My grandfather and grandmother had a farm that my siblings and I visited frequently. One time, , I was there with my older brother and after feeding the horses we mistakenly left the gate open, causing two of the horses to wander away.

Fortunately, the animals were rounded up again quickly enough but my grandfather was livid that we were so careless – he told us to head for the barn for a ‘taste of the leather’. My brother and I were no strangers to spanking but these were usually from my mother with a hairbrush over the knee. Although we did occasionally feel our father’s belt across our backsides, these punishments were far more rare.

My grandmother accompanied us to the barn and my grandfather picked up a piece of leather strapping that was about 3ft long and 3in wide. We both began to plead and beg not to be spanked but that was not going to go anywhere.

Everything was about to get worse. my brother protested and refused until he heard my grandfather tell him he was going to get a double dose for not cooperating.

Nevertheless, he was made to bend over a couple of bales of hay and my grandfather wasted no time in swinging the strap and hitting him square on the lower butt. My brother immediately jumped up, grabbing his butt and screaming at the top of his lungs.

My grandmother grabbed him by the ear and hauled him back into position, then held his head down as my grandfather raised the strap and again hit his butt with a loud crack. My brother let out another scream and kicked his legs as his butt turned bright red.

My brother got a total of 32 whacks – two for each year of age. When the strapping was done, he just crumpled on the floor, bawling his eyes out and trembling with a fire in his ass. My grandmother took him and made him stand by the wall as I was put into position.

By this time, I was already bawling mess and my grandfather handed the strap to my grandmother. The first stroke of the leather was just mind boggling – it hurt so bad I could not even scream, but just gasped. The second stroke made me scream and kick my legs in agony.

I am not sure what exactly which stroke but toward the end of my strapping I lost control of my bladder . My grandmother merely said that it showed I was learning my lesson and continued until I got 14 swats.

My bottom was deep red and sore for over a day but it was apparent that my brother was in worse shape as he grimaced every time he sat down for at least a couple of days. From that day on we never left a gate open again.