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!.
“She likes the idea, but if I take too long – she’ll throw a fit. I guess I keep her too long from her hay, or that sweet, sweet dust pile.” Jessie chuckled at that, relenting to her gelding's request and offering the horse a couple of nuggets she dug out from the far corners of her pocket. He had a good nose for those kinds of things, she had to give it to him. "Okay that I can sort of be on her side for... can't keep away from the food too long or she might waste away." Jessie joked, though the horse looked in great shape. She was, herself, a foodie, and had no idea how she hadn't packed on pounds over the years - lucky, part of it and the fact she'd always been so active.
“So, how long have you been riding at Blue Acres?” Jessie paused, her head tilting as she counted backward. "Uhh, a couple of years now, I think? I was at Seven Oaks a long time ago, but I moved here." She smiled kindly, there was no bad blood, it had just worked for her better at BA than the previous yard. "What about you?" She asked, "Are you local too?" Because she knew how much even five minutes could make to a journey when you were doing it a couple of times a day.
“Well, I think all equestrians could say that.” Jessie laughed her agreement, "Very true," She agreed, knowing that a lot of horses did seem to prance and preen a little more when people were watching. She knew there were just as many that were hard to get the horses ears to point forward for one picture, but then again it still means they knew when there was a lens being pointed at them. She didn't mind Wildfire showing off, it made him look extra fancy in the ring, even if it did pull his focus and attention occasionally.
“Ah, this is Pippi. She’s only behaved now. I can’t guarantee this good behavior will be leaving with her after her bath.” Jessie smiled again as she finished brushing down her chestnut beast, his coat beginning to gleam with her ministrations and she was pleased the hard work paid off. "So, she's not one to enjoy having her hair washed?" She joked, "I thought women loved that kind of pampering?" Though she was terrible at remembering to get her own hair cut, only booking a last minute appointment when her hair was full of split ends and at an annoyingly long stage.
“Another mud lover?” Jessie gave the other woman a smile and a light hearted roll of her eyes. "You called it, right up until you're asking him to get his toes dirty going through a puddle," She chuckled. She loved the gelding but he didn't half follow that frustrating cliché of ginger's being hot tempered and stubborn. The horse would happily splash about in the mud of his own accord but a saddle and person on his back and suddenly he was all about not dipping his toes in the water. He wasn't all too thrilled about the bathing either, but the weather had warmed somewhat and it was appropriate enough to shower off the mud and filth the animal had accumulated in his gleeful run about.
“You’ve got quite the good-looking horse over there. What is their name?” Jessie glanced up from where she was scrubbing a particularly stubborn mud stain, to the other woman. "Thank you, he certainly knows it too...and plays it to his advantage! This is Wildfire." She announced, with a well timed snort and a toss of his head from the aforementioned gelding, sending a spray of dirty water across his owner's face. Shaking her head at the tantrum like antics, Jessie wiped her face roughly with the sleeve of her top. "And who is this much better behaved lovely?" she enquired, indicating to the horse the other lady was grooming - who had a much less annoyed expression than her own beast.
"I suppose that is a nice way of looking at it," Jessie gave another easy grin and a nod, "Got to enjoy the little things - keep things positive for the day." She had always been a look on the bright side, silver lining kind of gal and tried to appreciate the small things, to enjoy one thing about a day even if it's bad. She didn't like the idea of wasting her life or focusing on the negative - there was too little time for it. She saw him nod at her next words, knowing she was right in that respect at least. "Very much so. I don't ride, but I've seen some pretty wrecked leathers whilst working." Jessie pulled a face slightly, "I guess it's hard to remember sometimes how much we have to look after them, for them to look after us." She gave a guilty chuckle at that, knowing the state of her own tack sometimes when she was feeling lazy.
"I can't imagine having to do that," Jessie's grin widened, "I've made it a strict policy to only do what I'm asked to, and if I find other issues, to bring it to my clients. I'm aware that some things are cosmetic, and I always like to provide a through check off the bat." She thought maybe he didn't quite realise she was joking but figured it best not to draw attention, instead she smiled again brightly and nodded. "That's good, I've known people before to care a lot less and go ahead with work anyway then hand off the bill and shrug at it being an issue." Luckily it hadn't happened too much to her; occasionally on the farm it had with her parents, but they had their usual contacts for help and such and tended to stick with the same people who were reliable and trustworthy. "Thank you though, this is great" She added as she watched him get all the tags and such sorted and in order.
"This is not funny, Fire." She warned, giving the chestnut a firm look as the horse snorted and tossed his head, then danced away from her again. Jessie stopped moving and put her hands on her hips, brow furrowing as she waited for Wildfire to quit prancing about. He took another five minutes to quit it, and then came to a standstill, watching Jessie with an overly-intelligent eye. People who thought horses were stupid, were dumb themselves. Horses were anything but stupid. And boy did they know it, as Wildfire had a wonderful time forcing Jessie to get her steps in - practically lunging his owner in an effort to stay out for another five minutes. She got it, she loved the idea of five extra minutes in bed, but she still had to accept getting up; just like Fire would have to accept coming in.
With a few more laps and several carrot bribes, he was finally caught. Jessie shook her head at the animal but it was good natured humour as she lead the horse back to the barn in half hearted triumph. She tied the chestnut to the post in the grooming area, much to his dismay, but he needed washing off after haring around the field. He had worked up quite the sweat, and Jessie wanted to hose him off - she guessed riding was out of the question until later. “Sorry, I’ll try to make sure her mud doesn’t splash too bad!” She glanced up as she heard the words, seeing someone join her at the other grooming area. Jessie chuckled and indicated to her horse, covered in white foam and steaming away. "As you can see, splash away, he's already gotten himself into a state."
"I can't sleep a lot of the time, so I'm awake at stupid hours," Jessie smiled back, "Oh, I can understand that. I got so used to getting up to help with the milking back home on my parent's farm that it's just a given that I wake up with the dawn - or before it," She gave another easy grin, "At least it means you make the most of the day," She said, always one to look at the brighter side of things. Besides that t was true, it did mean that she got the chance to make the most of her day as there were more hours in it than someone waking up at midday.
"For stirrups, it's always best to do pairs so you feel off center, and to bring in the saddle it belongs to as every saddle has differently sized bars - and so that they can be colour matched at the same time." A crease became visible between her eyebrows as she took in what he was saying to her. "Yes, I suppose it's the same for why you should swap your leathers and avoid getting on from the same one each time," It might be minor if you used a mounting block but it would mean an uneven stretch of one side more than the other so she regularly swapped her leathers over. Jessie took control of the papers as they were slid over, looking down at the questions.
"If you put your fill this out with your contact information, I'll get to tagging your items and getting this all sorted out for you, If I find anything that is of concern, I will contact you and talk about the issue and what can be done - I'm not in the habit of just shocking people with the bill. This lot will only cost you about eighty to ninety pounds unless I find anything that needs more attention." She nodded along to what he said as she grabbed a pen and began to scribble in her details. "That's great thank you, it's happened before when people have carried out work before checking and then you have to start googling how to sell your kidney," She joked.
"I lost track of time, I've been in the shop since five this morning, it's hard to keep track of things when there's not much going on," Her eyebrows rose in surprise. "5am? Why so early?" Probably a little personal of a question, but that was quite a time to be up, she figured most people for that time in the morning were bakers or post workers, or emergency services. She was used to early mornings having grown up working on her families farm, and 5am wasn't too abnormal, but generally they could get away with half past or even 6, depending on the day. It was strange being able to get up later if she liked and sleeping in, but she savoured those treats for special days and still tended to wake with the dawn.
"Can certainly see what I can do. Oh, I knew what was likely to play next and it's... well, not something I think would be decent to have playing in front of other people if I'm honest." She half smiled, "Oh well, now I'm intrigued." She laughed lightly, wondering what exactly had been about to start playing. She watched him take a poke at the items she'd brought, hoping he might be able to do something to help. "I'm going to take it that you ride, and these items are being put into use, yes? Saddle isn't an issue to fix - I can do it in my sleep, give it a full check over, replace anything thinning, or close to breaking, make it like new," Jessie nodded, "Yep, they'll be in quite heavy use, but I try to keep it in good condition." She did her best to look after her tack, to avoid having to buy new. "I can fix this, but I wouldn't use it for riding - it's easier and safer for me to make a replacement. As for for the reins, another easy enough fix."
It was a shame about the straps and she sighed. "It probably won't be worth the fixing then, I'm not likely to use it for anything else." Unless he could do something with the leather - like recycle. "Saddle will take me three days on average to go over it completely, maybe a little quicker if you want it sooner. Stirrup leather, that's thirty to forty minute job - always recommend to do both at the same time to match, otherwise you end up lop sided, but that's your call. Reins same sort of time as the stirrup leather - easy enough." She frowned slightly, "I hadn't thought about the stirrup leather in pairs thing..." She admitted, tilting her head. "I didn't bring the other with me... but then if I can't use it after, I should probably just take it back. That's no problem for the other bits though."
She grinned easily as he hurried to help. "No rush, it's okay!" She said quickly so he didn't panic, he seemed concerned at her juggling and she could understand - her juggling skills were not up to par, and she'd already proven by dropping half of the things outside. Jessie always said to people - never to throw things at her - because although she'd made some fantastic catches in her time they were always a fluke and she was prone to dropping. "Good morn-Morning. Yes." She nodded, "It's just about still morning, were you in your own world?" She asked brightly. She had a habit of drifting into her own mind unless she was focused on something in particular.
"Let me help you with all that." Her eyebrows went up slightly as she looked back down at everything in her hands as if she'd forgotten she was holding it all. "Oh yeah! Uh, yes thank you." She wouldn't have minded normally but with her broken arm, she was very awkward. She tried to gently put it on the counter but he managed to grab a fair bit himself. "How can I help you today?" She looked at her assortment of stuff and blushed faintly. "So these are kind of bits and bobs in need of fixing, if you're able to help with any of it at all? I was thinking if you could take a look and just see if it's possible to mend or if I need to chuck them." She watched him turn the music off and smiled easily, "Oh it's okay you could have left it playing."
All the commotion drew her interest and she bit her lip at the scream, wiping her hands hurriedly on her trousers she rushed over to the young kid, worried something had happened. "Is everything okay?" She asked, directing the question to the child and then to the adult with her - she assumed the child's father. As the jumper appeared, her eyes widened slightly, and she glanced up as the potential owner was named and everyone started asking questions.
"Before anyone starts pointing fingers. Just think for a moment. Before this party was allowed to happen, this place was scoured, with a fine tooth comb, Cadaver Dogs and all, and you think that this would have been overlooked? Whoever left this here went to a lot of effort to try and frame someone, but they didn't think it through very well. "I will need a chat with this Tripp Callahan, in case the top is his. Can anyone who can get my card to him come and see me before they leave, please?" She frowned slightly, always one to think the best in people. "It does seem very convenient... he's just there, why can't we ask him?" She knew Tripp vaguely from time spent around the Seven Oak's lot, and she nodded towards the kid in the distance.
"Oops!" Jessie frowned at herself as the reins over her shoulder slipped and then dangled into a dirty puddle of rain water. As she bent down to retrieve them before they could be too soiled, one of the stirrup leather slipped from the top of the saddle she was carrying and joined the reins in the puddle. "Oh gosh damn it," She sighed, awkwardly managing to bundle both up and put them back when they belonged before standing. The saddle was sat on her broken arm, the awkward cast providing a perfect rest for the tack to sit on, and with it almost being time up for the cast to be removed, she couldn't feel a damn thing anyway. It was easier that way than having the tack resting on her good arm and trying to use her fingers like an awkward pincer to pick them up.
She hurried for the shop before she could lose anything else and nudged the door open with her hip - considering both hands were rather full and not much use to her. She hadn't used the shop before, usually she was in the habit of throwing things when they broke - which was unfortunately quite often for a clutz like Jessie. But these bits she had accumulated were all relatively knew and she was reluctant to throw them. She had heard good things so far about this place and the lone man that ran it, and she was keen to offload her items and see what he could make of them. Managing to slide inside with the door only shutting on one of her legs - "Ow" she muttered to that - she headed over to the counter where someone; she presumed to owner, was bent over some leather, already at work. "Hi there," She called out with a grin, slightly out of breath with all her awkward bumbling about.
"Here, let me help with that," Jessie glanced over her shoulder with a grateful smile as a familiar face came jogging over to give her a hand. "Thanks Quinn," she said as she accepted his strength. Her arm was no longer in a cast but her muscles in that arm were somewhat weaker than the other - and even then she didn't think she'd be able to lift this one on her own merit. "You certainly know how to choose the heaviest chunk of garbage around,"
Jessie grinned and gave a small shrug. "Just making sure to earn my keep," She joked, trying to keep the situation light. This was shit, and the reason they were here was awful, but they were alive, and the horses were all okay and they were the most important things. She wanted to try and cheer people, and she did that by making little jokes and keeping positive, trying to boost morale. "Definitely over estimated my capabilities though, thanks for the muscles, Mister." She grinned as they hefted the piece of wood - mostly on his part though she put everything she had into it - and shifted it to the pile of rubble.
Jessie had been here for hours - she'd been up at the crack of dawn, unable to sit and wait until later to turn up. Stopping by at Starbucks to pick up a decent coffee and a scone for breakfast, she continued on to the barn - or what was left of it. They were lucky there hadn't been any serious injuries, people had mostly gotten out unscathed, thankfully so had the horses. But there was a lot of damage to fix and Jessie was all about getting her hands dirty. The quicker they could get things moving, the sooner a new barn could go up and things would feel better - or close to. She'd sorted her horses as soon as she'd arrived, leaving them out in the fields whilst things were sorted - they could enjoy a couple of weeks off, it would do them some good.
As soon as the others started to turn up and Naomi was out directing people, Jessie delved in to helping dig out some of the potential treasures. Piling them into two types - absolutely trashed and potential to fix. She had good fingers for fixing things but even some of these were outside of her help. She winced as she tried to lift up a heavy chunk of wood and it slipped, almost landing on her foot - whoops. "Someone give me a hand?" She called out, trying again to lift it and failing without help.
GENDER: lady AGE: twenty-four D.O.B: 17th march SEXUALITY: straight STATUS: dating PLAY-BY: susan coffey HEIGHT: 5ft4 HAIR: bright red EYES: olive green
"ALL MY MEMORIES GATHER 'ROUND HER"
TATTOOS: none SCARS: a couple from accidents on the farm DRINK: socially SMOKE: nope DRIVE: yes GLASSES: yes HOME: willow bridge city BORN AND RAISED: devon, england
"MINER'S LADY, STRANGER TO BLUE WATER"
one of the nicest girls you'll ever meet, what you see is what you get, straightforward, doesn't have an ulterior motive, not bitchy or manipulative, straight talking, lacks brain to mouth filter, bursts out with whatever she might be thinking of - even if it's something completely random, pretty intelligent, but not the highest achiever, tries hard, not innocent, knows how to look after herself, stands up for herself, people person, social butterfly, trusting - will give 2nd chances, even if they don't deserve it, got a wild side, country bumpkin, knows how to party, up for a good laugh, extrovert, knows where the limit is
LIKES: her home - the farm , animals - every single one of them , her friends , roller blading and ice skating , snowboarding , snow , upbeat/uplifting music , her brothers , early mornings - before dawn breaks , socialising , working hard and earning it , classic films , movie nights, with popcorn and friends! , medical and criminal TV shows - Dexter being a favourite DISLIKES: loosing wellies in the mud , heavy rain all day , waking up too late , people who bitch , smokers who are inconsiderate , jerks and ignorance , height , prawn cocktail flavour crisps , having to tidy up , getting yelled at , meat (she's a vegetarian) , films which aren't as good as the books STRENGTHS: intelligent , banter , ability to bounce back after bad things , snowboarding, ice skating and roller skating WEAKNESSES: heights, she's scared of heights , guys, she's a sucker for a guy who'll compliment her , can tend to trust the wrong people , easily persuadable FEARS: heights , her family losing the farm SECRETS: she lost her virginity at fifteen to a guy who then broke her heart, so she pretty much regrets not waiting for the right guy. - she's addicted to ice cream!
"DARK AND DUSTY, PAINTED ON THE SKY, MISTY"
STATUS IN SOCIETY: working class OCCUPATION: lab assistant/aspiring criminologist EXPERTISE: agriculture and animals WEALTH: so so PROUDEST MOMENT: her first season helping with the farm animals birthing - they managed to avoid having any orphans that year and she learnt a lot from helping with the births; she was exhausted after as she barely slept the entire season. MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT: her first driving lesson, she'd been driving on the farm for years and was overly confident, she jumped forward too quickly and knocked the instructors car into a wall. Her brothers were all watching from the kitchen.
"TASTE OF MOONSHINE, TEARDROP IN MY EYE"
FATHER(S): athur michael delaney - 54 - farmer MOTHER(S): kelly leila delaney - 51 - farmer STEP-PARENT(S): none OTHER HALF: dating NICHOLAS RAFFERTY KINGSTON - 23 - paramedic SIBLINGS: edward jonathon delaney - 26 - lawyer simon athur delaney - 24 - farmer adam mathew delaney - 19 - farmer mark allen delaney - 16 - still at school CHILDREN: none
jessie's had a pretty ordinary life so far. she was born one bright sunny morning on the 17th march, twenty-four years ago to two farmers. she was born in devon, and her parents owned a large farm primarily sheep and cows, expanding hundreds of acres. they had a couple of horses too, and three dogs, and at some time a cat - who enjoyed irritating the dogs. jessie was born the third oldest, having two older brothers, then then became the middle child as her parents went on to have two more children; both boys.
jessie didn't mind growing up with four brothers, in fact it was what caused her to become involved in what might be considered guy sports - snowboarding and such. of course there were times when her brothers happened to be a little over protective with her being their only sister, but she didn't mind. over the years, jessie enjoyed growing up on the farm, she was carefree and enjoyed helping her parents, who over the time taught her to ride on one of the ponies they had.
she watched as her oldest brother went off to university to become a lawyer, making the entire family proud; they were all farmers, jessie's parents and parents parents.. and their parents... and they were delighted that their son had done so well for himself. of course, they were happy that their other sons stayed on to learn the family ways...
jessie herself had always wanted to delve into science - and she tried hard in school to get the grades, but whilst she was smart, she wasn't quite able to get what was required to be a technician, and she soon realised that the demands required weren't quite what she wanted, so she signed on to be a lab assistant after finishing college and a couple of years of uni, to get some experience whilst she continued with criminology.
HEY THERE! my name is clips/admin lily and i'm twenty years old. i'm a wiminzand i've been roleplaying for millions of years. but enough about me, here's my character. =]
[/font]:[/b] sacred patriot
barn name: prince
age: sixteen
gender: gelding
colour: paint
markings: white markings, white stockings, white face
height: 17.1hh
breed: irish draft x thoroughbred
sire and dam: patriot of war - sire and independence day - dam
siblings: pride of passion - brother
owned by: jessica delaney
brief history: -- born of two prized horses, dam was a racer and won several times in her career, and a well bred irish sports horse who had often won showing competitions -- the foal was an ugly looking thing and bred by accident, they wanted rid the moment they saw him. -- they left him to pasture for some time, attempting to sell him as a gangly yearling. -- a young woman brought him as to train him as a pleasure horse. -- he was easy to train, kind with smooth paces. he had a lot of scope but he was heavy on his feet, which didn't make him a huge prospect for eventing or showjumping. -- she sold him once he was trained to jessie who's used him mostly as a happy hacker, which is what the horse enjoys mostly.[/font][/ul]
[/font]:[/b] +carrots +pineapple +jessie +long hacks +spending days in the field +muddy patches to roll in
dislikes: +mints +moody mares +being left in the field in the rain +parsnips +flapping bags +trailers
strengths: +honest, not very spooky +kind hearted +gentleman, both on the ground and in the saddle
weaknesses: +treats, he is a sucker for treats, especially pineapple +dressage +heavy footed
fears: +plastic bags +trailers
habits: +nibbling coat pockets for treats +picks up his food bucket and will chuck it over the door
overall personality: --even tempered --kind hearted --honest --affectionate --intelligent --stubborn at times --well mannered --likes to please --good influence [/ul]
n/a
credits! template by MOLLIVER ! @ Caution 2.0. lyrics are from "one more time" by the epically awesome daft punk.
HIGHLY FLAMMABLE
HEY THERE! my name is admin lily/clips and i'm twenty years old. i'm a wiminzand i've been roleplaying for millions of years. but enough about me, here's my character. =]
[/font]:[/b] highly flammable
barn name: wildfire
age: five
gender: gelding
colour: chestnut
markings: white face, white patch on his stomach, two white stockings
height: 16.3hh
breed: thoroughbred
sire and dam: set the world on fire - sir and stolen victory - dam
siblings: none
owned by: jessica delaney
brief history: -- born of two fairly successful racers, he was admired from a young age as being both fast and handsome. -- he showed high potential in training, but his first couple of races he only placed and didn't win. -- they brought on a new trainer with harsher methods, and by force he finally began to win. -- he won six races by his third birthday, but the horse was unhappy. he paced his stable, he began to get aggressive with his workers. he soon became near impossible to work with. -- eventually they put him to a claiming race, where he claimed due to his winning streak by a new yard. naturally, they learnt of his suddenly aggressive and unco-operative nature and he was passed from pillar to post, his name dropping from the newspapers. -- he was finally brought by jessie at a backyard sale of unkept horses, where she rescued him more than anything. -- sh's been working on re-training him for one year now.[/font][/ul]
[/font]:[/b] + being out in the fields + parsnips + salt licks + jumping + being treated with respect
dislikes: + being ridden with a hard hand + whips and spurs + plastic bags + being bored + being stuck in his stable for too long
strengths: + fast + highly intelligent + loyal to the bone
weaknesses: + grumpy and can be un-cooperative at times + dressage, is a bit rushy with paces at the moment + sugar cubes - lovs them
fears: + being rough handled again + the sea
habits: + box walks when bored + licks the stable bars
overall personality: -- flighty -- curious -- highly intelligent -- easily bored -- can flip back and forth between moods -- sweet natured deep down -- spooky -- bit of a coward sometimes -- cheeky[/ul]
n/a
credits! template by MOLLIVER ! @ Caution 2.0. lyrics are from "one more time" by the epically awesome daft punk.
TOP GUN
HEY THERE! my name is yourname and i'm number years old. i'm a wiminz/dood and i've been roleplaying for number years. but enough about me, here's my character. =]
[/font]: [/b]top gun
barn name: maverick
age: fourteen
gender: gelding
colour: black
markings: none
height: 15.3hh
breed: thoroughbred
sire and dam: sire - midnight beast, dam - stark contrast
siblings: none
owned by: jessica delaney
brief history: born to two fairely well known racers, maverick had some prospects ahead of him. he was a good looking colt right from the off, and his owners were pleased with him. he showed promise as he grew, with surprising agility for his height, and plenty of speed. he tried his heart out both in training and on the track, and despite his dark colour and the mean nature of his sire, he was a real gentleman. he had several starts in his career, and won 8 of them, proving himself to be worth his keep.
in the end he was retired early due to injury, which everyone agreed was a shame - but he'd done well enough to earn the break and he was left to the field to recover. After a few good months, he was sold to an eventer who thought his long legs might make a jumper of him. she brought him and over time re-trained him. his kind nature made it easy to love him and re-train him, and it wasn't long before she was taking him to low level shows and getting him out there.
on the look out for a horse, jessie happened to see him and like everyone else, fall in love. his owner hadn't planned on selling him so soon, but jessie was taken with the horse and the horse seemed to like her too - so it was set, and the horse was sold. jessie's had him ever since.[/font][/ul]