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!.
Since they had arrived in Hickstead, Dylan had pretty much kept to the same pattern; she attended uni, she went to the barn, she did the shopping, she looked after the flat. She was a good girl, just the way her grandmother had brought her up, she kept to herself, didn't go out of her way to make friends - or enemies.
Today however, she decided to break the pattern and after dropping her brother at work, she decided to have a drive around and really check out their new home. She pulled up the driveway of an equestrian establishment, curious and pulled into one of the parking spaces before stepping out of the vehicle and closing the door as she looked around.
The place looked very smart, and she wondered if she should get back into her car and head home, but curiosity got the better of her and she made her way into the flashy barn, just wanting to see how much different it looked from Seven Oaks, or even Blue Acres - as she was amazed how different those two places were, even though the two places pretty much did the same thing. There again though, she didn't have anything to compare them to, as the place where they learned to ride was full of outdoor yards and a huge American-style barn that was used to store the tack, feed and hay, with not actual stalls, all the horses lived outside.
"Hey gorgeous." She whispered as she saw a black horse looking out over his door. "You got a pretty nice home, huh?" She smiled as she stepped forward, offered the horse her hand to sniff and then slid her hand under his forelock, rubbing his forehead.
John sworn to himself that he would take care of his 'homework' as he liked to joke to Ivan, his PA, before he went to go have fun with the horses. While the man had been rather business savy since going professional and out on his own, forgo-ing riding other people's horses for his own and Marie's, he still allowed the business side of things to slide a bit. That had turned around since getting the personal assistant though, and the young man managed to keep John on top of things - plus, it was always easier to get stuff down when his students were blocked by the wall otherwise known as Ivan Park.
But now, he was done, and it was time to go play with the horses. John was feeling good about this morning, he had just signed off on the paperwork to hire some new stable hands, the show season was coming up, and it wouldn't be long before himself and Jett made the travel to Paris, France. Nothing could possibly dampen his mood, at least, nothing that he wouldn't mention outloud or even think given it would require to knock on wood. Stopping by the tack room, he grabbed the black stallion's groom kit, before making his way to the stall now.
It would turn out though, that he wasn't the only one visiting the stallion today. Blue eyes saw a young woman, maybe no older than eighteen, standing outside of Jett's stall. John didn't know her, but he didn't handle interviews beyond his groom's so, "Hello there," he called out now, walking up to her and making sure to smile, "Are you one of the new stablehands? I literally just signed off on your paperwork...I'm John by the way. Sorry I didn't interview you - I've been busy."
whatever it takes 'cause I love the adrenaline in my veins
thanks aofie!
FORTY THREE . EQUESTRIAN . OWNER OF RYAN SPORT HALL HAPPILY MARRIED - Marie Iylah Ryan. THREE CHILDREN MANY FUR BABIES
Dylan chatted with the black horse, her eyes moving over his athletic form and she wondered what he was used for. All of the horses that she could see looked shiny and healthy, telling her that they were well looked after and as she chatted, she plaited the horse's mane.
She jumped as she heard a man's voice, quickly stepping away from the horse with her hands up. Though she quickly shook her head as she lowered her hands and turned toward the man with a bright smile. Now, with the information that he hadn't done the interviews gave her the perfect opening, but she silenced herself before she even opened her mouth. If she lied her way into a job, she'd likely lose the job just as quickly, and then find it hard to find a job around horses. "Pleasure to meet you, John, I'm Dylan. And, truth be told, I'm just looking around." She said with a small shrug. "However, if there's an opening for a stable hand, I'd love to apply! I'm not shy of hard work, and I can ride anything." Her brows dipped, lips pursed, as she thought about the fact that last line tended to get laughs from people at the uni, though she had yet to work out why. "I attend classes at the uni, so I'd only be able to work around my classes and exams." Even above her need to get a job, hopefully with horses, she wanted the degree that their grandmother had tried to stop her from getting.
The girl must have been lost in her own world while she had been chatting to Jett because she had practically jumped out of her skin when John spoke. He cringed a bit inwardly, but couldn't help but to laugh, "Sorry about that - guess I sneaked up on you." Guess he still had it in himself to be sneaky despite his creaky bones. The young woman seemed to recover though as she turned around to face him. Honestly, she looked younger than her file suggested, she looked younger than his own daughter. But John didn't care - after all, he started out young too.
An eyebrow arched when the young woman, or should he say Dylan Williams, admitted that she was not the newly hired stablehand but simply a girl who had wandered onto the property. In the grand scheme of things, John didn't care too much. Yes, private property, but it was a business. People came looking for lessons all the time, or jobs for that matter, he was just surprised she made it past the office without so much as a glance. Blue eyes flickered to Jett, who seemed content though, "Well Dylan, it's a pleasure to meet you." John said now, glancing back to the young woman and giving her his full attention, "I guess you passed one part of the unofficial interview - my horse, Jett, likes you enough. I have to admit, not many people can plait braids that well in his main."
Dylan did seem quite eager to work, after all, she claimed she was a hard worker. He knew if Marie was standing right next to him, she'd give him the look to make him hire the girl right off the spot. After all, she had been no different than when they were young, "Here - I'll show you around. You're comfortable with heavy lifting, correct? And pushing wheelbarrows? It's all not just riding the horses - I want you to understand that." John motioned for her to follow him, and then, with a grin, he dared to ask, "I do have to ask - how did you make it past my assistant in the office to get to the horses?"
whatever it takes 'cause I love the adrenaline in my veins
thanks aofie!
FORTY THREE . EQUESTRIAN . OWNER OF RYAN SPORT HALL HAPPILY MARRIED - Marie Iylah Ryan. THREE CHILDREN MANY FUR BABIES
Dylan laughed at herself. "I've been told that I tend to hyper focus." She said with a shrug. "There's a chance you could have been one of those Hollywood cowboys, walking with the jingle of spurs, and I still probably wouldn't have heard you."
Her brows rose in question and she shrugged self consciously. "I discovered that most horses have a sweet spot right near the top of their face, almost where the forelock meets the poll, and if I rub that with my knuckles while braiding, horses will be happy enough for almost anything." At least it worked well as long as she didn't do anything to betray the horse's trust. "Where I learned to ride, the owner had a really headshy mare, she was fine with people touching from muzzle down, but if you went anywhere near her ears, she became a giraffe. One of the other riders was rough when removing the bridle one day and Wish headbutted her. Sorry, I digress, that's the horse I learned about the sweet spot with."
She brightened at the offer of being shown around, though her eyebrows rose at the question. "Heavy lifting? Isn't that what men are for?" She laughed and shook her head. "Sorry. Yes, I'm aware that there's more to horses than just riding. I helped out at our old barn." She pressed her lips together, cursing herself and praying that John wasn't going to ask for the number of the place for a reference, but she had to let him know that she wasn't just some horse-crazy girl, she did have some experience with the groundwork. She gave a self-assured shrugged. "I find that it's easy to walk into anywhere as long as you walk in with the confidence of someone who belongs there."
