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!.
”Exactly, I love a challenge.” Katerina laughed, thinking that she quite liked this woman and her sense of humour. She hadn't met many people in Hickstead, but branching out by having the horses now had helped. "Are we still talking about the horses?" She grinned, unable to help herself. Though it wasn't as if she could say she'd had much experience in courting, she knew that some confident women liked men who weren't as easy as they looked.
She shifted her weight slightly, encouraged to stay and talk with the girl as she reclined easily against the stable door. ”Well hopefully they get to the bottom of it. . any idea on how long the rebuild will take?” Katerina shook her head with a sad smile, "They are not sure at the moment, but with such a wonderful fundraiser and with everyone that helped clear the site, there were rumours the building would start next week." She was so glad that people had come together so well to help, without everyone's aid she knew it would have taken twice the time to get the rubble cleared away in preparation for the building; and she knew the additional funds had to have helped.
"Are we still talking about the horses?" Riley pursed her lips before breaking into a cheeky grin. ”Of course. . ” She hadn’t had much experience in the dating world but she was confident enough when it came to men. "They are not sure at the moment, but with such a wonderful fundraiser and with everyone that helped clear the site, there were rumours the building would start next week." She nodded with a soft smile ”Ah that’s good. . I’ll have to come check the place out when it’s done. . I’ve heard great things about the place.” She didn’t understand where the whole rivalry came from between the two barns but she wasn’t here for it. It wasn’t something she cared about. ”So what’s your speciality? Do you compete?” She asked curiously.
Her answering smile to the woman's grin was bright, she immediately liked her. ”Of course. . ” Katerina chuckled slightly, giving her a look as if she pretended that was true. Riley seemed like an easy person to chat with, it was a shame that Kat would be heading back to Blue Acres once it had been rebuilt. She might have liked to invite the woman for a ride at some point. ”Ah that’s good. . I’ll have to come check the place out when it’s done. . I’ve heard great things about the place.” Kat nodded, "You should absolutely come to take a look. I am sure they will only improve upon the place with rebuilding but the facilities were top of the range, and the people are nice." She didn't want to oversell it, but she liked the stables, and she was happy to sing it's praises.
”So what’s your speciality? Do you compete?” Katerina nodded, "I have not yet competed since arriving here, but I plan to. I specialise in dressage." She enjoyed jumping, and had loved going on long hacks back home, popping logs and such that got in their way, but generally her passion was dressage. "What about you?"
"You should absolutely come to take a look. I am sure they will only improve upon the place with rebuilding but the facilities were top of the range, and the people are nice." She gave an enthusiastic nod as she smiled. ”Don’t tell my family but as much as I love it here, I may just be tempted by the new facilities.” It had been on her mind since coming home. She loved Seven Oaks but she’d trained at some brilliant facilities whilst she’d been away and was keen to continue that. Plus it may give her an edge against her brothers. "I have not yet competed since arriving here, but I plan to. I specialise in dressage. What about you?" She refrained from pulling a face at the mention of dressage. She didn’t hate the discipline but it was her least favourite out of the three. ”I’m an eventer. . maybe you can give me some pointers on how to stay focused in dressage, my mind always wanders” She loved the fast pace of show jumping and cross country. She enjoyed dressage to a point but she found it boring. ”Where are you from originally?” She asked, picking up on the earlier part of her sentence and her accent.
”Don’t tell my family but as much as I love it here, I may just be tempted by the new facilities.” Katerina felt a flash of guilt to hear the words and wondered if perhaps she had overstepped her boundaries - even if the woman was being kind and didn't seem to mind, she wasn't sure she should be tempting someone to go against their family. "I'm sorry, maybe I have spoken out of turn," She apologised. The last thing she wanted was to persuade someone to change barns and then have their family members come after her for tempting the woman across. The facilities were slightly more state of the art, even if Seven Oaks had the wonderful hacking and country charm. Each stable had it's own place and personality, she just felt more settled at Blue Acre and would feel glad to be back once it was ready.
She thought she might have seen the slightest motion of a face at the word dressage but Kat only smiled - she was well aware that most preferred the thrill of jumping, and though she enjoyed it, she just felt more in harmony when dancing across the school with her horses. It was why she loved hacking so much too - that sense of freedom and that they could do anything together. ”I’m an eventer. . maybe you can give me some pointers on how to stay focused in dressage, my mind always wanders” Where are you from originally?” Katerina's smile widened, "I would like that, if you in turn will give me courage for jumping." She said, knowing that her weaknesses lay with the coloured poles. "I am from Tuscany, in Italy. Are you from here?"
"I'm sorry, maybe I have spoken out of turn," Riley's eyebrows rose slightly as she shook her head with a small smile. "Don't be daft, i've been thinking about it for a while, even before I got back home. . I've enjoyed doing my own thing out of the shadows of my brothers and I'm keen to continue. ." Before she had left she had trained at the family's own stables with her dad as her coach but boarded her horse at seven oaks to get some space. She loved her parents but living at home and having her father as a coach was enough, spending all day every day with them at their barn would be too much.
"I would like that, if you in turn will give me courage for jumping." She gave the girl a wide grin as she nodded enthusiastically. "Oh definitely! I have a do first, think later approach so by the time i'm scared of the jump, i've already gone over it." She liked to thank her ADHD for that one. Her impulsive issues came in handy at times. Until she decided to go big or go home - usually ending up injuring herself. "I am from Tuscany, in Italy. Are you from here?" Riley smiled, already jealous of the girl for growing up somewhere else. "Ah it looks so beautiful there! Yep, born and raised."
Kat saw the eyebrows go up and wondered if she'd just made things even worse. She had pretty English skills, but even she had to admit that sometimes it was tough to know the social norms. She had a good sense of humour and like their sarcasm and wit, but sometimes it took a minute to know if someone was joking, or if someone was just being polite. "Don't be daft, i've been thinking about it for a while, even before I got back home. . I've enjoyed doing my own thing out of the shadows of my brothers and I'm keen to continue. ." Kat gave her a small smile, still feeling somewhat guilty, even though it sounded like it would necessarily sway her. "I can understand that, I'm sure you have made your own mark on the world." Though she never felt in her brother's shadow she could see how people could feel that way.
Encouraged by the grin, her own smile widened. "Oh definitely! I have a do first, think later approach so by the time i'm scared of the jump, i've already gone over it." She gave a chuckle at that, "I like the idea, I can be that way sometimes, but get stuck in my dressage mindset in the school." She didn't like to overwork the horses, and once she'd worked them on their flat, she always felt bad with the idea of popping jumps - but as dressage was their forte, she didn't feel she could give much time to practice the jumping. "Ah it looks so beautiful there! Yep, born and raised." Kat gave a slight nod, "It is a beautiful part of the country, very quiet though, here feels busy." She admitted, the bustle was nice for her though, she just needed to get into the thick of it a bit more; be part of it. "It's equally beautiful here though," She added, having been surprised by the amount of green despite the concrete of the local cities and towns.
"I can understand that, I'm sure you have made your own mark on the world." She grinned a little and nodded towards Nova. ”I like to think I’ve started to, with the help of this pretty lady.” She said, giving the mare a solid pat on the neck. "I like the idea, I can be that way sometimes, but get stuck in my dressage mind set in the school." She nodded in understanding and smiled. ”Well if you ever fancy a play around over some jumps let me know.” She offered. "It is a beautiful part of the country, very quiet though, here feels busy." She was surprised at that. She’d always thought Hickstead was quiet compared to Willow Bridge but she guessed coming from an even smaller town, Hickstead could be perceived as busy. "It's equally beautiful here though," Riley smiled again and nodded in agreement. ”Yeah it is. . I’ve missed it.”
