2016 has flown by way too quickly. Now that we're a couple days away from 2017, I thought it would be fun to take a look at what happened in the world of pony play in 2016.
On the personal side of things, this pony make a vow to attend more events at the begining of 2016, and, for the most, I succeeded. I attended Nighty's pony workshop in Berlin (as a pony and a human), San Francisco Pride Parade (as a pony leading a pony), Folsom Europe (as a pony), Folsom San Francisco (as a pony), and The Chase (formerly the Northern California Fox Hunt).
I hope that in 2017 I can be even half as active as I was in 2016, especially since there are so many events I would still like to attend. Highest on my list of events to make it in 2017 are the ponies, puppies, and perves event in Lousiana in March, Folsom East (New York - so I'll have the trifeta of Folsoms), and the International Pony Play Championships in Florida.
On the pony gear retail side, Buck of the Waterhole has officially retired and will no longer be making any humna pony tack. This is sad news for us ponies since he made wonderful gear over the years. Likewise, both Bridled Desires (formerly Abagails Stable) and Locked for Infinity (who made the awesome JG Leathers harness) have both closed their shop doors.
Also rather unfortunately, The Human Pony Registry permanently went offline, which was a great place to "register" your pony (or yourself), somewhat like a breed registry for bio-horses. It also had cool photos, and training articles, and diy gear tips and tutorials. We also lost pony-play.net and their pony play park project as well as rubber ponygirl Shyanne's wonderful site on pony play.
On the bright side, we regained Equus Eroticus, which has a brand new online presence. Also, Fleet Ilya has restarted production of their beautiful human pony saddle. In 2016, Fury Fantasy redesigned his hoof boots, making them even more beautiful and has also added another harness option to his many works of art. This new harness design promises to help cart ponies by better distributing the weight of the cart. Finally, Wild West Leather seems to be back, selling their awesomely hot pony harness.
I've expanded my DIY projects during 2016 after finishing my Reactor-like hoof boot in late 2015. I'm still finding myself a bit short on time, but I have a bout dozen different projects ongoing, which hopefully will, at some point, be complete (I'm really hoping my bluetooth pony training collar will be done early this year).
Overall, I had an enjoyable 2016, with lots of fun travelling and attending pony events across world. I got to meet so many new ponies and handlers. It was a great year, and I'm looking forward to 2017.
I hope 2016 found you well and that your 2017 will be even better!