Lyda stopped and closed her eyes to concentrate on getting her breathing back to normal. When she was calmed down again she opened her eyes. In front of her there stood a man, looking at her with a lovely smile and twinkling blue eyes. Lyda blinked to see if he was just an apparition from her heated imagination. No, he was still there, still smiling and watching her. Lyda turned and started to walk away.

"Excuse me!" he said.

Lyda stopped walking and turned around slowly. She looked again into those fathomless blue eyes.

"I could not help but notice how beautiful you are. I am sorry if I have frightened you, may I buy you a drink to prove that I am harmless?"

Again she noticed his eyes and there was no trace of malice or evil, just his smile reflecting within them. "Where can I meet you? I need to shower and change first." How he did it she didn't know but his smile turned even more brighter.

"Do you know Hank's Deli?" he asked.

Lyda nodded knowing the place well, and wondered why he would pick a health food place? "Give me an hour and I will meet with you there."

The stranger nodded, and then headed down the path away from her.

As she watched him, she noticed just how nice and firm his butt was under his skintight blue jeans. "Mmmmm, now that is something to want to explore further." she thought, grinning. Lyda moved into a slow jog and headed for her apartment.

Lyda unlocked the door to her apartment and looked back to see if he had followed her. There was no sign of the man. She locked the door behind her and as she walked to her bedroom she tossed her sweaty clothes on the hamper. Standing in the hot shower she started thinking about the man again. A very nice body. Those eyes! That smile! Lyda shook her head to clear its thoughts and finished her shower. After she was dressed she looked at the time. Seeing that she had a few minutes yet she picked up the phone and called her best friend Carli.

"Hello?" Carli answered sounding bored.

"Hi Carli, can you meet me at the stables tonight?" she inquired.

Carli sounding intrigued, started questioning her long time friend. "What do you have?" "Is he new?" "What's he look like?"

Lyda laughed and told Carli to meet her about 8pm, then hung up. Lyda looked in the mirror to make sure she was looking good and grinned. She saw looking back at her a small woman, with auburn hair and a smattering of freckles covering her nose. Her body was toned nicely from her workouts. Lyda ran a hand through her boyish cut hair, saluted herself and left the apartment.

Lyda walked into the deli. She glanced around, saw him sitting in the back corner and headed towards him. Again she noticed how his smile light up his entire face. "Hello again." she said, sitting down across from him.

"I was not sure if you would show up." he countered.

"Oh, I had to come! I had to find out if that smile was for real!" she said. Again watching, his whole being had the feel of his smile, and she noticed that he was blushing too. "Well," she thought, "he is perfect for the competition!"

"My name is Lyda." she said as she held out her hand.

"And I am Steven!" he replied, as he shook her hand.

After she told him what she wanted, he went up to the counter to order. She watched him as he walked away. "Damn those are nice buns!" she thought. When he was walking back she looked him up and down. His shoulders were wide and strong. His stomach was muscled, noticed because of his very tight T-shirt, and the way he walked! This man would be her winner!

They talked about the usual things that men and women talk about getting to know each other. She noticed that she had not laughed this much in a long time. She was enjoying herself immensely! When the conversation slowed down to a comfortable silence, she said, "Would you come with me to the stables?"

He looked at her questioningly.

Lyda smiled a secret smile and said, "You will find out when you get there." While they walked out of the deli, she noticed that he stayed just a little behind her. Now that is the way of a good stud! He walked with a confident air about him but still she felt that he would follow her lead.

As they drove up to the stables, Steven commented that he had never been to these particular stables before.

"They are not for public use." she told him, as she parked her truck.

Carli came over and hugged Lyda tightly and whispered, "You finally found one?" Carli was impressed, as she watched the man get out of the car and walk around to their side.

Lyda introduced the two and then she started walking toward the closest barn. He followed again just behind her and she winked at Carli as she noticed it.

"What is this all about?" he asked, confused. He had walked up to the closest stall and had looked inside. Steven turned around and looked at both Lyda and Carli with a very puzzled expression on his face.

Lyda walked up to the stall door and called the little pony that was inside. "Come Dancer and meet Steven!"

Dancer was blond and blue eyed, with a long flowing mane, and a body muscled from her pulling her Master's cart. She came up to the door and nickered softly, nuzzling Lyda's hand.

Steven moved closer and watched in fascination as this supposedly human female acted just like a pony! He turned again to Lyda with questions in his eyes.

"This is a ponygirl stable. Here they are trained as if they were ponies." she told him. "They live and eat and work as ponies. As you can see, she is not upset or angry with her lot in this life!"

Dancer nickered again and gently nudged Steven's shoulder.

Steven gently stroked Dancer's long mane and asked, "Is this true? Are you happy here as you are?"

Dancer nodded her head up and down, nickering louder this time, and stomping her foot as if it were a hoof.

In wonderment, Steven watched as Dancer went to the corner of her stall and lay down. She nickered softly in their direction, then put her head down and was fast asleep in no time.

"Now come with me!" Lyda commanded.

Steven looked at Carli but still followed Lyda out of the barn and out to the arena in the back.

"Hey George!" Lyda called to the man in the center of the arena.

George waved but kept his grip on the lunge line that was connected to a beautiful, long legged woman.

Steven watched as the man put this pony through her paces. Fascinated, he just stood there with his mouth slightly open, feeling a tightness in his groin area. Steven thought "No Way! I can't be getting turned on by this!" In his mind he could see Lyda standing in the middle of the arena with a line attached to his halter, leading him through his paces. He moved closer to Lyda and nuzzled her shoulder.

Lyda turned around and smiled at him. "So" she stated, "I was right about you, wasn't I!"

Steven tried to paw the ground as he saw Dancer do and gave a good example of a whinnie.

Carli, watching this, clapped her hands and said, "You finally found your stud, and a beautiful one at that!"

Lyda smiled at Carli and said, "I just hope he will be ready in 6 weeks for the competition."