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!.
Mik questioned his sanity about agreeing to teach cross country when Naomi had asked him. He shook his head as he finished tacking up Splash, one of the lesson horses, before he clipped his helmet under his chin, pulled on his back protector and led the gelding out of the barn.
He had arranged to meet Angél on the cross country course, asking that she had her pony warmed up before the lesson started, but not exhausted, so they could get right into things. He'd seen the teenager compete on her pony before, so knew that the girl could ride, but she was new Blue Acres, so he was still getting to know the girl.
He was pleased that he arrived at the designated place first, wouldn't have been a good look if she had been there waiting for him, and he rubbed the chestnut's neck as he looked at the jumps he wanted to go over that day. The girl had signed up for intermediate lessons, so he had picked a place in the middle of the course; a simple log to start with, some tyres, a coffin and the water jump, if she felt like getting wet - which was the main reason he'd ridden a school horse, rather than one of his own.
He looked over as he heard a horse approaching at a trot and smiled. "Hi Angél, is Ripple ready to go?"
Dice roll
Odd number - lesson goes poorly Even number - lesson goes well
Warming up her pony before the actual lesson was a novel concept, and Angél was enjoying it. She had chosen to use the area around the cross country course as their warm up area and when she knew that her pony was ready, she popped him over a couple of the beginner novice logs.
Checking the time on her watch, she knew that she needed to make her way to where Mik asked her to meet him. "Come on, baby." She whispered as she turned the pony and trotted off in the direction they needed to go. She smiled as the approached where the man was sitting on a pretty liver chestnut horse. "Hi Angél, is Ripple ready to go?" She smiled and nodded, suddenly feeling a little shy, as she brought her gelding down to a walk and then a halt beside the man.
Mik gave her an encouraging smile as he was given nothing more than a nod. "As we're new to each other, today I just want to watch you take Ripple over a few fences so I can see your style of jumping... both yours and Ripple's, really and it will let me know where to work from. If you have any questions, ask away." Sure, he'd seen her compete a few times, but at competitions riders were so busy with their own horses that they didn't really get more than a passing glimpse of another rider, and never really had time to actually pay attention to how they were riding... well, unless that person was the rider before you in a show jumping arena and you were racing against the clock, but that was completely different than a cross country course.
"I'm going to ride along beside you, not over the jumps, I'd like you to take the log ahead of us, the tyres after that, followed by the coffin then the next two logs," which were both at slightly varying heights and widths, "and, if you feel up to it, the water jump. If you don't feel like the water, raise your hand after the last log." He wasn't a jump by jump kind of person, and the selection of jumps he'd picked would all offer the girl different questions for her horse to answer, and would give him a good idea of the gelding's abilities at this level.
Angél nodded as she listened, wondering if he thought she was being childish for wanting to take on these jumps on her pony, and she was beginning to wonder the same thing, now that she was out here.
She shook her head, she didn't have any questions, none that she could put into words right now anyway, and nothing that wouldn't make her seem anymore... well childish.
She nodded as she followed his words, standing in the stirrups to see if she could see all the jumps he was talking about, and sat down again when she couldn't see past the tyres. She shook her head to banish any negative thoughts as she circled her pony away from the jump they were near and then asked for a trot and then a canter as she turned the circle into a figure of eight, doing her best to mentally shake off the negative thoughts that were filling her head as they finished their circle and headed toward the log, also doing her best to keep her eyes on the jump, and not letting her attention drift to the man matching them stride for stride on the horse. "We can do this." She whispered as she rose into two-point, giving the pony the reins as they flew over the log and she sat back a little as they landed on the other side, picking up speed as they headed for the tyres.
She brought the pony back to a canter as they approached the coffin, wishing she'd thought to get to know the course when she signed up for the lesson, and wanted to tackle the three parts of the jump at a controlled speed as she wasn't sure about striding. Ripple jumped the first rail easily, and Angél knew to keep her eyes up as they went over the ditch and then over the second rail.
She frowned as they headed toward the next jump, the log looked pretty big, not high, but it looked wide. She smiled as Ripple pulled at the reins and she let him move up a gear as they powered toward the log, the pony flying over it as though it wasn't there and then thundered onto the next, clearing that as well. She slowed the pony down to a canter again, sitting back in the saddle as she moved the reins into her left hand as she raised her right. "Mr Mik, Sir? I think we're done. Sorry." That wide log had spooked her, Ripple didn't have an issue with it, but she hadn't been expecting it and it had taken her back to when she'd first got the Cob and couldn't get him to jump anything, and she didn't want to got backwards.
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