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!.
Emilie had just started her day at Seven Oaks. She was returning from time away and spent with her family, much to her displeasure and disappointment. Upon hearing about the fire, and her injuries, her brother came and forced her to go back home to London to spend time with the family to recover, even though that’s not what she wanted. Being smothered by her family, and them forcing her back wasn’t in her plans, nor did she want to go back to the big city. She was completely fine recovering in Hickstead, but she had no choice but to go when Blake came and packed her stuff, and literally forced her back.
The first horse on her list today was currently in the cross ties and she was just about to grab her box to clean his hooves out and get him all set to ride, when she looked over and saw that the halter that she had on a hook was now missing. She sighed and then moved to the tack room to grab another halter, as well as her saddle and start fully getting him ready. As she got the horse all set up, she turned to grab her box to put it away, and that was also missing. She looked around, knowing that she’s already at a disadvantage and almost thinking that people are doing this on purpose. She’s sure that it’s gotten around that she’s deaf and can’t hear, especially since she spent some time here after the fire. The girl with the inability to hear, and then with the burned hands. She stretched her hands out before shaking her head and moving to the crossties and unclipping the horse. She then grabbed onto the reins and began leading him outside.
Christopher was up bright and early as it was his morning to work at the barn. He helped turn out horses and clean stalls before he decided to ride Duchess. The other stable hands were taking their break in the loft, so he was basically on his own. The paint mare was left in her stall as Chris would turn her out with the other mares after he rode her.
The mare was impatient and pawed at the ground. Chris rolled his eyes and brought her into a cross tie, seeing that the one he had planned on using was already taken. He recognized the horse, but not the woman grooming it. Waiting until the woman had left, he snuck over and took the halter, moving it to one of the empty cross ties nearby. Before the woman came back, he went back to getting his own horse ready to ride.
After the mare was brushed, he got his jumping tack and put it on his horse, tightening the girth before he checked to see if the woman had noticed her halter was missing. Chris glanced over and saw she had left again, stealing her grooming kit and placing it in the other crosstie.
He unclipped both crossties and slid the metal bit in the mare's mouth, doing up the bridle once it was on. "Are you missing something?" He tried his best to hide the fact that he was the culprit. "Did you want some company in the arena? Or would you rather ride alone?"
As Emilie went to bring the gelding into the arena to exercise she saw another person starting to bring a mare that way as well. She saw him say something, but she missed it before fully focusing in on him talking.
"I don't mind company, but will it hinder you? I don't want to cause any issues" she said simply hoping that it wasn't another ruse for someone to mess with her.
She had also noticed that he was set up for jumping, whereas she was not. She hadn't tried jumping since her injuries, although she hadn't ridden all that much back in London. Her parents were too afraid of reinjuring her hands and arm to allow her to, and in turn smothered her to just simple farm work after she was deemed healed.
She was sure she could handle it, but she was almost weary that it would turn into a competition, and then be used against her. Somehow someway it seemed that some of the people here were bound and determined to get her fired.
Christopher did up the straps on the bridle, making sure it fit the mare's face without being too tight. The tall man made sure his tack was on correctly before leading the paint mare into the arena. "Oh you won't be, don't worry. It's been awhile since I've ridden her in a few weeks." He wanted to give Duchess sometime to settle in to the new barn before he slowly brought her back into work.
"I don't think I've seen you around though? How long have you been working here?" Yes his family members owned the barn but he didn't know everyone that rode or worked there yet. Christopher waited for the woman to get on her horse before leading the mare towards the mounting block. He tightened the girth, rolled down the stirrups and mounted his horse.
He picked up his reins and settled himself in the saddle before asking Duchess with a light squeeze of his calves. Christopher made sure there was plenty of room between himself and the other rider in the arena. "Were you just going to ride or did you want me to set up some poles on the ground and some jumps?"
Emilie smiled and nodded when he said that she wouldn't be in the way. "That's a long time between riding" she said simply while settling herself onto the saddle. She kept her eyes trained on him as he moved around the horse, hoping not to miss anything.
"I uh recently started here. I took some personal time away from Hickstead and came back to work here instead of at my old work." she said simply with a shrug. She wasn't sure who all knew what, and she wasn't about to make it worse for herself now.
She smiled as he moved into his saddle, before moving her horse slightly to the side and glancing down at her hands when he asked if she wanted to attempt some jumps. "Uh if you're wanting to jump go ahead, I'll just do some flatwork and maybe some jumps towards the end. It's been a while since I jumped" she said simply.
The paint mare walked on as soon as she felt her rider nudge her sides. Christopher had only ridden Duchess at Seven Oaks for a little over a month now, but the mare was still settling in to the new routine. "She got out of quarantine a few weeks ago, so I wanted to bring her back slowly." With it being Winter, there weren't many competitions - so it was the perfect time to slowly allow both of them to settle into their new life.
"Well, welcome to the barn! I haven't been here that long either. Moved here at the beginning of November." He was sure no matter how new she was that she would know who he was. The owners were his relatives after all - and he had the same last name as them too. "It's been awhile since I've jumped either. I'll probably just do a few small jumps after I've warmed her up." He would have to talk to Leo about signing up for lessons.
He started by allowing the mare to walk down the quarter line, practicing steering with his legs rather than his hands. "I'm Christopher by the way, but people around here call me Chris...among other things." He joked, sure his cousins had come up with some weird and crazy names for him behind his back. "How long have you been riding for?"
Emilie leaned down and pat the geldings neck before whispering to him that it was ok. She was probably more nervous that he was, but she hoped that it would make her feel more confident. She wasn't normally this nervous, but she was sure with everyone starting to prank her, that she was almost expecting the worst.
"Ah so we're both new here then!" she said with a smile after catching what he said barely. She almost wondered when he would move far enough away that she would lose what he was saying, and now she was starting to worry about that.
As he moved his horse down the quarter line, she tried staying in line, but started to fall a little bit behind and missed anything that he was saying and she started doing some simple ground work before looking back towards the other rider in order to see what he was doing.
Duchess kept straight down the quarter line, lowering her head as Chris added pressure with his legs. He turned her to the left and rode down the wall, continuing at the walk. Chris kept his eye out as not to run into the other rider. "Oh fun, I hope you enjoy it here." So far, Christopher was enjoying the new barn. There were a lot of differences between Seven Oaks and the barn he worked at in the States - but his cousins were great at helping him adapt.
"Have you been riding long?" He made sure to turn his head this time when he spoke. Chris wondered if she didn't hear him the first time, or if she had a hard time hearing in general. The man steered the paint mare across the diagonal to change directions. Duchess swished her tail, concentrating on her next hoofbeat. "And who are you riding today?" He was terrible at remembering the horse's names at the barn - except of course his own.
Christopher moved himself up into the two point, practicing his balance in the saddle. He pressed his weight into the bottom of his heels. It was something he knew he needed to work on - wondering if Lily or Leo could give him a flat lesson once he got more settled.
Emilie smiled as she had her horse following his slightly off to the side. She had missed this while she was gone. She absolutely loved being on horseback and it helped her forget about everything for a bit.
She caught the end of his sentence this time and nodded "A few years..... well really since I was a teenager, so more than a few" she said with a laugh.
She leaned down and pat the horse's neck that she was riding before looking back at Chris. "Oh uh this is Cupid, he's just a horse on my list to exercise." she said simply before moving to the other side of his horse. She nudged her heels into Cupid to get him to start into trot and started to move in a few different patterns before looking back over at the other rider in the ring.
Christopher went back down to sitting, moving Duchess into the trot with his legs. The mare almost leapt into the trot - always enjoying going faster. Christopher shook his head, bringing her back to the walk. Duchess snorted in annoyance, though she knew better than that. "Cool, and did you learn how to ride around here?" He made sure he was facing her, once again asking the paint mare for the trot again. This time the mare did her upward transition properly, making Chris smile. He posted the trot, glancing over to the other rider before doing a square turn and riding towards the other side of the arena.
"He looks nice, I don't think I've been here long enough to be able to name all the horses. This is my horse, Duchess." The mare flicked her ears forward at the sound of her name, knowing she was the center of attention. "It's like she knows her name or something, she does this at shows too." The man shook his head, wondering where the mare had gotten her personality from. He glanced over to the other rider again, changing direction at the trot now. "And what got you into riding anyway? Does a relative ride?"
Emilie pat Cupid's neck as he went into a trot and she followed alongside Chris before shaking her head no when he asked if she learned to ride around here. "I uh actually learned back home in London. I moved here to get away from the city" she said simply. She hated the busy city life and the constant buildings surrounding her. She much preferred the quieter smaller cities, and country life. She very much enjoyed riding along the country roads, whether on horseback or her motorcycle.
Emilie laughed and nodded "If it wasn't for the name plates on the stalls I wouldn't be able to find some of the horses that I was supposed to exercise. I'm still learning everything though so it'll happen eventually that I won't need them" she said with a smile.
She couldn't help but laugh at Duchess basically acknowledging her name. "Every horse has a personality, her's is just more prominent" she said with another small laugh. "I uh learned at a summer camp one year, and then came back home and begged my parents to let me ride. Eventually they gave in and let me ride, and since then, it's either been horses or motorcycles" she said with a smile. Of course she wasn't saying that it was a summer camp for deaf kids, but it was still a summer camp.
Chris glanced over and gave Emilie a nod. "So you're from the big city. It must be a big change living here?" He felt he was starting to fit in nicely though, already being used to living in a small town back in the States. The small town he lived in had less than a thousand people in them. Duchess fell into stride with Cupid, almost stepping in sync.
He sat down, starting to work on his sitting trot. Chris slid his feet out of the stirrups and practiced his position in the saddle. "Trust me, I'm still there with you. I'm not a horse exerciser but I do struggle brining horses in from their fields. Thankfully there aren't too many horses with similar names." He was forever grateful for his coworkers for being understanding - and he had been a stable hand before. "Who is your favorite to ride so far?"
Chris was glad that Duchess was entertaining, most people recognized her back in the States by her personality, often caught bucking happily after going around a course. "It's just like people right? I swear she knows what her name is." He was sure to be careful as he circled Duchess in a large circle, keeping the sitting trot. "Summer camps are pretty fun. I helped with them before I moved here. Always entertaining helping kids learn how to ride." His eyebrows raised at her comment about motorcycles. "You ride them too? How did you get into that?"
Emilie smiled and nodded. "It's a good change for sure, I always hated the big buildings and feeling surrounded. It's so much more peaceful in smaller cities and towns." she said simply. She couldn't help but keep her eyes on him in worry that she'd miss something again.
"Glad I'm not the only one, it's hard to get into a routine again after a while, but I'll get there. It'll take me about a week or two, but as soon as I get my bearing, we will be all set and good for a while. But by then, I'm sure some horses will change out, and thus I'll be confused on those ones, it's like a never ending cycle." she said with a laugh. "Cupid seems to be the most behaved, but I'm quite partial to Sky, she's beautiful" she said with a smile.
She always enjoyed the more colorful paints, than the normal bay's and chestnuts, but of course, horses only come in so many colors. "Sometimes I believe that we think that animals are less intelligent than they really are. They always do something to surprise us" she said smiling. She couldn't help but smile and nod as he said that he worked summer camps. She had truly enjoyed the one she went to, and it was probably because the horse didn't rely on her voice to communicate with her, and thus it seemed like she just got along better with animals than humans. They didn't expect much from her, and thus she felt more comfortable around them.
When he seemed surprised about the motorcycles she laughed. "My brother he has always owned them, and thus got me into riding, first as backpack, then I wanted one of my own. Of course he always hated that idea. Took him a while to allow me to ride alone, and now there's nothing like it. I'm actually planning on buying a new bike soon, hopefully I get one that I like, and won't struggle to touch the ground with at stops." she said with a laugh. It was always a struggle of hers at time, especially with bikes that were designed to be ridden by men.
Christopher nodded, working on keeping Duchess underneath him. The mare did well if her mind had something to think on. "I understand that, I lived in a small town in the States for a bit. Can't see myself living in a big city either." Though everyone quickly figured out that he worked for Boyd Martin. It was easy for everyone to know who worked for the Olympian. He moved back into the posting trot, starting to serpentine down the arena, listening to Emilie as she talked again. "You really aren't. Though one day, we won't be the new employees anymore. Which one is Sky again? Does she belong to a boarder?" As a stable hand, he really only paid attention to where the horses needed to go - especially since the property was proving difficult for him to get used to.
"They really do. I feel like people take them for granted. There was this one competition where Duchess shifted her weight for me when I lost my stirrup in a show jumping class." He was thankful he had a good position in the saddle - knowing that balance was important when it came to riding. "Why didn't he like the idea? Too dangerous or something?" Motorcycles weren't really his thing - he was more a car kind of guy. He knew how dangerous they could be - though a few of his old coworkers had one and swore they were fun. Christopher finished his serpentine and was now going the other way - asking the paint mare for the canter.
