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!.
"A horse to call my own?" Cara's brows shot up, as that wasn't quite what she had said, but she didn't want to impersonate a fish, as she couldn't think of how to reword what she had said and sound like she was taking it back, and she could be taking the girl's words too literally so she decided not to say anything. After all, Mist needed a human to love her, and show her how much fun it was to be doted on.
"Oh, I will. I will not let you or any of your ponies down," Cara bowed her head, knowing that Molly would keep her word there. "On that thought, would I take lessons with only you? Or would you like me to utilize your ponies with some of the other teachers also?" She frowned in thought as she rubbed Twist's forehead. "As long as it's a private lesson, as I have only worked these ponies within their own herd." She gestured to the ponies in the pasture. "And haven't really worked with other horses or ponies, which I shall need to amend. You'll also need to tell your instructor that the pony you are riding at the time is still in training." She wondered if Emma would mind if she took one of the ponies along to the girl's next show, just so that the Exmoor would get a taste of the charged atmosphere of a showground.
As her fingers worked over the Welsh Mountain Pony's ears, she did a mental check of the training she'd done with the Exmoor Ponies so far and her brows rose again, her mouth forming an o, before she looked at Molly with a self-conscious smile. "How good is your French?" She asked, her shoulders making their way to her ears. "I started off by teaching them everything via voice commands on the ground, so that I didn't end up with ponies that respond to every instruction the instructor in the middle of the arena calls out, I've been training them in French." She found that equines understood better when they learned what was being asked of them when everyone had all their feet on the ground, and then reinforcing what they already knew from in the saddle.
The look that Cara had shot her did not go unnoticed by the teenager. That swift arch of an eyebrow as soon as she gushed over the idea that the young woman had just handed her a pony meant that it was not a request to be taken literally. It was a job, and not a gift. And yet, Molly couldn't help but to still be excited at the idea . It was hard not to, considering how horse obsessed she could be when she let loose. And while she didn't entirely clear the air with Cara, deciding that would make it a little too awkward, Molly figured it was best to at least reassure her that she wasn't going to kidnap Mist, "Don't worry. I still have to give Luna and Major my attention, I won't hog up Mist all the time from you and Casey." Hopefully that would be enough to sooth the older woman over verses utterly regretting her decision.
More frowning seem to come from Cara as she thought over Molly's request with using her in lessons. Okay, so maybe Molly was overstepping just a little bit. She was going to have to dial it back a bit. Either way, she braced for a solid no, but thankfully what she got was compromise: "As long as it's a private lesson, as I have only worked these ponies within their own herd." Cara gestured to the ponies in the pasture. "And haven't really worked with other horses or ponies, which I shall need to amend. You'll also need to tell your instructor that the pony you are riding at the time is still in training." The teenager nodded, understanding what was being asked of her. She would have to dig into the flat work instructors here, it will be back to basics, "Of course. I understand. If you want to write up everything you want me to know, and shoot it to me in an email, that's fine with me. Or if you want to handwrite a manual, I'm good with that also." The last part was a bit of a joke, since she could only imagine trying to skim through a hand written manual. Given Cara's words so far, it would likely be a tomb.
And then came an unexpected question: how is her French? Now it was Molly's turn to raise an eyebrow, and so she did, but before she could say anything, one of the ponies nudged her elbow in demand for scratches. Just as well, since Cara soon launched into an explanation as to why she was asking. Training the ponies in French. Seems like this would be turning into a curious challenge indeed, "Ah! I see, well, that's probably nice also simply because they can't get confused when they hear other people speak." Molly had an instance once when one of her instructors was explaining on when to ask for a 'canter', and naturally, because the word 'canter' was uttered and Molly hadn't been entirely paying attention, Luna exploded into it simply because she heard the word, "My French is...decent. Not my favorite subject. I think because my highland accent gets in the way. So it will be a test for both me and the ponies."
Cara nodded as she worried her lower lip with her teeth, knowing that she was overthinking everything again, but as much as she tried not to, she couldn't help it.
"Of course. I understand. If you want to write up everything you want me to know, and shoot it to me in an email, that's fine with me. Or if you want to handwrite a manual, I'm good with that also." Her cheeks heated up with a blush. "Each of the ponies have a notebook in their locker with everything that I've done with them journaled." She gave a self-conscious shrug, as she wondered how much doodling she'd done between the writing. Keeping a journal of the ponies she worked with had been something she had started in a foster home she had spent one summer in. The family had owned a riding school and had used her to fine-tune and warm the ponies up so they were ready for their riders, keeping their foster daughter hidden from sight so the owners got all the praise for the well-schooled ponies. Now, it was just habit.
"Mama?" Cara's attention was drawn to a voice by the fence, and her brows arched in question as she saw her daughter standing on the lower fence panel, wearing a unicorn onsie and her paddock boots. She smiled and nodded, shaking her head as the girl released a small squeal, ducked through the fence and hurried over. "I hope Baba and Jiji know your are out here." "Mmm-hmm." The girl answered with a bright smile before she looked up at Molly. "Hi! I'm Kyoto!" Cara released a breath as she shook her head in amusement, stepping away from Twist as the pony's attention was instantly on his itty-bitty human. "I really only use verbal cues when I'm on the ground." She explained to Molly. "I...I do a lot of liberty work." She found it helped establish a better level of trust between them if they knew what she wanted when they both had their feet on the ground, before she moved the lessons to her riding them. "You want to see?" Kyoto asked with a grin. "Only if Molly has time." Cara cautioned.
It somehow did not surprise Molly in the slightest when the other woman informed her that she had journals for each pony chronicling their achievements and what they needed to work on. And Molly found herself a little disappointed in herself that she had never thought of such a method for her own riding thoughts. Cara looked almost a tad embarrassed by admitting that, "That's actually quite genius Cara," the teenager reassured her with a smile, "I'm actually a little disappointed in myself that I never thought of that for my own riding journey here given I do that sort of method with my classwork and baking." Notes were, after all, the greatest way to track things. Even the smartest of people with the boldest minds couldn't remember everything, even Molly was loathed to admit that there had been countless times where she had managed to forget something important that could have been negated by writing it down.
Before her mind could get a little too distracted by what she had been missing out on with her note taking, there was a small voice that cut through the quiet now between the two woman. Brown eyes glanced over to see a young child, dressed as a unicorn, looking at them. Molly felt puzzled until Cara spoke, ah, this must be her daughter that she mentioned. As she introduced herself, the teenager merely grinned and waved back, "Nice to meet you Kyoto! I'm Molly. I have to say, you're really rocking that onsie and paddock boot look." One of the ponies seemed rather pleased to see the tiny child, as it was quick to go investigate her now, which Molly couldn't help but to smile at. That was certainly a bond a love. She glanced back over to Cara now after she spoke, "I've actually never heard of the liberty method. Is that like natural horsemanship?" It sounded like it would be, but Molly knew better than to assume.
She was a little surprised by the invite to watch from the little girl, but then again, children, especially boisterous ones like Kyoto appeared to be, thrived at inviting new strangers to things. Molly smiled and pulled out her phone to look at the time, "I got thirty minutes to spare before I gotta head back to my dorm to do my homework," she informed Cara now, putting her phone away, "So Kyoto can teach me." She joked.
Cara pulled a face at the mention of genius before she could stop herself, as it was a word that had been thrown at her - as an insult - for her life. "You bake?" She hadn't meet many other young people who enjoyed baking, not that she went out of her way to meet other people, but that was beside the point. "Keeping journals made it easier to keep track of hat I was doing and when it was down on paper I could see what was or wasn't working, and I could plan out what we could do next." It also stopped people thinking about how she could remember so much.
Kyoto beamed at the compliment, though her attention was on her pony as the older people talked. Cara frowned slightly as she thought of how to explain liberty, as opposed to natural horsemanship. "They are similar, but where natural horsemanship is about talking to a horse in their own language - which yes I do - it's more about getting a horse to work with you as though you still have the halter and lead, without using either. Kyoto uses sticks to direct her pony when teaching him something new, but once Twist has the concept, we remove the sticks and she just uses her hands to direct him." She knew that a lot of people got the idea that people used whips, the sticks, to beat the horse into submission to do the liberty work, but it was further from the truth.
"Yay!" Kyoto clapped her hands, causing Twist to jump away from her. "Oops, désolé mama." She apologised as she clasped her hands and ducked her head and then held her hand out to her pony, waiting as the bay Welshie's ears flickered back and forth before he blew out through his nose and stepped forward to sniffle the girl's hair. "I'm sorry." She told the pony. "What to play?" She kissed his muzzle before taking a step back, and grinning as he took a step toward her. "He forgives me!" She cheered as she turned and began to walk away to a section of the pasture away from the others and stopped, before turning to face her mother and Molly, and the pony. "En dehors." She commanded as she pointed away from herself, her brows rising as the pony licked her face, no doubt seeing if she had missed any of her dessert when washing up after dinner, and then the pony turned and walked half a dozen feet away from her before waiting for his next cue. "Marcher!" She grinned, a true performer, as she had the pony worked through his gaits before calling him in again and both pony and child gave a bow before Kyoto ran back to her mother, silently demanding to be picked up. "Ta-dah!"
Molly almost laughed at the question: You bake? But thankfully, the teenager managed to hold it in and keep it to herself. After all, it was an innocent question from Cara, but it was still funny to her that such a statement had needed clarification and reconfirmation, "Yup! I bake. Cakes. Cupcakes. Rolls. I don't like pies though, which is kinda bad considering I grew up on an orchard." Well, she still lived on a orchard during the summer when Willow Brooke sent her back home. Either way, fruit pies had never been her thing, much to her mother's dismay, "I'm sure you and Kyoto like to bake together." Okay, well, that was an assumption, but if they liked to do horse and pony stuff together, perhaps they liked to bake together as well. Molly heard that it could be an excellent teaching method for young minds, at least, per the French.
She listened closely as Cara explained exactly the thoughts and methods behind natural horsemanship, or perhaps, Cara's version of it. Molly had heard of it before, and knew that there were several people who taught it in the world, but each person had their own variation of it. It all came down to the same boiling point though, asking the horse and the horse agreeing, "Ah, okay! That's pretty cool that you are able to pass that knowledge onto your daughter. I can see just from her joining us that Twist already seemed to be in sync."
Speaking of the little girl and her pony, chocolate brown eyes looked to the pair now who appeared to be in their own little world. It was cute to watch, especially when the pony decided that Kyoto's face may need a bath. Okay, he was probably looking for treats, but it was still fun to watch. After that minor distraction though, the pair seemed to get in a groove and put on a small display of exactly what Cara had been discussing earlier: words and hands. And with each word, Twist moved and waited patiently for the next que, "Wow Kyoto! That's pretty awesome. I know for a fact my own horsey friends won't listen to me like the way Twist listens to you." Major maybe, but certainly not Luna, not without some convincing that always felt like a discussion. Although, Molly liked to believe that the mare still loved her in her own way, just like the gelding did.
Cara sucked her bottom lip into her mouth, as she could see the amusement the teenager got from her question. And, in hindsight, she guessed her question was probably a touch on the blunt side, and possibly rude. "Most of my baking is done while the rest of the house is sleeping." She offered with a shrug. "Kyoto and the other children I look after do enjoy spending time and creating things in the kitchen with me during the day." Even if those times weren't as much enjoyment for Cara, as the mess the children made would make her anxious and she'd need to centre herself and carry on, reminding herself that cooking was an all around educational activity, as they needed to follow direction, there was counting, reading if they were able, and there was also a whole lot of science too. "What is your favourite thing to make?" She regretted the question as soon as it was out of her mouth, as social ettique would normally mean the question would be given back to her.
Kyoto rested her head on her mother's shoulder and shrugged her own shoulders. "You just need to give your horse questions they can grasp." She said sagely. "If the question too big, they will walk away." Her brows shot up as she lifted her head up and looked her mother in the eye. "Right, Mama? Hi Baba!"
Cara kissed the child on the forehead as she released the girl and let her race off through the pasture to the gate where Naomi was standing. She returned the woman's wave as the child was picked up and the pair walked away. She turned her attention back to Molly. "To answer her question. Yes, you need to ask your horse small questions when you want something from them. If your question is too big, your horse will get confused and will look for a way out of being with you." She smiled as Mist approached them, finally deciding to come up and see what was happening, since the humans had been in the pasture for so long. "Molly, this is Mist." She gave introductions, rubbing the mare's forehead.
Molly inwardly cringed when the woman informed her that she did most of her baking while the rest of the house was asleep - meaning Cara did not often receive help in the way that she had thought. Well, this was awkward. The teenager really needed to remember that it was rude to make assumptions, even more to babble away without much thought to it. She blamed her personality for the latter though, sometimes it was hard to be serious outside of a classroom or the bakery. Cara's follow up made her feel a little bit better though, "Ah! Well, that's good about the little ones. I feel like baking was always my favorite thing," and she couldn't even say growing up since, well, she was still doing that, "Do Casey and Emma help out too?" Maybe that was a silly question as well. The cute teenage boy always seemed rather aloof when she caught him around the barn, and the other teenage girl appeared to live at the barn - hardly any time for baking, "Hm? Me?" Molly did quite the rolladex now, "Basic me does like doing cupcakes because they're so versatile, but my mom and I always love making scottish macaroons. I like to think we blow the French out of the water."
It felt a little silly now admitting to the young child that she had a horse friend whom didn't listen to her, but it was too late now. Molly figured it was good to include Kyoto in their conversation anyways, given how exuberant the little girl seemed to be about answering her questions. Brown eyes watched as the little girl gave thought before presenting her with a sage answer. If it wasn't for her getting distracted by the sight of Ms. Naomi off in the distance, Molly would have thought that Kyoto was older than she seemed. The teenager was left pondering as the girl ran off, and thankfully, Cara took over the conversation, "Ah! I think I understand. Although I am not sure how to ask small questions," at least, outside of a riding lesson. Ground work always seemed the bane of her existence even though it was just as good of a bonding experience as riding lessons were. She didn't have much time to ponder as another large pony came up to them now, and the young woman gave introductions, "Hello Mist! It's nice to meet you," she said now, holding her hand out to allow the mare to sniff, "I think you and I are going to become good friends soon enough."
Cara pressed her lips together, she knew from the other girl's body language that she had said something that hadn't been the answer Molly had wanted, and she wasn't sure what she had said that seemed to have upset the other. "They help as much as they can." She replied. She tried to include the two teenagers into her dinner prep plans as much as possible, but with both of them so busy in the barn, she was often left to her own devices. "Scottish macaroons are a lot nicer, and not as... painful to make, as the french variant."
With her daughter safely in the arms of her grandmother, Cara turned her complete attention to Molly. "Small questions are easy. Catching your horse's attention, is a small question. The correct answer to that question would be the horse remaining still as you approach them. If that question is too big for them, they walk away as you approach. Your next question would be to catch their attention and then hold it. Them taking a step toward you would be the best kind of answer, but them not walking away is still a good answer." She said with a small shrug, hoping she had been able to explain it well enough.
She smiled as Mist and Molly got to know each other, knowing that another grown human would be good for the mare. Sure, Kyoto could ride the mare, but the toddler's riding abilities were as lacking as the mare's training, so Mist needed someone on her back the knew the ropes better than she did, so that she could keep learning more. "Mist is a well-behaved pony... well, as well-behaved as a newly trained adult horse can be, but she needs a human friend who knows more than she does so that she can go to the next level. She know what trotting poles and small cavalletti are, but I haven't schooled her in jumping yet. I have seen her jump over logs before I brought her here, so she has a big jump in her." She rubbed Twists' ears as the Welsh Mountain Pony thrust his forehead into her chest, wanting attention and seeing her as a good substitute to his owner.
Molly jumped at the macaroon comments now, thrilled to grasp at something that she could handle in conversation verses stumbling around and making dumb assumptions about Cara's home life. It couldn't quite be helped. It was so odd, given Cara physically appeared no more than a few years older than Molly herself yet acted eons mature. Granted, the woman before her was rather private, and perhaps there was a good reason for that, "Ughs, I know. Only the French could come up with something that you can ruin so easily...or break so easily...or both. It's like they wanted to weed us out from baking against them."
Brown eyes watched as the little girl ran away, following her path towards the arms of Naomi Clarke. Besides her, Cara appeared to be watching closely as well - their conversation taking a pause, until Kyoto was secure. Then it became all about horses again, which of course, was nothing to complain about, "Huh. That is a curious way to think about it. I'll have to try it some time though when I'm not in a rush." The teenager thought over her two favorite school horses, figuring perhaps one of them would be the best test subject over a random school horse she hardly knew, "I'll try on Major over the weekend. I think if I tried that with Luna, I'd go bonkers." A lesson in patience when it came to horses was always one she needed, they somehow always knew how to push her buttons just right when on the ground.
Her hands rested on Mist, who seemed perfectly content and happy with this situation - a pet was always a good pet after all. Molly listened intently to what Cara was saying now, given this was about training her pony verses Molly just joking around with her favorite Blue Arces horses, "Ah well, I will do my best not to let you down. I do 85 cm with Luna and Major so hopefully, Mist and I will be a good fit. But perhaps, we need to bond first on the ground and some walk, trot, canter before we talk about any jumping." She said with a grin now, watching Twist bend his head into his human now, impressed that Cara still remained up right, "I got mid-fall exams coming up next week, but the following week, I will be good to start with you and Mist."
Cara gave a small smile, as it seemed she was getting better at this social interaction thing. Looking after children was teaching her as much as it was teaching them. "It's a pity that the French are not often mentioned when you look up the best bakers." Not that that was a topic many people would look up just for the fun of it, and she only knew the information because an old classmate who had become a pastry chef had told her.
She nodded, pleased that it seemed Molly understood what she had been saying. Luna might surprise you." She offered with a smile. "Horses become so used to being told what to do, that they feel they lose a bit of their freedom. Once you start asking and waiting for an answer, they become more inclined to work with you, because you aren't the only one doing the talking." At least she'd discovered that that was why so many lesson horses got such a bad reputation.
She smiled again and bowed her head as she watched Molly with Mist. "You letting me down isn't something I'm worried about. I've seen you working with both Major and Luna, and you treat them both as though they are your own, rather than just handing them off when you've finished. She finally released Twist and gave him a little push, bringing her energy up, telling the pony that enough was enough and lowered her energy again when the Mountain Pony backed off and then walk away. "When you start jumping her, please have someone with you. She likes to buck, after a jump, and I'm not sure if she'll do the same with a rider on." She'd ridden enough ponies who liked to buck after a jump, just because they were having a blast, not because they were being naughty.
Molly couldn't help but to laugh at Cara's words about the French, "It's probably because they have a reputation for being snobs." Granted, it would be mean of her to just lump them all together. She knew that there were crass stereotypes about Scots also that didn't fit her or her family at all. Besides, she certainly knew about one Frenchman who didn't seem like a snob, "Then again, I do love me some Amaury Guichon and he seems as sweet as his creations."
The idea of Luna surprising her in a positive manner seemed like a foreign concept to Molly, mainly because she was quite certain she knew the school horse quite well by now. Like all horses, Luna had good days and bad days, although lately, the fleabitten mare seemed a bit more sour as of late, "I guess I never thought about that. It must also be exhausting being a school horse with all of those riding classes." While Luna was a bit more advanced and probably had less classes, the teenager's mind went to Major who was pretty much an old school master at this point, "I'll try and listen to them more though - sometimes I think I should just sit around with them and drink my coffee one morning verses taking them out for a ride."
While silly, the teenager couldn't help but ot beam at the older woman's approval. Molly always loved when her work with her favorite school horses did not go unnoticed - while she didn't own or lease either of them, she certainly acted like she did. Despite getting older each year, Molly still had that horse girl bug through and through. As both ponies said their good byes and walked off, brown eyes watched them for a moment before returning to Cara, "Oh, I wouldn't imagine riding by myself. Quite frankly, I don't even like doing it with Luna or Major and I trust them."
She knew it was probably getting late now, and she was going to have to get back to Willow Brooke and her dorm room as dusk seemed to finally be setting on the yard. Plus, she didn't entirely want to keep Cara from her daughter or the Campbell's. Still, Molly couldn't help but to ask, "Need help with anything else before I head out?"
Cara nodded, as some French people she had met did come off as snobs - the athletes anyway - though she also knew, from helping Angèl with her pony, that not everyone from France was a snob.
She nodded as the teenager thought over her words. "It can't be easy for a horse, to have to adjust to a different person every time someone mounts up." She offered. "Sometimes, just being around horses is as good for both of you, as riding them is." All too often, the only time horses spent time with their humans was when they were being ridden, but she found that the real work was what was done when she wasn't in the saddle, and was learning new things from her ponies, and the horses she worked with, while on the ground.
She gave a small smile, knowing that she had made the right decision when she had asked Molly's help with Mist, and she knew that the mare would love having a human who wanted to spend time with her. "Thank you." Her eyes moved over the ponies in the field, pleased that each of them had a job - even if Winnie's only job was taking care of her daughter and keeping the small herd in line.
She shook her head with a smile as the offer. "Thank you, but now I need to turn my attention to the big horses." She knew that this was the time that most people were heading home for the night, but for her it was when the real work began. When her attention was put on the eventing horses that she worked for Naomi and Mik. A time that she could work without being watched, and judged, by other people.
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