Welcome to Hickstead, home to both Seven Oak Stables, and Blue Acre - two rival stables. Both offer opportunities for their clients to reach the highest level of excellence. Each stable differs from the other, so choose wisely and never forget, loyalty is everything... Meanwhile as the stables battle it out, there's trouble brewing at the university. Be careful, if you don't pick a side you may get caught in the cross-fire...
This is an chilled out rpg with a super friendly and relaxed atmosphere! Remember to sign up with your characters full name in all caps and don't forget to do your claims! Thank you and Welcome, we've been established since 10th March 2009 but unfortunately have had to close guest view of our boards due to multiple sites ripping off our hard work, such a shame! Come chat to us in Discord before joining if you like!.
Monster stood in the cross ties as the groom worked on him gingerly. The stallion was already beginning to feel somewhat testy with the nervous air that was surrounding the groom. If anything, it seemed that people were more cautious about him and that suited him just fine. As far as humans went, they served his purposes - food, water, lightly worked because no one wanted to try their hand at him. But it was that nervy air that made him stamp the ground impatiently and swish his tail about that made the groom pause and hesitate.
It was all posturing at that point, with some mild irritation thrown into the mix. His ears flickered to the sound of other horses calling out in the pasture, to which he echoed his own shrill reply that made the groom scamper away. What was more, it was new surroundings for him too. After the incident at his previous stable, it had been enough to see him brought to another, smaller private yard where the people seemed to avoid him.
The farrier had been in the week before and got bit on the leg for his troubles, and that was more icing on the cake. But for whatever reason, the groom was taking time to make his coat glossy and had even called over another to clean his feet no less. His mane was pulled into a braid and his tail likewise maneuvered into some sort of fancy bun that let the damned flies land and bite him. And then with slightly firmer hands, he was taken out to the round yards for exercise he hadn't had in a day or two, so he was feeling quite fresh, pulling the groom over being led.
With some more stomping and pinning of his ears, he was engaged into a walk that he kept for all of a minute before his patience ran thin, taking to a lively canter with a few quick kicks.
jake really didn't like it when horses suffered because people were stupid. he'd never imagine blaming a horse for actions that clearly weren't caused by nothing, unless it was jupe. jake would blame that horse for anything if he could. but that didn't mean he'd hurt him, withhold care or do anything to make him suffer or scared of his surroundings. he'd grumble, roll his eyes and complain but he'd treat him like any other horse he had. when people couldn't do that it angered him. so that's why he was here today. to check out a horse that sounded like it had just been put into bad situations and blamed when they turned ugly. he and carly had talked about it, decided they could take on another horse, at least for a while to see if it worked. at the very least jake could provide him a safe home, safe handling and round the clock care while he took the time to find someone who could look after the horse properly.
he was directed to the yard the horse was in by a groom that didn't really seem to like the horse. was everyone here against the poor animal? he knew what had happened with the stablehand at blue acres. his brother's girlfriend had been one of the paramedics that had saved his life and taken him to hospital so he'd heard about the gist from her, not details or names but he'd heard there had been a kid hurt by a horse from her. the rest of the horse people in town had spread the details around. he ran his hand through his hair as he walked into the sunlight towards where the large black horse was being worked and even through the fence jake was impressed by the way he moved. he reached the wooden slats of the round yard and he climbed up onto the first rung to lean his arms onto the fence quietly, he didn't announce himself but he didn't try to hide himself either. he couldn't help but smile when there were a few bucks thrown in and it seemed that he was running without regard to who was holding the rope, and the poor groom looked like he was just trying to keep up with the horse as best he could.
TWENTY FOUR | CROSS COUNTRY INSTRUCTOR | CARLY HANNAH WELLS MADDISON RYAN | 7 TRACE RYAN | 4 BENJAMIN RYAN | 4 XAVIER RYAN | 4 ASHER RYAN | 1 AARON RYAN | 1
Monster pulled against the lunge line all but dragging the groom off balance at each turn, working the bit in his mouth as he foamed, ears forward for the most part. His bucking was light and eased off after a few laps of the ring. The groom was struggling, feeding more line to the stud as his circles all but reached the ring edge, and Monster knew it. He'd done this before when he was all strung up and in the right mind. He threw his head down in a sliding stop and turned, the line over the top of his neck as he changed the way he was running, pulling his head up as the groom tried to resolve the issue.
The black stud let out a loud shrill noise, throwing up his heels again before coming to a stop again. He was still as the groom began rapidly winding in the lunge line, the slack between them worrying. For a moment Monster faced the groom square on, silent and still as the slack lessened. The groom hesitated for a moment before he moved into the stallion's space with more pressure than he had previously, grunting at the stud to move on. Monster's ears pinned flat as he backed up, his hind quarters finding the arena edge with a thud before he pulled off with an aggressive, almost pissed off snort, pulling the groom right off his feet as he galloped off to the far side. Swinging around, the stud eyed off the groom laying in the dirt and pawed the ground hard, kicking up dust before he charged forward.
The groom was smart enough to get up quick and rush for the closest wall, scaling it rapidly as Monster drew up and reared, lashing out at the groom without landing a strike on the young man on the receiving end. The groom muttered angrily as the stud trotted away proudly, line dragging behind him. It was then that Monster saw another human just perched on the other side, his ears perking slightly as he approached slowly, dark eyes watching him. Breathing in the human's scent from a distance, the stallion snorted and tossed his head slightly before stomping his hind legs and flicked his tail trying to shoo the flies off his warmed skin. Up closer, some of his scars were a touch more visible where there were ridges under the smooth black coat and the scar by his eye though faded, was still visible - balded from the healing process. Turning back again, the stud sniffed again, soft nose blowing hot air over the man's arms before he walked away to investigate other things.
jake watched everything unfold with interest and also amazement. it unfolded in something of slow motion but he just watched, if the groom was worth his wait in salt he wouldn't need someone to bail him out of the situation, it might not have been the safest but it was something self inflicted with the way he'd been working the horse. it wasn't like the horse wasn't working because he was being lazy or just energetic, any boob with half a brain could see it was also because he didn't trust the hand on the rope. luckily what this groom made up for in the lack of brains was a decent sprint on him and jake watched as he bailed out as quickly as he could, dropping to the other side of the fence safely and jake shook his head a little. "you don't like the horse, do you?" he asked as the groom stood up and dusted himself off. though jake took his attention off him and put it back onto the reason he was here.
it seemed that it was then monster noticed he was even watching because suddenly those dark eyes were on jake and he felt them doing their best to read him. now he wasn't moving as fast jake could see the marks that hands had laid on him before and it made his blood boil that someone could do that to any animal, much less to a horse. he'd dealt with difficult horses before but there was never any reason to do this. he didn't make any sort of moves as the black stallion moved towards him slowly, as if they were each sizing each other up and trying to work out what each other was about. he felt the breath from the horse on his arms and he smiled slightly, the slight tickling sensation working through his arms. "well look at you." he said softly as the horse turned to walk away from him.
he watched him for a few more minutes until he made a choice, one that might have been stupid but he had this sense that if he didn't threaten the horse, the horse wouldn't threaten him. he was also just as fast as the groom so he knew he'd be able to get halfway up the fence before monster got to him. "lets see if we can get that rope off you." he spoke, just as softly as he had before. he didn't approach the horse, he just turned to the side slightly, holding his hand out in front of him to see if he could peak the horses interest enough for him to come over and investigate what he was doing.
TWENTY FOUR | CROSS COUNTRY INSTRUCTOR | CARLY HANNAH WELLS MADDISON RYAN | 7 TRACE RYAN | 4 BENJAMIN RYAN | 4 XAVIER RYAN | 4 ASHER RYAN | 1 AARON RYAN | 1
He stomped at the ground in an irritated manner, unable to shoo the flies that were happily nipping at him as he sniffed at the edge of the arena, assessing who had been there before and if it was the most recent thing to go down. He lifted his head and reached for his shoulder with a huff, stomping again.
"You don't like the horse, do you?"
The groom looked up and frowned, "Not particularly no. He's mad. He's already bitten two of the younger grooms that work here and rushed gates - on top of what I've heard he's done at Blue Acre. His owner has told us he's a little spooked, I call it being feral. Looks handsome, but the Devil is in his veins."
Monster looked over at the groom and seemed to pick up on something, the tone of voice, the unpleasantness that turned his ears flat. He knew that tone all too well, he had been on the other side of that sort of voice and it was never a kindness to be had. He pawed the ground again, stirring up the dust, challenging the voice of the groom to try him.
"Lets see if we can get that rope off you."
His attention turned to the new comer, a kinder tone - was this going to be much better? He lifted his head up a little higher yet and watched the man warily, shifting on his feet, making sure he was ready for what might come.
"I wouldn't untether him," the groom added, shaking his head, "There's enough trouble trying to catch him, be it in the yard or stalls. He'll sooner mow you down."
Monster watched the man in the pen with him for a moment, chewing and jostling the bit like it was a nervous tick and a notch too far back to be comfortable. After a tick, he lowered his head, and turned more to face the other man, though he was quick to take a glance back at the groom, shuffling his feet. It was a creeping curiosity that eventually got Monster to take one hesitant step after the other to get close enough to reach out and sniff at the hand, then at his arm and shoulder, getting closer so he could nose and push at him curiously. The groom made some noise, faint, but enough to make Monster back away from the strange man quickly and trot off in a bluster.
there was something about the groom that jake didn't like. beyond what he'd seen when the guy had been handling the horse and his body language towards the animal, it went deeper than that and jake made no effort to hide it from him. as he was talking his eyes narrowed a little and his frown deepened slightly. it was clear to jake that assumptions had been made about the horse before eyes had ever been laid on him. he firmly believed in letting a horse show their personality before he passed judgment on them. if he'd taken his last new horse shade at face value before he'd worked with him, he'd never have taken him on and he was one of the best horses jake could have imagined.
he didn't say anything back to the groom, his 'you're an idiot' face before he turned back to monster and started thinking of the best way to work with the horse. if he didn't trust people he couldn't just approach him and he knew if he didn't push the horse any he'd probably get nowhere. there needed to be this middle ground where they could both find connection. "if you're going to stay, shut your mouth." jake said calmy but with as much attitude as he could to make sure that groom understood that me meant it.
he couldn't help but smile slightly as the horse came over to start checking him out. there was caution there, there was fear and jake was certain that there was apprehension about what jake might do within the creature's mind. he felt the push and smile gently, making a soft shushing noise with his mouth. it took a second, just a second for the progress to be ruined by the groom making a noise from behind them. the moment was over, the horse backing off and taking off and jake couldn't help but spin sharply on his heel to glare at the groom. "get the fuck away from here." he snapped at him. "if you're still by the fence in five seconds i'm going to bend you over it, tie you up and let him have his way with you."
TWENTY FOUR | CROSS COUNTRY INSTRUCTOR | CARLY HANNAH WELLS MADDISON RYAN | 7 TRACE RYAN | 4 BENJAMIN RYAN | 4 XAVIER RYAN | 4 ASHER RYAN | 1 AARON RYAN | 1
Monster picked up on the change of energy; it was sharp, sudden and aggressive. Not to mention the tone of the two humans added to it. Moving from a trot into a hard canter, he circled the yard several times before immediately changing direction hard. There was pressure all around and there was no escaping it, and that damn lead! It was dragging around and about his legs, catching under his hooves and jerking his head down.
The groom was quick to scurry off and the movement caught Monster's eye, rearing up and lashing out at the bars with a heavy metallic thud of his hooves against the rails, letting out a shrill challenging neigh as the groom disappeared into the stables. He was riled up now as he came back down onto the sand and stomped his feet in agitation. The flies were proving to be just as irritating at the humans, biting at his neck face and body without any way to shoo them.
Tossing his head around and snorting, he'd had more than enough and was no longer feeling as willing to listen anymore. He kicked up his hooves, charging by the human still in the pen with him, tensing up his quarters and letting loose a kick that only caught air, deciding to challenge the pecking order. His whole body language changed in an instant, going from mildly annoyed to extremely irritated, his ears flattened back and his eyes hard.
He charged up to the human with a squeal, immediately getting into his space, no longer polite as he chewed on the bit and foamed lightly at the corners. He was not about to stand another minute of this!
well his words had had the desired effect on the groom who was watching them and giving his unsolicited opinion about what was happening in the ring, but it had had an unwanted effect on the horse. something jake should have thought of before but it was just something he needed to deal with now. would it change his motives and demeanour? no. would it mean he'd need to work a bit harder to gain the horses trust back? yes. though he was positive it would be a darn sight easier without an audience questioning the horses motives when he flicked his tail or took a breath. he cringed a little as the horses hooves struck the metal bars on the fence but he couldn't help but give props to the horse for the way the groom scurried away from the pen and into the barn.
he kept his body loose and as limber as he hoped he could be as he watched the horses with careful eyes. he wasn't sure there was any intention to hurt him coming from the horse so he stood his ground for the moment, watching as intently as he could without staring at the poor animal. he saw the ears and the way he was tense but he couldn't pick up danger vibes from him, at least not to the point he was worried enough to get out of the pen. a kick or a bite would be painful but it wouldn't be the end of him and he could survive them. he just hoped he was quick enough to pick up the change in the horse if he did decide to go from testing the water to trampling puny humans.
the kick the horse threw hit air and that in itself helped jake make his decision to stay where he was. he doubted a horse that hated people would give him another chance to hurt him if he really didn't want him there. it was something of a gamble but jake was all for the risks, that was the only way to get a decent reward. he heard the squeal and he lifted his hands up a little as the horse was coming towards him, he held his ground though. "steady mate." he said softly as he fought his own flight response to take a step back from the horse. "that was my fault i know, but he was an idiot." it was something of a blessing as the horse came into his space because while he was close to him, jake could move with him to avoid getting kicked or bitten somewhat, with horses the closer you were to danger the further you were from harm. or something like that, he could remember his old trainer from when he was about 7 telling him that. "it's just us now bud."
TWENTY FOUR | CROSS COUNTRY INSTRUCTOR | CARLY HANNAH WELLS MADDISON RYAN | 7 TRACE RYAN | 4 BENJAMIN RYAN | 4 XAVIER RYAN | 4 ASHER RYAN | 1 AARON RYAN | 1
Monster kept up his display, making his body shiny with sweat as he kicked and lashed out around the human, not allowing the human to move. His hooves landed around the man, inches to spare as some of his hooves hit the ground. He snorted and shook his head, spit flying about as he showed off his size and strength, making himself bigger against the human.
Once he snaked his head towards the man's legs, swinging around and biting only fabric before dashing off to the other side of the pen puffing and blowing. His legs shook a little as he stood there, the sort of tremble that came from a tiredness of a horse that lacked the stamina. He was under worked, and it showed. His display wearing him out to a point that his body trembled. His veins were clear under his coat bringing flies to land and bite. He turned tried again in vain to clear them with his tail and a shake of his tightly braided mane to no avail.
He snapped his head around to try and scratch, the bit snapping against teeth as it was jerked awkwardly to one side. He jolted and backed up a few paces, working his jaw from the sudden discomfort. He paid the human no mind as he stood there, the line still trailing on the ground. He was done for now, out of breath, walking slowly with his head low towards the gate. Most humans knew what he wanted that there was no resistance to ending work and getting to rest for a bit.
once or twice he worried that the hooves flying around him would hit him, but it didn't take him long to realise that monsters intention wasn't to hurt him, but to scare him, to make him want to get away from him, to make him run. if he wanted that, he wasn't going to get it. at least not from jake. even as he flung his head towards his legs, there was no pain, no bite and no real contact with anything aside from the fabric of jakes pants and that in itself told him that he wasn't dealing with a monster, just a scared horse. he could have easily made contact with jake, torn chunks from him and trampled him into the dirt if he'd wanted to but he was still standing there. it meant that what had happened to the kid at the horses old stables had been nothing more than an accident.
jake watched him for a second from the other side of the pen as he stood against the fence, his sides heaving from the effort of the show he'd just put on and jake watched in sympathy as he couldn't get rid of the flies that were bothering him, for some reason the people here had braided his mane, as if that would entice someone to buy him. he looked uncomfortable and that was what had jake moving slowly towards him, his hand stretching out slowly as he got closer to him. "let me take the bridle off mate." he spoke to him, softly as he slowly bent down to pick up the line that trailed the horse, bunching the long line in his hand so it was a bit shorter.
TWENTY FOUR | CROSS COUNTRY INSTRUCTOR | CARLY HANNAH WELLS MADDISON RYAN | 7 TRACE RYAN | 4 BENJAMIN RYAN | 4 XAVIER RYAN | 4 ASHER RYAN | 1 AARON RYAN | 1
Monster's ears were pinned back flat against his next as he stomped the ground. He caught the movement from the corner of his eye, whites wide and clear, turning slightly so he was facing the man a little more squarely. There was a slight knocking on the steel rails as he bumped his hocks into them, but in a convenient twist of some kind, he wasn't tangled in the long line any more.
The stallion could only stare and watch the human's movements, wondering what was going to happen now. He wasn't getting his way, and people weren't scattering like flies to get away form him as they tried to get him back in the stables. He took a few hesitant, almost skittering steps forward off the steel rails, an ear flicking forward for half a second before falling flat again. His head dipped a fraction lower, just starting to relax a little bit. He turned his head sharply to nip at his near side, snorting loudly as he did.
he hated whatever had happened to this horse to make him distrust people so much. there was never any reason to mistreat any animal but for some reason, horses hit him harder than most. even horses he didn't like, such as his partners demon animal, he'd never hurt, never scare and never lay a hand to him. he gathered the long line slowly in his hand, careful not to wrap it around his hand in case monster took off on him and he was careful not to tug on it at all. "that's it mate." he said softly when he saw the slight relaxation of the tenseness the horse was carrying within him.
he took slow and small steps forward towards him, only because he didn't want to spook him anymore than he already was, there was no fear within jake at the horse before him. just a desire to help him be a lot more comfortable and to get him away from a place where people obviously didn't trust him or even like him enough to treat him with some decency. "shh." he made a soft noise as he reached to lay his hand gently on the strong neck of the horse, not wanting to reach for the bridle straight away. "i can help with that itch if you let me." he said with a slight smile as he waited to see how the horse reacted to his touch.
TWENTY FOUR | CROSS COUNTRY INSTRUCTOR | CARLY HANNAH WELLS MADDISON RYAN | 7 TRACE RYAN | 4 BENJAMIN RYAN | 4 XAVIER RYAN | 4 ASHER RYAN | 1 AARON RYAN | 1
Monster's ears flicked forward again briefly, but that agitated look refused to budge. He stomped, both in warning and to scatter the flies, blowing loudly. He wasn't entirely sure what to do, no sure what the man was asking as he stood square on, glaring.
"Shh."
The stallion stood mostly ridged, rooted to the spot, for the time being focused on the man in front of him. It was perhaps a god-send that the yard was quiet, most of the other horses out of the stables in pastures beyond or even working, allowing Monster to stay on track with one thing and not many at once. He flinched at the touch, the skin trembling under the man's hand, his breathing picking up loudly. He worked the bit over again, metal clicking against his teeth, turning his head slightly and raised his lip a little, flashing teeth in warning. He was quick, as that young stable-boy had found out, and he was not the sort that forgave after one strike.
"I can help with that itch if you let me."
His tail started to go, flicking back and forth in irritation, skin jumping and twitching. The man wasn't backing off. Most people backed off. He stomped a hind hoof hard into the ground and kicked up dirt with for foreleg, stirring up the dust. He didn't understand the man. There was fine line, a hair-trigger with the pressure between them. Monster wasn't even sure in himself whether to kick or bite, but he was not fond of the idea of bending to the will of the man.
