Dark Castle - Sin 
BDSM Canada & Training

by Uniquely Piquant

      May 2012

 

A Dominant's  Choice 

The riding crop becomes an extension of your arm and is used to reinforce your will on another creature.  It has been a symbol of authority for years, adopted by many dominants as their “insigne du majesté.” This is why it was the implement of choice for overseers, slavers and yard workers in years gone by.

 

Construction and Selection

Unlike the cane, a crop is a construct and is built to purpose; hence understanding its construction is important in knowing how best to use it.

• The riding crop will have a thick end that forms a handle; frequently, it will have a hoop to fit the hand through so you do not lose it while in motion.

• Opposite the handle is a flexible tress that protrudes from 2-7 cm (1-3 inches) from the shaft and can be of different widths, lengths, and shapes. The tress is used for the lighter impacts or cueing (sometimes known by fetishists as the “tickler.”

• Crops are designed to have enough leverage to be moved rapidly with just a small movement of the hand or wrist. This is useful because it not as tiring as other items, which require full arm or body movements to get the motion going, or for follow-through.

 

Preferences 

Leather is preferred over other materials because of the feel, weight, and sensual nature. Leather is far harder to maintain and requires extensive attention, unlike sheathing materials of a more synthetic nature. The silly thing is if you buy them in a fetish shop, they can run upwards of a hundred dollars, but if you shop for a “horse crop” (actually the same thing), they can usually be found for less than ¼ the price.  However, if you pick a horse crop, you should consider only two models for fetish play. Lunge or Dressage whips each have a long shaft and lash designed to impact a horse's hindquarters. This ideal impact the buttock or tummy of a masochist and can be used to flick the tip safely for erotic play or shaft impacts for those long, painful-looking striations.

 

Purpose

The crop is first and foremost an implement of training, secondly an implement of punishment and only thereafter one of fetish play.  The crop is the misuse of ideal for training horses to run, jump and obey their riders. The impact was intense and would shake the most obsessed subject from its fixation and force it to pay attention to its instructor. This is why it was the implement of choice for overseers and yard workers for years. This has to do with several facts:

• These devices are fairly compact, easy to conceal, and easier yet to wield.

• The method to use is a simple flick of the wrist, and very little control is needed, so ideal for beginners.

• The intensity can be measured in three ways immediately on use:

  • The sound of the impact

  • The flaring or welts visible

  • The vibrations up the shaft and into the palm.

 

Experience Counts

As one learns, one realizes that the lightest flick and action are transmitted all the way down the shaft. This is also a warning, in that, unlike a whip, flogger or belt, which is soft and wraps, the force is carried along its entirety and distributes force from the point of impact back along the area of skin connected.  Therefore hitting with the tip only invariable results in broken skins and bleeding. So for fetish use, the best impacts are long using as much of the length of the shaft to distribute the force evenly.

 

A Sensual Pain

The crop is different from a whip, flogger or belt as it is stiffer and akin to a cane or paddle. But the flexibility of the crop makes for one of the most impact sensitizing of all implements and leaves welts with almost every blow. The intensity and tenor of the blow define the striations of its leaving the impact area. Plus, being rigid, there is no backswing to worry about, nor the accident misdirected blow. With it, where you aim is where you hit. If you are worried about the pain quotient, both crops yield around the same. People sometimes want to compare these to other implements commonly used.  Many people think the crop is harsher than others, but, in fact, it yields the same intensity as a hairbrush yields a more thudding or deep impact or a leather strap which is broader but has the same sting if yielded properly.  However, as it is usually used with wrist flicks rather than full-on arm swings or body force, it never will reach the intensity of a whip or flogger in the hands of an experienced inquisitor. How hard to hit well is where the talent lies, and the effect ranges from mildly stimulating and erotic to instantaneous tear and scream-producing effects.

 

Emotion

The crop invokes imagery which is the highlight of many of those tantalizing pictures shared around the web. The sense of fear and trepidation as some poor soul is ordered to bring their dominant the crop, presenting in kneeling in hands outstretched or stand spread eagle hands clasped behind the head a crop in their mouth. There is something quite delicious for a real sadist in administering the crop; moreover, having their subject present it to them for use.

 

Foreplay – Pain giving Pleasure

As individuals use this for more than discipline and as a regular adjunct to their sexual foreplay, creativity becomes essential. The flicking aspect is where the truss is used as a tickler; in effect, small precise amounts of pain stimulate overly sensitive body parts. The nipples, clitoris or labia all have deep sensitivity on a female, the lower scrotum. And the tip of the male penis is equally so. Light flicks which cause a momentary, almost electric sensation are doubly effective. The fear, trepidation and anticipation which precedes the impact, the impact itself and the virtually instantaneous relief from the pain is similar in effect to the rubbing action. Coupled with the humiliation and control factor, both the administrator and receiver can have an intense effect.  Even though the methods are the same as punishing, the style, force and intent are totally different, and all parties are intensely aware of this.