Puppy Paws Camping

I have just spent a wonderous weekend at Puppy Paws Camping, which took place in a field just south of London. I had been invited down by Blacksnip as he didn't want to be on his own, having been to the event two times previously solo. This was the fourth iteration of Puppy Paws Camping, which has only grown since it started in 2020, with this year seeing the incorporation of Hoof It! for the first time. This pony-themed event was something that Diawl had tried to start last year, but a last-minute cancellation by the original place scuppered things. With Puppy Paws Camping established, it made sense to amalgamate the two, with organiser Chip being particularly keen in expanding the stable. This meant we finally had a pony-specific UK event, which is something I wanted to support. Considering I had to be in the UK anyway, for Leeds Pride and handing my laptop back to the company which has made me redundant, I could easily fit this in. Furthermore, Blacksnip already had all of the camping supplies including a spacious six-man tent, which was more than big enough for just the two of us. Indeed, the bedroom area we kept to ourselves and we hosted a few new-found friends in the evenings during which we shared whisky and chatting. They enforce a strict curfew at the camp and one night, we were told to get to bed as we had been talking so late.

I had been feeling somewhat apprehensive ahead of the event, particularly because my Master Wolfie was back in Germany and thus could not join us. I am not really sure whether this would have been his thing, but watching some of the other ponies had a handler really made me miss him throughout most of the Saturday, which was when the main events were. However, Diawl was very good at including everyone and I got to do a whole range of pony activities. It was a good idea to break the ice on the Friday with a reprise of Blacksnip's Be More Horse event, which he had run at Pride Unleashed in early July. Like then, I was the demonstration pony, so it saw me get into gear within two hours of my arrival. This was basically once we had erected the tent (although Blacksnip had already done most of this already by the time I had arrived as my train journey had been hellish, with it being one hour late and three cancelled trains before ours meaning our train had four times the usual number of passengers on it). Anyway, we all practiced horse sounds and behaviour, and being front and centre meant the other ponies knew who I was pretty quickly. Indeed, I think this is one of the reasons why I was voted the Most Entertainig (sic) pony of the weekend by the other ponies. I was awarded this during the rosette ceremony on the Sunday morning and I was very shocked. I had done my usual thing when I am scared and around groups of people I don't know - I try to make them laugh by being a bit of an arse. I have always feared I come off as annoying, so it was reassuring that my fellow ponies enjoyed all of the nonsense I was saying. We did have some fun though, playing the Fox In The Stable music around the orange rubber fox who was handling his pony, as well as suggesting we create a video where the pups and then the ponies follow him as if we were all hunting him. The voting was done on the Saturday evening and as Diawl was asking us (and reminding us all who everyone was as we were all crap with names), we played kick ball with a giant inflatable ball. As it got darker, it got harder to see both it and the other ponies, although the guy in the shiny rubber fox outfit had a romantic glow in the light of the marquee in the distance. He was called Markus, and he and his partner became our closest friends, largely because their tent was near ours in an area where most of the ponies seemed to stay. This was in the main area, rather than the Quite (sic) Area, which was reserved for people who have high sensitivity and need to relax more. It was a nice touch that everyone was catered for.

The main day of activities was the Saturday. Puppy Paws Camping effectively has three tracks - one for pups, one for littles and one for ponies. I stayed with the ponies, largely because there are fewer options for pony play than the other two and partly because I wanted to support the event. There were about ten ponies in all, and 16 in the Telegram group, including Lucky, the female pony who I had met back at the event I had arranged with Lunar in Ross-on-Wye back just before the pandemic. She ended up coming out with us to Sainsbury's later on the Friday evening to pick up supplies, where we took advantage of the savings brought about by her Nectar card. We largely bought beer, not realising the bar was basically free all weekend, so I have brought a load back. I also had the supper of champions - a scotch egg and a can of Appletizer - which seemed to appall Blacksnip for some reason. 

I had wanted to do some of the pup and little events, but for the former, I was hampered by the fact that I had scuffed my knee up pretty badly on Thursday. This was after I had met up with my former Russian colleague at work. I had only intended on staying out for a couple but we hadn't seen each other since 2021 and conversation flowed naturally. I ended up having four and a half pints before trying to head back to Pudsey. Alas, what I didn't know, was the buses were being diverted as the road adjacent to the Yorkshire Post building was having its white lines repainted. This meant I had to go down Kirkstall Road but with no signs, the bus I needed sailed by. This was the last number 4, which seems to end an hour earlier than it did before, and in my anger trying to work out where to get the number 16, I tripped over a curb. Embarrassingly, this was in front of two other people, who had to hear some rather ripe language. I was carrying a heavy backpack as I had just come back from nine days with my parents and this is what tipped me over really. I hadn't drunk that much and was certainly nearer to sober than not, but having tried to tend to some blisters I had picked up when walking with my Dad the previous week, it was annoying to have a brand new injury. As it turned out, my knee was largely fine, but it was a concern throughout the weekend. One key thing to remember though is don't go out the night before a big event - by the time I had gotten home on the Thursday it was nearly midnight and I then had to deal with Wolfie's car beeping as the battery was low. This involved me phoning him and having to turn the battery off in the boot. This gave me even less time to pack and I ended up packing two different types of boot - although at least it was one left and one right. Covering them with vet wrap meant the obvious differences, which I hadn't spotted in my drunken packing, were at least made less clear.

So Saturday was the main day of activities. Breakfast was served on a first-come first-serve basis, so we had to be up for 8am to secure it. The bacon had already gone by the time we struggled up to the main marquee, but a sausage bap was available along with a bowl of Rice Krispies. Fortunately, there was the soothing elixir of tea, which added a little pep in this pony's step. It was then time to brave the boggy crappers - two portaloos - which turned out to be far less disgusting than I had previously feared (although they were starting to get a little ripe on the Sunday morning before we left). I then got into pony gear, using my ForFun spandex suit for the first time. This hadn't arrived for ConFuzzled, which prompted me to buy a cheap one which I had to cut holes in for certain activities. I had brought this suit too, but the holes were far too prominent. What I didn't realise, was the ForFun suit had a hood, which I feared would obscure my view when I put on my pony hood. As it turned out it settled perfectly, apart from the second time I went around the showjumping course, when, halfway through, the spandex covered my eyes and I couldn't see where I was going. This saw me clatter into most of the obstacles, which meant I couldn't beat my previously solid time.

The first activity at 11am was practice for the dressage event, which was to be later that day. Diawl took us through all of the key gaits and moves, which we could then practice for an hour or so. While this was going on, there was also a small cart available, to which we could be hitched and offer pony rides around the grounds. I got chance to do this with Blacksnip just after noon, where first he drove me before I reciprocated. Being strapped to the cart and under the influence of a rider with reins attached to my hood really got me into pony headspace, although the bumpiness of the ground and the slight slope to the field made pulling hard very quickly. The pony play marquee (which we called stable) was right near the entrance at the furthest point from the main marquee, where the pup and littles activities were, so I was driven all the way down there and back. At one point, Blacksnip made me do a trot, which was so exhausting that at one point I was consumed with panic, knowing I was strapped to a cart and in three layers of bondage. However, a brief ten second rest reset my mind and I could continue pulling the cart back to the stable. I must admit my pony gear is not the easiest to get on and off, and once I am in it, I cannot get out without assistance. I had to pester Blacksnip's help a lot as the stop-start nature of the timetable meant we were in and out of gear a lot. This also affected my pony headspace, which I only really achieved during the activities. Some ponies were in headspace for much of the afternoon, particularly those with handlers, but of course Wolfie wasn't around. This meant I was a little more alert and on edge, wishing someone would occasionally look after me. I do think my day would have been a little different had I managed to secure a handler, but that's something for next time as on occasion I did envy the ponies who were being looked after, groomed and fed rewards for good behaviour. One thing I didn't realise is my pink ribbon, which I wear to keep my hair from flopping over my left eye, may have been interpreted as a red one which generally means not open to be handled by anyone else. Alas, I like pink and it is the only ribbon I had.

We did the showjumping at 1pm, which was very similar to the courses real equines do. We had four jumps, some hoops we had to dance through and then a slalom. There was then a gate with a single barrier over which we had to jump, then three small jumps, some barrels to weave around then a final double barrier jump. I was the fourth pony to race and I started to feel very apprehensive ahead of my run. Part of this was related to my knee but part of this was related to being watched by the other ponies. I am painfully shy and despite the group being overwhelmingly supportive, I was still a little nervous. However, I gave it my best shot and was the first pony to clear the double barrier at the end, which surprised me. My final time was pretty strong too although during the slalom I got a little confused and did a full circle around the final pole for some reason. I didn't run much like a pony though, which I tried during my poor second attempt when I was blinded by my own mask. I don't know who ran the fastest time, but I don' think it was me, while it wasn't covered in the awards ceremony for some reason. Anyway, it was all great fun, but the whole day was very exercise heavy and quite tiring. Still, we had ample time to rest between activities, as well as speak to our fellow ponies and handlers, which meant we made many new friends over the course of the day. Two days later, I am feeling so much warmth and tranquility about this weekend and it's largely because of the supportive and joyous atmosphere I experienced. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Saturday was one of the best days of my life.

Show Ponies was the name of the pony photoshoot at 3pm, and we all got the opportunity to take individual and group shots. We also got a big one of all of us next to the Pony Play flag, which had been hanging in the stable but was moved to the obstacle course. The weather was perfect, intermittent sun with a cool breeze, meaning we didn't get too hot. It was too warm for rubber for me though, although it didn't put some off, although I also thought my knee couldn't really handle that material. As the day wore on, it did start to feel worse, so I decided to dip out of the dressage at 5pm. In the end, only three people did it, two with handlers and Blacksnip freestyling. I think this was because being in pony headspace for so long is quite draining. This was also a competition and although it was friendly, there were judges and a small non-pony audience. This started to terrify me, so I did somewhat chicken out of it too, while my lack of knowledge of the moves meant that I really needed a handler to guide me anyway. The main reason was my painful knee though, which I thought would be best not to aggravate, even if dressage probably was the least physically demanding part of the day.

As I was doing pony things all day, I didn't get chance to do any pup or little stuff. I didn't really know how these events went as apart from seeing their names in the guide, I know little else. From the videos I have seen, the Crufts looked very fun, with pups on their knees doing an agility course against the clock, including going through one of those long rubber tubes you see at the dog shows. There were also Pup Games where pups were put into teams of two and had to retrieve various objects from a slalom. The sound of squeaky toys was as alerting as it was pervasive. On the littles side, I saw a Princess bouncy castle being inflated while I heard there was also a teddy bear hunt, which sounded fantastic. There was also a Littles Pageant where littles had to showcase their best outfit and then perform a special talent. I would have been way too shy to do this, while I didn't realise there were things for littles until I had returned to the UK, meaning I hadn't brought my full roster of outfits. In the end, I had only brought one, but it did suffice. There was also a littles party which also looked fun.

As I am a pup, pony AND a little, I ended up having more outfit changes than Mr. Benn. It was good to showcase all three aspects of my personality, while sleeping in a diaper is always incredibly comforting. I didn't use them though, largely due to the toilet situation, although the showers were surprisingly good and warm. They were easy to use too, with us having to empty the paddling pool in which we were standing into a bucket once we had finished washing. The pool was half-inflated for easy tipping. I wore my littles gear most of Friday evening and Sunday, including on the drive back to Blacksnip's place, while on the Saturday evening I was in pup gear. This ended up being a riotous night as, after a delicious meal of katsu curry, we ended up at the small disco dancing to a load of cheesy songs. Biscuit's Bar was open and serving a range of unique cocktails, which towards the end of the night were just thrown together with what there was left. Biscuit didn't even know what the creme d'orange one was, but did create a few unique pink cocktails for me to try. As I was in puppy mode, I didn't really think of the consequences, while dancing with the other pups on the dancefloor was incredible. Biscuit's partner Chip, who is the main organiser of the event, also spoke to me over the bar and it was great to get her acquaintance. She also gave me another glass of pink. All of this ended up hurting the next morning, but I just don't accept pink could ever hurt me. This was one of my first ever pup events, as this was the scene this grew out of, and I felt really comfortable and accepted. I was also heartened by the number of people who called me cute, particularly when I was in littles gear, which really did warm this Princess's heart. Oh, before I had switched to the pink, Blacksnip and I were drinking beer and doing our best Statler and Waldolf impression, sitting at the side of the stage and being all cynical about the cheesy music. 

This was my first camping trip since 2001 and my experiences camping have been largely negative. At cub camp, the other boys tied my Zippy teddy to a tree while as a scout, we had an Akela who was very ferocious. At the Leeds and V Festivals, I either had all my stuff stolen or was surrounded by drug taking which, at the time, made me feel uncomfortable. It is therefore fair to say that the bar was low, but this was definitely the best camping experience of my life. The inflatable mattresses I think helped, but Blacksnip's tent was incredibly roomy, while it kept us dry particularly during the torrential rain of Friday night. We got fortunate here as it started just as we had put the beers down in the tent after returning from Sainsbury's, lasting for two bursts. The first was 90 minutes so we just sat and drank beer, listening to the rain on the canvas. It then lightened up and we went to the main marquee for the final hour and a half of the dance, before just making it back before heavy rain part two, which we listened to throughout the night as we slept. I slept alright in the end, apart from needing to get up for a wee on six separate occasions over the two nights. Fortunately, Blacksnip had remembered to pack a piss bucket so we didn't need to go outside and get soaked in the storm.

I was sad to leave on the Sunday, largely because the whole weekend was geared towards escapism. Being around the other ponies, pups and littles made me feel proud to be the freak I am (which I don't use pejoratively), while all of the kind comments made me feel so warm and accepted. The fact that every body shape was on display really helped my own feelings of self confidence, while of course all the people who called me cute contributed to how happy I felt. I got reacquainted with some furs I had met at fur cons and met loads of new people too, while it was great spending a weekend with such a good friend as Blacksnip. We took our time taking down the tent, chatting with people and packing slowly, although I did forget to put on sun cream and with the day being far brighter, I got pretty badly sunburnt. Still, I was staying at Blacksnip's place in Essex overnight so convinced myself that I was disguising myself as a gammon so I would fit in better. He was more than happy for me to wear my skirt on the car ride home and even wanted me to meet his wife while dressed in my unicorn attire too. She was great to chat to, although I did introduce myself by discussing chlamydia and gonorrhea, which was perhaps not the wisest of starts. I was so tired after an exhausting weekend but soon settled down, while again, I was just trying to make people laugh. I got to meet Blacksnip's horses, to whom I fed treats of apples and Stud Muffins, a flapjack-like cake which was surprisingly tasty (even if the bits of hay stuck in between your teeth and thus you were spitting out stalks for much of the next hour). We also got to count the number of turds we had to clean up after the two horses - 12 in total - while I got to learn a lot about how to care for them. The horses were lovely and although their size was initially a little intimidating, I did get used to them and we left on very friendly terms.

I spent the night at Blacksnip's, sharing a curry with him and his wife before chatting deep into the evening. She had to go to bed early on account of work, so I introduced Blacksnip to some of my favourite Kunt and the Gang songs (he particularly liked Bangers and Mash) as well as Rainbow Does Top Gear. We watched Dream Bunny again and I also showed him Durchfall Mann amongst other stuff. Throughout the evening, I also tried to register for a new German furry-run fetish event called SinFur. This is in Koln in late October, but upon registering, I realised we needed codes which could only be acquired from friends. Fortunately, I know a few people who organise the event, so I managed to secure my place. This morning, Blacksnip brought me breakfast in bed - my first Pop Tart since about 1996 - before taking me to the station. I had decided to go to London a little early on account of meeting one of my clients about a job, but he ended up being too busy and I just sat in The Parcel Yard pub at King's Cross for three hours doing admin. It was then back up on the train, where I had to share a table with three unaccompanied teenage boys, before getting back home at around 5pm. Lugging 25kg of fetish gear around was draining but I was warmed by the memories of a magnificent weekend. It'll take place again next year and we're hoping to grow the pony event in particular. I will definitely be there if I can make it.