Meet Leanne, a 40-year-old Australian website designer who loves dressing up like a horse. She goes by the name ‘Shyanne’ in her pony get-up, which includes a saddle, bridle and bit. Once the transformation is complete, she likes to trot about and pull her friend Grace behind her in a custom-made trap.

Each of her ensembles costs anywhere between £5,000 and £10,000 (that’s $8,000 to $16,000). “Once the bit’s in, the tongue is out so you’re not speaking,” she explained. “If you drool while wearing a bit, you’ve got to be wearing the wrong-size bit.”

As bizarre as it sounds, Leanne insists that behaving like a horse is fun and that it takes her to a wonderful place where she can relax and be herself. “When I’m in the pony gear, I feel freer,” she said. “It’s about who you are, it’s about expressing yourself. I become me.”

Photo: DMAX

Grace, who takes the reins whenever Leanne becomes Shyanne, said that she leads and drives just as she would with a real pony. “I steer by giving her commands via turns of the reins,” she said. “That’s a good method and she can respond to pressure on either side of her mouth, same as you would with a horse.”

According to Grace, Leanne is introverted person, but when she’s in the horse ‘zone’, she becomes very different. “I think it’s a way of expressing another large part of her personality. That’s very much her identity.” Surprisingly, Leanne isn’t shy at all about getting into her pony ensemble. And it’s not just something she does in the privacy of her home; she doesn’t mind a gallop in the yard, a trip to the store, or even a day out at the races. Nothing is really off limits.

Photo: DMAX

“It is very understandable that a shy person might love animal play,” said sexologist and sociologist Dr. Carol Queen. “Taking on a new identity or even just new garments can take you out of the cage of your own shyness. There’s something about the way she must feel in her pony finery with her mane and her tail and her ears and her beautiful bridle, the whole nine yards, that liberates her and gives her a more fabulous field in which to gallop.”

Of course, showing up in public dressed as a horse does garner some extreme reactions, but Leanne says that most people are positive about it. “I think when the world looks at me as a pony, they see something that makes them think ‘Oh my God, that’s amazing,’” she said.

But it’s not the reactions that Leanne looks forward to, it’s the sense of peace she gets from her pony avatar. “For me, it’s spiritual,” she said. “It’s a different realm. You’re not worried about bills, you’re not worried about going to work. I’m very introverted and I do express through being a pony girl. And that’s a wonderful place to be for somebody. That’s a great place to be.”

Photo: DMAX

Leanne isn’t content with just dressing up – she wants to experience everything that horses do. So she’s giving her back garden a makeover, adding a set of human-sized stables and a sand-floored school. “It’s something to spend my money on,” she shrugged. And she hopes to lead by example, so that other people can give pony play a try.

“I get up, go to work but I just choose to escape sometimes,” she explained. “I think more people should experience it. And if it’s not fun, you’re not doing it right!”

Source: DMAX Forbidden via Daily Mail