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!.
"But then i would have missed out on the chance to make you shit yourself." Ben rolled his eyes and batted his hand away from the flick, keeping a careful hand steady on the wheel. "Jake," He reprimanded, a little more seriously this time - he was on the motorway now and it wasn't the time to distract the driver. ”At least I had a cushy carpet and cushions to land on, I vividly remember mum telling us she dropped you in the bath by accident once.” Ben snorted at that, he didn't remember that but he was sure it had likely happened at some point, "That would certainly explain a few things," Ben grinned, flicking the indicator to take a left turn. "everyone prefers carly to me, she's much prettier.,Yeah, that we can agree on” He half grinned at that and gave a nod of agreement with his sister, she certainly did look better than his butt-head of a brother. It felt good to have the third part of their sibling trio complete - he had missed Riley, despite how it had been growing up with the competitive two, things had improved as they'd gotten older, and he still loved them regardless. Most of the time.
"violence! mother dearest would not approve." Ben scoffed and shot him a quick glance, "Yeah, and you'd know all about that," Having remembered just how many times he'd taken a shove, a push or the odd bat from Jake's chubby childish hands over the years. As he glanced over and saw him leaning forward through the gap he sighed. "Dude will you quit being an ass-" He punctuated the word with a less gentle elbow to Jake's chest, pushing him back to his seat. "And sit back properly before you go through the windscreen?"”Now now boys. . let’s not cause an accident, we’re almost home.” He gave a slight nod, his expression pinching a little as a car in front slammed it's brakes on and he had to slam on his own. He knew Jake was being giddy and somewhat childish but there was a time and a place - the motorway was not it.
”Hell no. .I’ve been up since 4am, I need it... she drinks coffee .. i have a thousand children. coffee doesn't work on me anymore. soda works much better." He sighed and gave up trying to battle it out for the cup, as he always gave in. Instead, he kept his face straight as he let Jake have it - let him find out it was bloody coffee and not soda, it served him right. "You can stop having kids you know, there's such a thing as protection," He raised a brow. "if anything's going to take me off of this earth, it's going to be carly. i don't think a car would dare take that honour away from her." He gave a slight chuckle, "No but I can give it a good shot. It'll hurt at least."
"violence! mother dearest would not approve. Yeah, and you'd know all about that," Riley bit back a smirk as the two continued to banter back and forth. she drinks coffee .. i have a thousand children. coffee doesn't work on me anymore. soda works much better." She snorted and turned to look at Jake. ”You need a straight shot of adrenaline to the heart with all of your rapscallions.” She joked. She was excited to see her niece and nephews but hopefully after they were worn out. "Dude will you quit being an ass. Sit back properly before you go through the windscreen?" She finished off her coffee while Ben chastised their brother for sitting like a child, knowing full well he probably wouldn’t listen. "if anything's going to take me off of this earth, it's going to be carly. i don't think a car would dare take that honour away from her. No but I can give it a good shot. It'll hurt at least." She grinned ”oh the honours all hers, ben can start it off for her and I’ll just help hide the body.” She teased. As they drove down the road towards their house, she turned her head to look out of the window to take in the familiar scenery, excitement bubbling in her stomach as the car pulled into their driveway.
20 - confident - perfectionist - competitive - professional rider
John found himself pacing the living room of the homes of one of his children. He had been left behind while Ben and Jake had gone to the airport to pick up their sister, Riley. It's not as if the man was alone, there was a house full of grand children, his sons' significant others, his wife, Marie, and yet he could not sit still. It had been far too long since he had seen Riley. Sure, he watched her ride competitively on the tv, caught the youtubes, and used excuses to call her on zoom to see her face, but it wasn't the same. None of those things could ever make up for seeing your child in person. And yes, she was a grown woman now at twenty but she would always be his little girl as far as he was concerned.
"How long does it take to pick up one person from the airport?" he asked the room, uncertain if he even had company. All what he knew was that if he had to wait any longer, the rug was going to have a very warn out hole from all of his treading. John also could not help but to be a little nervous. Their family had been rocked by a series of unfortunate events in the last few years, with Ben's adoption getting out. Riley had also had ended up in the hospital due to a eating disorder and ADHD that had been undiagnosed - truth be told, John had just thought she had just been hyper and needed something to focus on like horses. How wrong he had been.
Despite all of the drama, John wasn't sure if he wouldn't have done anything differently and the fact of the matter - that was all in the past, there was nothing he could do to change about that except keep moving forward. A frown did settle on his lips though at the thought of what kind of greeting he may or may get from his daughter, despite his sons forgiving him now. Just play it cool, John And just like that, from the living room window, he caught sight of the car pulling up into the driveway, "Marie! They're here!" He didn't even wait for her, the nerves and excitement getting the best for him as he bolted for the front door. As the car doors open, he yelled across the yard with his arms extended in greeting, "How is my favorite daughter?! Oh, and my two sons that I saw a mere few hours ago."
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
While she was no Martha Stewart, Marie was handling her own excitement by hiding herself away in the kitchen. Sure, nothing she was making was exactly made from scratch, as the bases for the cinnamon rolls had come from a frozen packet, and the cookies were the same, but she had added the extra bits, baked and them to make them what they were... and hopefully edible. She broke a bit off one of the recently glazed rolls and popped it into her mouth, nodding as she chewed. Yes, they were indeed edible.
With the house busy, and her attention pulled between what she was doing and that their grandchildren were up to, it was a surprise that nothing was burned, overcooked or forgotten, and that Marie had all of her fingers still attached. "Marie! They're here!" Her face lit up with a smile at the sound of her husband's voice and she washed her hands before exiting the kitchen, heading to the lounge, rather than crowding the front door. "How is my favorite daughter?! Oh, and my two sons that I saw a mere few hours ago." She shook her head and laughed at John's teasing.
well the banter between them was still the same as it had been. sure things had been rocky for a while but slowly they'd settled back into some kind of normalcy. though riley had missed the bombshell of ben not being their brother by birth, she'd been the same as jake. he was their brother no matter what, they'd put up with him for too many years for him to be anything else. or maybe he'd put up with them, it could go either way. he took the last sip of the horrible coffee that had been in ben's cup after all, but he was going to finish every last drop for the principal of it, he couldn't give it back when he'd fought so hard to get his hands on it.
he slurped loudly and leaned through to stick the empty cup back into the holder as they pulled into the drive of the house, and he grinned a little as he saw their father fling the door open and hurry out of the house. "oh look, here he comes to greet his favourite child." he said with a grin as he reached forward to poke riley in the back of the head gently. it was in jest of course, at least he thought it was. growing up he'd been sure that ben had been his parent's favourite, because he'd gotten most of their attention when he'd been sick, but it had a child's way of thinking, now he was a father himself he knew that parent's favourites changed almost every second of the day, depending on what said child was doing.
he hopped out of the car and stretched, feeling his back crack lightly and he stretched his hands above his head as he closed the door with his hip. "oh at least he see's us." he grinned a little as his daughter followed her grandfather out of the house. he didn't know how much she remembered of riley, after all she's been in germany when riley had left for over seas. he swung her up into his arms as she reached him and he kissed her head. "maddie, this is your aunty riley. riley, this is your favourite niece, maddie." he said with a grin as he looked back at his sister. "i'm sure your nephews are inside destroying the house just for you." he said as he held maddie on his hip.
TWENTY FOUR | CROSS COUNTRY INSTRUCTOR | CARLY HANNAH WELLS MADDISON RYAN | 7 TRACE RYAN | 4 BENJAMIN RYAN | 4 XAVIER RYAN | 4 ASHER RYAN | 1 AARON RYAN | 1
”You need a straight shot of adrenaline to the heart with all of your rapscallions.” He chuckled and shook his head slightly as he took another turn. He loved kids and liked the idea of having his own but he wasn't quite sold on the horde that Jake had. It seemed like a lot of work and probably more money than he could offer. He didn't know how Jake did it and didn't jump off a tall building. He finished his drink as they pulled onto the road to home, tuning out Riley's reply for a moment as he concentrated on parking up in the driveway and making sure he didn't run over any of his mother's plants, or catch his car on the stone work. It was a beautiful house, but Ben had always felt it was a little much for his taste - screamed a bit too much 'money'.
It took less than five seconds between them parking and the door opening to admit one very excited father. Ben gave a small smile, switching the engine off. "oh look, here he comes to greet his favourite child." He shook his head at Jake's retort and the way he patted their sister's head before he popped open his door. "Come on, one out all out of the taxi - and don't forget to tip the driver." He added with a raise of an eyebrow, giving his dad a quick nod of hello and moving round to the back to get Riley's bags out, leaving his siblings to do the usual meet and greet for the moment. He did love his parents, but this was Riley's moment, and he might as well make himself useful considering he'd been here only a few hours previously. "How is my favorite daughter?! Oh, and my two sons that I saw a mere few hours ago." Ben gave a small chuckle at that, hauling out Riley's stuff. "About to snap my legs, Riley clearly packed the bricks as well as the kitchen sink to bring home."
A huge smile spread across her face as she took in the house when it came into view. God she’d missed this place. Training all over Europe had been a dream but she was definitely a homebody. She’d missed her crazy family and her hoard of nephews. Jake and Carly had clearly been busy. After everything kicked off with Ben, she’d spent the first few months away from home barely talking to her parents while she processed the news of her oldest brother’s adoption. She was pissed they hadn’t been told. She’d still kept in touch with her brothers, mainly over whatsapp and only warmed back up to her parents when she’d visited briefly for Christmas and a handful of times throughout the year. Her second year away left no time for visits home and video calls became sporadic as her schedule was constantly full from training or shows. When she finally did land in one place to train at a yard in Germany with a respectable show jumper, she found her free time taken up by a certain stable hand which made it feel like she hadn’t seen her family in forever.
As the car pulled to a stop outside the house, Riley laughed at the sight of her dad running out of the house to greet them then swatted her hand at the finger that so rudely poked her in the back of the head. "oh look, here he comes to greet his favourite child." She glanced her Jake with a smirk ”I’m the youngest and the only girl, of course I’m the favourite.” She teased. "Come on, one out all out of the taxi - and don't forget to tip the driver.” She looked at Ben after getting out of the car with a grin. ”5 stars on uber coming your way.” While Ben did the chivalrous thing and grabbed her bags from the boot, she moved towards her father’s outstretched arms and enveloped him in a hug. "How is my favorite daughter?! Oh, and my two sons that I saw a mere few hours ago.” She snorted at the last part and pulled away. ”Tired but happy to be home, I think and your sons are annoying as usual so nothing’s changed there.” She said then walked over to Marie.
”Hi mum” She wrapped her arms around the woman, pulling her into a hug before looking over to Ben being a drama queen. "About to snap my legs, Riley clearly packed the bricks as well as the kitchen sink to bring home." She rolled her eyes and smiled sweetly at him. ”Europe has some of the best shopping. . You really thought I wouldn’t be adding extra luggage for the ride home?” She questioned. "maddie, this is your aunty riley. riley, this is your favourite niece, maddie. i'm sure your nephews are inside destroying the house just for you." Riley turned to smile at the little girl in her brothers arms and gave her a little wave. ”Hi Maddie, I’ve heard so much about you. . ha. . as long as they’re not in my bedroom. . how are the little rascals?”
20 - confident - perfectionist - competitive - professional rider
It was hard to believe that the young woman standing in front of him was his daughter. Obliviously, he knew it was her, but for the past few years, it had mainly been photographs and facetime chats when he got to see her. Now that Riley James Ryan was standing directly in front of him, John couldn't help but to wonder where the time had gone. He knew, of course, that time had been lost to the chaotic times of major moments in his children's lives: Jake's near death experience, Ben's Adoption and Cancer, Riley's own experience with anxiety and eating disorders - the outcomes had driven a wedge between him and his children, where they banded together but did little to interact with him or Marie (at least to his knowledge). It was hard for John to blame them though, he could understand it. It had been a lot in a short time, but time away, and time to grow, not just for the Ryan children but also for himself, seemed to have healed them all as a whole.
His only daughter's arms wrapped around him, returning his hug, and John felt his smile grow as he returned the hug, not wanting to let go until she did. John simply laughed when Riley snorted at his antics before accusing her brothers of being annoying, "Ah, some things never change." He commented now, his blue eyes glancing over towards Marie as she emerged from the house to join them, beautiful as ever but he could have sworn there was an ethereal glow around her now that all of the Ryans were back in one place. Or perhaps that was simply him being in love. And then another voice piped up, "About to snap my legs, Riley clearly packed the bricks as well as the kitchen sink to bring home." Sure enough, there was Ben with all of the bags, and for a moment, John thought his eldest son may be onto something.
"Here Ben, let me help you," he said now, walking over to offer a hand, "Although I might be leaving the kitchen sink carrying to you." As introductions to Maddie were being made, and some teasing about the grandsons followed, John quipped, "I believe the boys are just running around...unless we have some new artwork on the walls...Marie?" The house was childproof for all intense purposes, but leave it to John to dart off and leave his wife and daughter in laws to wrangle the grandchildren.
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
While their house was never exactly quiet, not with their grandchildren around as often as they could be, but there was something that made the place seem brighter with all of her children here at the same time. And no matter how old they were, her adult children would always be her babies, and they would always be welcome here.
Marie smiled as she listened to the banter between her children - husband included - laughing when they got closer. ”Hi mum” She hugged the girl... no woman back. "Welcome home, baby." She said before releasing her.
"...as long as they’re not in my bedroom. . how are the little rascals?” Her brows arched in question. "Bedroom? Were we not supposed to redecorate? I turned it into a craft room!" She gave her husband a concerned looked, though the sparkle in her eye betrayed her poker face, as she had left the room as it had been the last time Riley had been home. "I believe the boys are just running around...unless we have some new artwork on the walls...Marie?" She grinned as she looked over her shoulder. "Last time I saw them, they were running around, throwing foam arsenal at each other." Sure, she didn't like to encourage throwing inside, but it wasn't like they were going to hurt themselves, or anything else with bits of foam.