satisfaction.

I notice she seems to be rubbing her bottom

My dear, if you had just been caned for the offence Joanna had committed you too would be rubbing your bottom, I can assure you, and deservedly so.

I feel my face flush, I'm temporarily lost for words. Mr van Eyck interjects.

I'll send you some of the photos, Jenny, I know pictures make a story more colourful. If you want to get an in depth perspective on the school why don't you attend a few sessions, I can grant you temporary membership, you'll see what goes on first hand. You do ride don't you?

I have ridden years ago but badly.

Htt. We'll soon change that, why don't you give it some thought, just call me. Now I really must got, I have a class in ten minutes and some preparation to do.

He hands me his card with his mobile number and he's away. I see him stride along the corridor through the window, a woman comes to show me out, she's the one who nodded to me earlier. She asks me if I'll be joining them, I tell her I'm thinking about it and leave. I haven't learned enough, my editor will want more, I feel in my bag to make sure I tucked his card away safely.

Ronnie

xx

I wonder if I could make a series of little interviews, I mean they would be fiction, with a Fireman, a Headmaster, a Banker, a Politician, a Businesswoman, etc.... what do you think?