You don't see many brown riding crops - so while I'm a bit bothered that this one doesn't match all of my black bondage tack, I'm equally intrigued and a little refreshed. For those that are a little intimidated by crops and whips, the softer color can be a little comforting.

One side of the tip of this crop is patent leather, while the other side is faux-fur. Since I'm a bit of a texture fetishist, this excites me - and it should excite you, too. You can tease with one side and hit with the other. You can completely confuse (in a good way) a blindfolded partner. You can try out different sensations on sensitive areas. And you can mix up swats to keep things exciting and give your partner a break from one particular type of stimulation.

This crop measures in at 25 1/2 inches. Do you know what that means?

It means you can be on the complete other side of the bed, and still be in range for a nice swat. Distance will become your friend, since that extra few feet will give you more room to swing and build the tension with a nice, long whoosh through the air.

The handle on this crop is also designed quite well. The small knob on the end fits into the shape of the hand nicely, and helps keep it from slipping from your grip. It also features a loop, which is absolutely awesome.

Now, I know what you're thinking: what's so important about a loop?

The leather loop on the handle gives you many different options. First of all, if you have it around your wrist the crop is a lot less likely to say, fly across the room by accident. It also gives you leverage when flicking the crop; your wrist will be less strained, so those with bad wrists will have an easier time. It can also be used to easily clip to a bondage belt, carabiner, or for hanging for storage.

If you're into pony play, this crop is a good choice. Besides the heart on the end, this toy looks like an actual riding crop! The midsection is wrapped in nylon with a familiar rope pattern, and it even has a heft similar to that of a horse's riding crop. And since it's brown, it'll be easier to match with accessories from your local tack/farm supply store, if you want authenticity.

To clean this crop, just wipe it down with a damp cloth and let it air dry (And since it can't be sterilized and has lots of little spaces for germs to hide, I wouldn't recommend sticking it in anything).

This thing has a surprising amount of power for such a lightweight toy. When I tried it out on a (male) friend of mine, it left some nice red welts on him - through his jeans and boxers.

As an aside, in case you're wondering how I know just so much about riding crops and horse tack, I used to give horseback riding lessons.

Erm. Rich broke this tonight. I expected it to last a lot longer - and I never expected it would be *him* that broke it, since he usually doesn't use a lot of force. I put this thing through hoops before he even saw it.

The shaft isn't broken; it appears to just have separated from the base (it's now bent at an odd angle starting beneath the top knot on the handle). I don't think it snapped - I think some of the glue or something inside just came loose, and that I can fix it easily. It was still a shock, though, since I hit so hard with it before and nothing happened.

I marked "I still like it" just because I had to mark something, and I don't want to say that I 'dislike' it yet. If I can fix it, I'll still like it. If I can't, it's going in my sad dislike pile. :(