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!.
River understood the need for rotating pastures - he really did, especially when during the winter, they were relaying on hall bales instead of grass, and certain pastures needed time to recover from munching horses during the winter. But, he absolutely hated it when Raven got put into the far off pasture. It lined right up by the road, so it was the farthest out and required the most walking. Every time his mare was put in there, he wanted to bitch to someone because of the walking that he had to do - but he always managed to hold his tongue, not wanting to disclose his injury or the fact that he had a giant fucking rod in his femur. After being at Seven Oaks for a month, one would have thought that the man would have been used to this and the schedules, and maybe his mind had, but his body had not.
His injury old injury was bothering him today. River had unfortunately discovered that the bitter cold seemed to sit it off, and he felt stiff walking even when dedicating time to limbering up and doing physical therapy. He was certainly going to have do some off of that in the evening just to recover, and maybe chill with a nice hot water bottle. It was times like this that he regretted some of his past life choices, had he not let his anger at his father wrecked his life - maybe River would have turned out differently or at least stayed the course as a talented, clean cut rider - the one Julia had seen in him, verses turning into a talented but hot mess, bad boy rider. A sigh escaped him, shrugging off his thoughts.
The man knew he could pity himself all he wanted, but that wasn't going to change anything. He wasn't here for pity parties, he was here to get his life back together and back into competition. Although, there would be no riding for him today, he wasn't going to deny himself some quality time with Raven. The mare had been testy since the arrival over Parkour, as if knowing that her own's attention was being diverted away from her. She had gotten orney with other horses, more bossier than usual, and squealed something ugly when she saw him walking off with Parkour and leaving her behind - which was it's own chaotic issue given the stallion clearly had a desire for mares. So today was dedicated to the only girl in his life who...was with someone else?
Blue eyes narrowed as he saw his black mare checking someone out on the other side of the fence, the road side that its, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. River wasn't a fan of people petting his mare without clearing it first, especially not cottagecore looking weirdos, "Oy!" He yelled, attempting to catch the girl's attention. It certainly caught Raven's attention, she looked to him but stayed put as if to say 'this lady is giving me more attention than you'. That bitch of a mare. When he finally got closer, his leg was really annoying him now but he was doing his best to hide it, "You can't just go up petting random horses from the road."
it must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero
thanks aofie!
Thirty Three . Professional Equestrian . Stable Hand - SOS . LGBTQ+ . SINGLE
Only a craven would steal a fruit when he could take the orchard.
Daisy had made herself quite known to the horses of Seven Oaks and Blue Acres. Maybe it was because they saw Daisy giving all their love to Pearl, and they wanted in. She never fed any other horses than Pearl, so she didn’t get in trouble. A few of the owners asked her to stop petting their own, which she happily obliged. Despite looking like a dumb fairy, she wasn’t stupid.
On her daily Sunday jaunt from work, Daisy once again found herself at the pastures. It appeared Pearl wasn’t out today, so Daisy ate the two carrots and the apple slice she had in her pack for the mare. A few of the horses she had permission to give attention to magically appeared. A smile crossed her lips and she held her hands out, giving them attention.
Maybe a few minutes now, and a good chunk of horses were called in. Daisy was about to leave when a dark horse she hadn’t seen before popped up in front of her. She held a palm up and the horse sniffed and nudged. It wasn’t too long after giving the horse a few rubs on the cheeks that a voice called out.
Daisy put her hand down and turned to see a man hollering at her. It was evident that the mare was his by the way she was acting. She quirked an eyebrow. “Ah, so she’s yours, then? Okay, I’ll add her to the list I don’t have permission to pet on my way home,” she smiled. "What's her name?"
Well, it looked like his yelling had gotten the attention of the young woman, since she had lowered her hand from Raven and turned to look in his direction. Even from the distance, he could tell that she was quirking an eyebrow at him. Why? River wasn't certain, considering he felt like he had every right to yell at her. What was rather puzzling to him though was that she wasn't high tailing away from the pasture, unlike what children did, when he spotted them near the horses. Instead, she stayed put, "Don't tell me she wants to bloody converse," he muttered under his breath.
Sure enough though, once he was within talking distance instead of yelling distance, that was exactly what the stranger did, “Ah, so she’s yours, then? Okay, I’ll add her to the list I don’t have permission to pet on my way home,” she smiled. "What's her name?" Permission? River felt a little taken aback by those words. None of the other stable hands ever said anything to him about someone having permission to pet the horses in the field. Neither did the owners. Granted, he wasn't exactly everyone's favorite person to deal with, and sometimes that lead to word not getting to him.
His thigh was really bothering him now though, and River found himself leaning against the pasture fencing. He put his weight into his right side so he could alleviate from his left leg from the pain, "Her name's Raven if you have to know," River snipped, his blue eyes staring at her, "What you do you mean that 'you have permission'? Nobody has said anything to me about a girl who walks by from who knows where. Let alone given me a name of a person to not yell at." Hopefully his sour mood would put an end to her small chit chat and send her down the road, and yet, it did not go unnoticed by River that her smile did not seem to fade.
it must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero
thanks aofie!
Thirty Three . Professional Equestrian . Stable Hand - SOS . LGBTQ+ . SINGLE
Only a craven would steal a fruit when he could take the orchard.
Daisy shrugged. “Yeah, I walk past the pastures all the time. I know a few of the owners of the horses.” She looked at him, his face contorted with annoyance. It was funny, really. “Man, maybe it’s because your attitude is a lemon head you don’t know!” If Daisy were versed in social cues like a more normal person, she would’ve just shrugged and walked off. But unfortunately, for both people, she was not. There wasn’t any kind of nervousness from her, just pure bubbliness from her. “My name is Daisy. Raven is beautiful, it’s evident you take good care of her,” Daisy complimented.
It would appear, much to his announce, that simply snapping at the girl would hardly make her cower before him and move on. She apparently had a bigger back bone than over half of the riders at Seven Oaks when it came to his attitude and personality. Her shrug and nonchalant attitude simply riled him up when the young woman informed him that she knew plenty of horses and their horses. Unable to walk away from a perceived challenge, River simply asked, "Oh yeah? Like who?" That wasn't the only thing that had gotten him riled up though: “Man, maybe it’s because your attitude is a lemon head you don’t know!”
His eyebrows arched as he stared at her, not bothering to keep the incredulous look off of his face as he actually laughed, purely out of rage, "My attitude is not a lemon head," he shot back, unable to keep the sourness out of his voice. In the back of his mind, a nagging little voice might have said something about how he was simply not helping his case either with this girl. But the man just snuffed that little voice of reason out, one of his many talents that had lead to his professional crash and burn. The girl introduced herself as Daisy and her stupidly bubbly personality seemed to double as a force field shield that protected her. "Of course you're named after a flower," some stupid hippy name. No wonder Daisey here was annoyingly cheerful. Unlike River though, his horse didn't seem to mind. Raven was doing her best to lean over the fence now, her nose bopping the young woman's arm to see if she had a tasty morsel. That did it, River just threw his hands up in the sky, frustrated by all of this and the exasperated sigh just said it all, "Fine Raven, take a stupid carrot from her," he muttered to himself. Blue eyes narrowed at Daisy, uncertain of what to say, "Are you...are you giving me a compliment?" Now he was just perplexed, "I'm...River. And yes, she's a good horse."
it must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero
thanks aofie!
Thirty Three . Professional Equestrian . Stable Hand - SOS . LGBTQ+ . SINGLE
Only a craven would steal a fruit when he could take the orchard.
“Are you sure about that?” she asked, snorting at his ravenous laugh. Daisy was fully entertained now. There was something about his reactions and facial expressions – was a bit...funny. Most people would walk away, but the young man was dumb enough to humor her further. Who trapped who at this point?
“Why, do you want my name to be boring like Heather?” It wasn’t the first time Daisy had heard that come from someone’s mouth. She enjoyed her name, and if people found fault with it – they could fight her on it. Younger Daisy would’ve called it quits, but she would happily egg this man on. Eventually, he cracked. It was probably because he knew he lost. Kind of.
A smile plastered on her face even deeper as Daisy fed Raven a carrot. The mare seemed to gobble it like she wasn’t being fed. Or just to make her owner and rider jealous. Daisy hadn’t been around horses as much as others, but they seemed to know when to piss off their owners too.
Daisy shrugged. “Yeah, you not used to them or something? River, huh… Looks like you stuck in the earth-bound name club like me.” He certainly did rage like one. Maybe his parents knew before he was born that he was going to be someone like that.
River couldn't help but to feel like he had fallen into a trap like some stupid bloke to this girl with the flower power name. Daisy didn't fear him, she didn't quake in her shoes like most did, all what she did was stand her ground and politely sass him right back. As his blue eyes stared at her, the man found himself thinking that she was actually enjoying herself. His mare certainly was, playing into this game like a willing ally. He stubbornly ignored her probing comment about his certainty to not being a lemon head, but the next one had him arching an eyebrow.
He stared at her for a long beat, knowing now for certain that she was just egging him on. And while River knew he should just walk away, he couldn't. Not when the young woman was still feeding the horses carrots - irreguardless of her permissions, "And why do you think Heather is a boring name? Now it sounds like you're being the judgmental one." He fired back now, mainly because he didn't trust himself to pick Daisy a name that didn't sound insulting in the moment. It was silly how much she had gotten to him, even River could see that - but the day, and the pain in his leg, had taken its toll and now the man was just irritable to be irritable.
Raven had finished her carrot, already looking around for a new one. Her ears pointed forward in curiosity as a soft black muzzle nudged the young woman once more, "I swear - she gets fed." He interjected into the quiet now, blue eyes still eyeing his mare and her utter sense of betrayal. Daisy could think he was a dick all she wanted, but he would rather die than be accused of being a terrible horse owner even with his faults. At least Daisy could see that though, despite Raven's apparent addiction to carrots. His balk at her compliment hardly seemed to phase the young blonde now, "Uh...no. Not anymore." Even thinking about compliments from the past seemed jaded due to fame, not that it mattered now. A snort escaped him when she pointed out that he too, had an earth bound name, "Yeah. I don't know what my mum was thinking when she named me. Probably thought it made me unique." It was hard to fault his mother though - he loved her too much to do that, "So why do you walk? No boyfriend or girlfriend to give you a lift?"
it must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero
thanks aofie!
Thirty Three . Professional Equestrian . Stable Hand - SOS . LGBTQ+ . SINGLE
Only a craven would steal a fruit when he could take the orchard.
She snorted at the jab of the lack of lift, as she showed Raven that she didn’t have anymore. Though, Daisy probably did – but she couldn’t prove to be the most current favorite person right now. But she did give the mare a nice pat on the cheek. “Nah, I just like to walk. It’s nice. If it’s bad or too dark, my brother will drive me. But since I work some weird hours, it’s easier,” Daisy shrugged. “Exercise is good anyway. My form of cardio, other than the all the heavy lifting from work.”
Even though Daisy looked like she was on the chunkier side, she was told by many people she would make a mean shot-up thrower or hammer thrower. She was stout, but she was bulky. Her legs were strong and dense from the walking, but her arms were strong from throwing and kneading dough. As well as all the stuff she did on the orchard.
River watched as the young woman showed her empty hands and pockets to the mare now, displaying that there was no more. Raven, after a thorough search with nosing about, finally let out a disgruntled snort and pulled away from the fence line and moved onto River, not for treats but for pets. Thunking her head into his shoulder in demand of attention, a sigh escaped the man as he gave his mare a good scratch now while listening to Daisey talk about her life style. The idea of cardio made River want to grunt, but that was his leg talking, "Heavy lifting?"
Seemed odd for a girl like her to be doing some heavy lifting, but who was he to judge a book by its cover? Or at least, River tried vey hard to not do that anymore. Given the direction in which she was heading though, it finally dawned on him where she may be going, "Oh. You work over at that orchard? Malloy's or something?" He gave Raven another firm and solid pat now, before dropping his hands, hoping to send her on her way despite the mare stubbornly standing around, "No wonder the horses love you. You got the skinny on all the apples in town, yeah?"
it must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero
thanks aofie!
Thirty Three . Professional Equestrian . Stable Hand - SOS . LGBTQ+ . SINGLE
Only a craven would steal a fruit when he could take the orchard.
“Yeah, the Malloy’s! I’m glad to hear even somewhat new people are hearing about us,” she laughed. “I guess you could say that. I like to say we have the best apples in town – but the Logan’s down the way might say the same thing too.” It was all friendly competition in their eyes. Well, minus that one family. The ones that hid behind their massive hedge wall.
“Anyway. I ought to get going. It was nice to meet yah. If you ever need apples, come on out if you want. Not like we’ll be lacking in any!”
