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!.
With Spring seemingly around the corner, or at least, it was trying to come around the corner, Sam Graves knew he had to start looking out for the signs of any of the cows going into labor, since soon, calving season would be here. He wasn't the best at knowing the exact date a calve will show, just the time range, which would be creeping up sooner rather than later. It was actually his favorite part about working on the ranch, the baby calves. It was stupid, probably. Given most people considered him quiet and stoic, which in their defense, he was, it was for them to imagine that he, Sam Graves, would melt at the sign of a new born calf.
The herd was coming in now, being brought back so they could stay in the pastures overnight where they were forced to still use the provided cover for warmth. His blue eyes were scanning over the cattle now, counting as best as he could and noting the tags, ignoring the stated list. Sam had been here long enough that he didn't a list to really identify the cows anymore. He knew most, if not all, by sight and their name - if they had one at least. Nearing the end of his count though, the man couldn't help but to frown. Blue eyes looked to the herders, but they had already gotten off their horses and were leading them away. How...unhelpful.
However, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Glancing over, he saw none other than one Kalani Rocha. Sam didn't talk to her much, mainly because the young woman was the opposite of him and a huge extrovert, which could be overwhelming. But she was a great ranch hand, so what did he have to loose. He walked over to her now, "Lani, hey," Sam started now, trying to keep the gruffness out of his voice and not speak with a mumble, "I need a sanity check with the cattle herd. Do you see Daisy and Shay? The herd just came in but I can't seem to find them and...I'm worried." And if need be, he'd saddle up and go out into the deeper pastures to find them.
What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person.
thanks aofie!
Thirty . Ranch Hand . LGBTQ+ . It's Complicated - TENAYA SYDNEY HOLLAND (unrequited crush - 2 years)
Lani had finished her jobs for now, but rather than head back to her bunk room, she remained around the stables. As she knew they were bringing the cows in, and she was there as an extra pair of hands if they needed it. Plus it gave her a chance to get photos of the cattle handlers at work, as well as the cattle, and good, natural, photos were never bad for business.
Seeing that the cowboys had a good hand on their own horses, she became an extra and decided to head over to the pastures to hang out with Bear, before dinner. "Lani, hey," She turned when she heard her name and smiled toward Sam. "What's up?""I need a sanity check with the cattle herd. Do you see Daisy and Shay? The herd just came in but I can't seem to find them and...I'm worried." She gave a teasing smile. "Don't know how much help I'll be with the sanity check, but I can give the herd a once over." She climbed up on the bottom of the fence so that she was taller than the herd and she quickly scanned the herd, frowning and she went over them twice more and shook her head before jumping down. "If you think you're crazy, I'm going to be in the straight jacket beside you. They aren't there." She knew that the herders wouldn't have let two stray, so that meant that Daisy and Shay weren't there to start off with. "Do we tell them," she nodded in the direction the herders had gone with their horses, "or do we tack up and go and find them ourselves?"
If he had caught Lani off guard, she made no reference to it and instead smiled warmly at him. Well, at least this interaction was off to a great start despite the situation. The young woman allowed Sam to explain his situation, and she seemed to take it all in stride, "Don't know how much help I'll be with the sanity check, but I can give the herd a once over." If offered her the slightest of smiles, "Thanks." Sam hung back as she headed over to the fence to investigate the herd. Blue eyes watched as Lani remained still, standing on the fence board as she scanned over the moving bodies of the cattle. After a few minutes, he saw her shake her head.
That small movement made Sam's heart stink, he knew what it meant. The man waited for Lani to rejoin him now and it was not long before she was confirming her suspicions, "If you think you're crazy, I'm going to be in the straight jacket beside you. They aren't there." Sam didn't even have it in him to sigh, he was far too worried. Not that cows really had much to worry about out in these lands as far as predators go, but the lands could sill be an issue. It was also nearing spring, which meant that calves would start popping up, "Shit," was the only word he had as a response to her statement. At Lani's question, his blue eyes looked towards the herders who were walking back.
It was tempting to tell them, mainly so he could be a dick about it. Sam didn't appreciate carelessness when it came to the herd. If the two cows didn't come back, it meant that they hadn't been with the herd to begin with and the two idiots didn't realize it. But that wouldn't solve anything, and who knew what kind of time Daisy and Shay had. The man shook his head, "No, we'll go ourselves. I don't want to get into a bitch fight with them," he informed Lani now, "Are you good with taking one of your horses?" After all, Sam wasn't sure what the young woman had been on schedule for today, so he wasn't sure if her horses were already spent, "I can lend you one of mine if it's an issue. They've been holed up all morning waiting for work."
What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person.
thanks aofie!
Thirty . Ranch Hand . LGBTQ+ . It's Complicated - TENAYA SYDNEY HOLLAND (unrequited crush - 2 years)
"Shit," Lani grinned in amusement at his reaction, or lack thereof. "Woah, Sam, hold it in there!" She teased.
She bounced on the balls of her feet, waiting to see what his answer was, her smile brightening at his reply. "Are you good with taking one of your horses?" Her brows arched. "I only have one horse, and as I spend all my working hours scooping poop or exercising the horses here, Bear would love a run." She grinned again, pulling at her lower lip with her teeth before she glanced over at where her Clydie was splitting his time between grazing and watching her. She gave a whistle and clapped her hands as the gelding broke into a canter and easily cleared the fence before he cantered up to her, sliding to a stop before shoving his big head into her chest. "Give me five mins to get him clean and tacked up." She tipped her hat before she walked into the barn, the horse trailing behind her with his chin on her shoulder.
It didn't take her too long to give the gelding a once over with the brush, paying attention to where the saddle and bridle would sit and picking out his hooves, before she threw the blanket and then the Synthetic Saddle and she did up the cinch before slipping the snaffle bit into his mouth and slipped the crown over his ears and did up the throatlatch before leading the blue roan back outside, where she finished tightening the cinch and led him over to the mounting block where she swung into the saddle.
His gaze looked to Kalani as she gently teased him about his reaction to the confirmation of the missing cows. Sam knew he could snap at her, but that wouldn't win him anything and she was doing him a favor, "I'm a man of many words," he replied back wrly. The man wasn't surprised when Kalani informed him that she had her own horse that needed the ride. It was funny, the ranch preferred its hands to own their own horse, but the ranch also required its own horses to get work, so it often felt like a conundrum that the hand's horses lost out on. Speaking of the young woman's horse, the gelding had made quite the entrance, "Huh, I didn't know that roan was yours." He mused out loud before nodding his confirmation to Kalani that they'd meet back at the same spot in five minutes with their perspective horses.
Sam left to go get his mare, figuring that she could use the extra work given how moody she had been lately. His gelding, Thumper, was always the reliable one, while Damsel tended to be a hit or miss. The man knew that was his fault though, he put Thumper to work more than the mare and not enough credit when deserved. That would change today though if she could pull off a long ride to god knows where and back. Both his horses had been saddled, milling about at a post. He quickly untacked Thumper and set him loose into one of the fields with the last of Sam's horses - one tiny mini to be exact, before returning to his palomino mare, "Today's your day to shine, girl," he murmured to her, petting her gently before bridling her up and taking care of the cinch, "Time to prove to everyone what I saw in you when I bought you verses the nut job you pretend to be."
The mare's ears twitched at her owner's sweet mumblings, snorting a little bit knowing that they were going out and Thumper was gone to relax for the evening. Shaking his head slightly, he gently took the reins and lead her back where Kalani and her mount were waiting, "You weren't joking about the five minutes," Sam commented before checking the cinch once more and then mounted up. Damsel groaned a little bit as his weight, but Sam knew very well that it was for dramatic effect. Shanking his head slightly, he lead her over to the gate now and unlatched it, and stopped, "Ladies first," the man called over to Kalani before looking towards the unknown, "I think they were driving them from the mid section of the land today, since they knew they had to get them back into the barn tonight."
What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person.
thanks aofie!
Thirty . Ranch Hand . LGBTQ+ . It's Complicated - TENAYA SYDNEY HOLLAND (unrequited crush - 2 years)
Lani couldn't help but smirk at his response to her teasing, she could imagine that this is what it would have been like to have a brother... though she didn't think wasn't sure what it would be like to have added another person to her family. With an older sibling, she would have at least had someone to turn to when her father had a bad day.
She made a big fuss over the gelding, pulling a mock offended face at Sam's words. "Why? Because he's huge, and I'm not?" She asked with a pretend hurt look, and then grinned. "We kind of found each other at the sales yard, and I couldn't leave him behind." That, however, was a whole different story for another day, when they weren't worried about missing cattle.
Sitting in the saddle, she checked her saddle bags, making sure that she had everything she might need, including a small digital camera - she didn't go anywhere without a camera - as well as a portable charger. She grinned as Same joined them and shrugged. "I can harness a Standy in under five minutes, so tacking a horse up is child's play compared to a harness." She rubbed Bear's neck as the gelding tossed his head, eager to get moving. She grinned and bowed her head, touching the peak of her helmet, as though it were a western hat, and clicked her tongue to get the horse moving and they headed in the direction Sam had mentioned. "What are we going to do when we find them?" She didn't even know what Bear would do, he wasn't in any way afraid of cows, but he'd never been worked around them before.
Sam didn't quite understand how the young woman could be so nonchalant about the missing cows, maybe she was worried and just very good at hiding it, but from Sam's perspective, her personality was going to make this ride feel long. And that was on top of his own worry. It wasn't that Kalani was mean, in fact, she was far from it, from what he could tell and had heard, she was very nice and infectious, and perhaps that was the reason why he may find himself utterly annoyed. Sometimes nice people were just...too much, and talked too much.
Still, when she informed him that she harness in under 5 minutes and her tacking time plus packing a saddle bag took even less time, Sam knew he still made the right call by having her join him, "Huh. Didn't expect you to say that either," he replied back now, wryly teasing her over her earlier comments about Bear. It was weird to see her in the helmet, made her smarter than him given he just wore his hat and that wasn't going to save him from a concussion, but still weird. As they passed through, Sam and Damsel followed afterwards - allowing the gate to gently, but firmly, shut behind them as they headed off.
He rode along Kalani and Bear now, making sure to keep his mare in check every time she decided to try and make a face at Bear. He knew Damsel would mind her own business and not do anything too stupid, but today was not the day where he could afford her to be stupid. She was there to work, and only work, and Sam made certain she understood that. Kalani's question broke through now, "I have the radio with me to message back to the main ranch if we need to," he replied now, "I'm hoping we can just herd them back, calves included, if there are any new surprises. I don't want to even think about what we have to do if there are any broken legs..."
Even saying it out loud made him frown, since he didn't think a cow could come back from a broken leg. That was a worry he wouldn't humor unless it came to it, "Thanks for coming," he grunted now, figuring it was best to say it. It dawned on Sam that he didn't know much about the woman besides him, or her horse, other than they came to the Ranch before him and likely were more senior than him either, "What made you want him?" he asked now, nodding to Bear, figuring he'd ask incase Kalani was one of those people who couldn't handle the silence. Sam still kept his blue eyes peeled though, specifically for tracks - given the cold weather made it harder for tracking.
What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person.
thanks aofie!
Thirty . Ranch Hand . LGBTQ+ . It's Complicated - TENAYA SYDNEY HOLLAND (unrequited crush - 2 years)
Lani grinned. Life at a racing stable worked fast, so one had to learn to keep up with the pace, or get left behind. It didn't mind her too much, because she lived life in fast forward anyway, so the racing barn was a great fit for her. And now she was here, and life was a lot slower.
She glanced over at Sam and Damsel, making sure to keep a little space between the mare and the gelding, as she didn't want her horse to upset the other, and getting Damsel in trouble. While she seemed calm in the saddle, her eyes didn't stop surveying the area around them, keeping a watch on what was happening and looking for anything out of place, while also listening to the surrounding area. She nodded as Sam answered her question, which made sense.
She gave Bear a pat and nodded her head to his thanks. "Having a big horse means that he won't worry if he has to carry a calf." She replied. She wondered if the calves had found trouble, which is what had pulled their mothers away from the rest of the herd. "Sorry?" She shook her head as her brain caught up with the question asked and she grinned, leaning forward to rub both sides of the gelding's neck. "I went to the sale yard to look for a good horse, not that I had a lot of money, and all the good cow-ponies were well out of my price range. And then I saw this grumpy guts here. It was just meant to be. I don't know how to explain it. Boss-man wasn't happy when he was dropped off." She laughed. "Got even worse when Bear seemed to hate cows." She gave a bright grin. "We've sorted that small issue out though, and he's good with them now though, so don't worry about that." She assured him, the gelding would even be happy to carry a calf. "Easy bud." She soothed as the gelding released a snort.
It was quite the tale to hear how Lani came by her horse, even more so to hear that Bear hadn't originally been a fan of cows, "Really? I wouldn't have thought that of him given what I've seen him do when you ride him." All of the horses at the ranch - those the ranch owned itself and those that were personally owned by the hands - all seemed to know their jobs and work, but Sam knew that was also a testament to their respective riders and the work put into them, "I got lucky with Thumper and his work ethic, he was a good first project horse. I can't say the same about Damsel here," the mare seemed to catch on that she was being talked about as a snort escaped her now, along with a good head toss that Sam ignored as he kept her moving forward, "She's taking more time than I would have thought, but can't rush that. It's up to her."
And just like that, the palomino mare suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. It wasn't enough to catch Sam off guard, as he remained firmly in his seat, but it was sudden enough to make him ponder why. Blue green eyes looked at his mare now as her head and neck raised, ears twitching, "What do you hear, girl?" He muttered to himself, casting a quick glance towards Bear to see if the gelding was having the same sort of reaction. Returning his gaze towards the horizon, Sam nudged the mare forward, but instead she pivoted on her haunches, facing about 10 o clock now. A frown sat on his lips, "Well, at least you're not pointing us home..." His gaze returned to ahead of them now, keeping peeled. With dusk threatening to fall on them, he knew if they didn't find the heifers' soon, they would be in trouble.
And then, the man thought he caught sight of what had set Damsel off. Two large masses off in the distance, along with a smaller one. One of the large seemed stressed out, and Sam could feel his heart drop, "I think I see them. Let's go." With that, he hustled his mare into a light lope as they headed towards the cows now, half expecting Lani and Bear to pass him given their bigger stride.
What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person.
thanks aofie!
Thirty . Ranch Hand . LGBTQ+ . It's Complicated - TENAYA SYDNEY HOLLAND (unrequited crush - 2 years)
Lani couldn't help but chuckle at the name of his other horse. "How did he get the name Thumper? I know how the rabbit in Bambi got the name, but a horse?" She shrugged about the mare he was riding. "A horse doesn't have to love bovine to have good cow sense." She reasoned. "And the one thing I've learned about horses, that's it's always best to take things at their pace, rather than try and rush them and having to start from the beginning all over again." She'd picked up a lot about horse training since she had been offered the job here, and she was happy to take in everything.
She reined Bear in when she saw that Damsel had stopped and asked her horse to back up as she waited to see why the mare had stopped. While her horse didn't mind being around cows, he didn't exactly have cow sense, and seemed more annoyed that they had stopped moving than looking around, so Lani sat quietly in the saddle as she watched Sam's mare, tightening her hands on the reins as the mare spun around, a laugh escaping her. "Would be a little embarrassing if she had." She said with a chuckle.
She released the reins as they headed in the direction the mare had turned in, making sure to keep the gelding's pace with the mare's as the last she wanted was for a huge horse to come barreling on stressed out cows. "Easy girls." She soothed as they got closer, closing her hands on the reins so that Bear slowed down even more, allowing the smaller mare and Sam approach without the cows feeling like they were being cornered.
Sam couldn't help but to smile when his coworker laughed at his horse's name. Normally, it would probably draw out a scowl from the man, but Lani Rocha was a different sort of human, one that Sam didn't mind having poke fun at him or his horses, "What? He doesn't look like a Thumper?" he asked wryly now, "It was a play on his show name since he came with papers. Also, he nearly knocked me out the first time I was doing his hooves. He likes to lean in and fall asleep." The memory, while embarrassing, had been a learning lesson for Sam when getting to know the gelding. Unfortunately, it was a habit that the horse had yet to shake, but he had gotten better about with Sam himself - the others, not so much, "How's Bear's cow sense anyways? You two are usually with the horses, right?"
Although soon enough, he may have gotten his answer when Damsel reacted to something and Lani's gentle giant kept on walking. However, she was quick to back him up once Sam and his mare were at a stand still before turning quickly. Hearing Lani's chuckle, Sam merely replied, "Two months ago, we probably would have had that embarrassment." His palomino mare was still a work in progress, but slowly and surely, she was getting there. The two pairs were off now though, and the man was rather thankful that Lani kept her gelding's speed and stride in check, not only for the safety of the cows but also for Damsel's ability to keep up.
Sure enough, one cow was there. It was Shay, who looked stressed out, and that left Sam worried. From what he could see in the dimming light, she may have managed to get stuck, "Shit. You find yourself a rabbit tunnel or something?" He asked now, pulling Damsel to a stop now. Sam could only hope that the heffer had not broken a leg, which, quite frankly, would be a miracle, but he could still hope. Removing his feet from the stir-ups now, he got off, "Lani, do you see Daisy anywhere?" She certainly was tall enough being perched up on her gelding. He pulled a safety kit out and walked over, coo-ing softly, as Shay tossed her head, "Hey girl, it's me, Sam. You know, you let me nap with you in the barn," his blue eyes fell to her leg now, "She defilingly found herself a rabbit hole. I may have to ask you to help me with digging her out." And that was going to suck.
What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person.
thanks aofie!
Thirty . Ranch Hand . LGBTQ+ . It's Complicated - TENAYA SYDNEY HOLLAND (unrequited crush - 2 years)
Lani pursed her lips together as she thought about the horse. "I guess if when he's lying down, if he tumps his tail on the ground, I could get the name." She shrugged. "My name means 'the heavens', and I'm anything but an angel, so I really can't say that a name suits someone or not. The one thing that he has with the rabbit, is that he's cute." She shrugged and grinned again. "We don't often work with the cows, but he knows his stuff, might have even been used for cutting before I found him." She hadn't asked too much about his past, and the person selling him hadn't offered much, other than he horse being stubborn and lazy. "His first few weeks here, I had him grazing as near to the cattle as I was allowed, he was spooky at first and then less so, and now he just jumps the fences when he's sick of where he is." He never jumped into the fields with the cows though.
She rolled her eyes in mock annoyance at the cow, though she kept looking around to make sure that they didn't get any unwanted company since the sun was setting. She stood up in the stirrups, which didn't help much, as she looked around. "Stand, Bear." She said as she kicked her feet out of the stirrups, and moved until she was standing in the saddle, arms stretched out to keep her balance, as she looked around and smiled when she spotted the other cow. "Yeah, she's found some tasty heather. Shay was probably on her way to join her when she found the hole." She lowered herself down and sat in the saddle again.
Lani gasped and gave Sam a horrified look when he mentioned she'd need to help get the cow out. "What? And ruin this manicure?" She asked as she held up her hands, which hadn't seen a manicure since she was last in Colorado. With a grin, she jumped off her horse with a firm. "Stay." She'd learned better than telling him to sit, and headed over to where Sam and Shay were. "Easy girl." She soothed as she slowed her steps. "I'm here to help."
He rolled his blue eyes when Lani made the comparison that Thumper's name made about as much sense as her own name did, "Guess I can't argue that." Sam wasn't much of a sasser, he did better when he just grumbled and mumbled his angst. The man was smart enough to know that it was a losing battle with Lani - she'd have him tongue tied and twisted in the end.
At least the cows were there to distract him. He dismounted Damsel now, ground tying her by letting one of his split reins hang to the ground while the other rested on his saddle, safely looped up. Lani probably had a better idea when it had come to training Bear on voice commands, but Sam didn't have much time to marvel over that. The sky was getting dark, and they had a hefter to dig out. The fact that Shay wasn't screaming total bloody murder was a good sign, Sam could only hope it meant that she hadn't broken her leg when she went down.
After all, a broken leg was a dead cow walking, not much to do but to put it out of its misery, and quite frankly, Sam was secretly a softie and couldn't imagine that. The horrific gasp that escape Lani made Sam arch an eyebrow, "But you're a ranch...oh, you're joking." God, he should have known. They had crossed paths enough. Hadn't she literally just said earlier that she was the opposite of Heaven? He was crouching down now, realizing there was no easy way to do this, "I think - maybe, we just need to scoop out enough around her leg, then maybe we can help support her lift it out...or well, have the horses help support her..." and hope Shay didn't thrash...god, this was going to suck. Blue eyes looked to young woman now, "What do you think, Lani?"
What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person.
thanks aofie!
Thirty . Ranch Hand . LGBTQ+ . It's Complicated - TENAYA SYDNEY HOLLAND (unrequited crush - 2 years)
Lani gave a huff in mock outrage and then grinned. "Not sure whether to be insulted or take that as a compliment." She told him with a laugh. She'd always been known to shoot first and ask questions second (or in her case talk first and think second), but there were times that it had helped, and right now it was easier to just shoot her mouth rather than think about the worst outcome.
Lani looked from the trapped cow to the one that was happily eating and back again. She nodded with a grin as Sam worked out that she had been joking about the manicure comment. "That one tends to be a riot." She crouched down beside the young man and looked at the cow's leg and frowned as she glanced back over toward the other cow. "If you start digging, I'm gonna bring her pal closer so that she'll have company when she can move again, and will be more likely to remain where she is until we want her to move." She'd never had to dig a cow out of a hole before, but at the stable where she had worked in the States, one of the horses had tangled her leg in some wire that had been thrown over the fence, the owner had cleared the field and when they had the horse free, the mare had freaked out that she was all alone and had taken off to find her friends, with blood spraying out of the wound on her fetlock. So, her thoughts were if she brought Daisy over, then Shay would have a friend to keep her company on their walk back, she could even bring some heather back for Shay to munch on while they worked.
Blue eyes watched the young woman now as her gaze went from the trapped cow to the other one paying them no heed to the trapped one once more. Sam knew the gears were turning in her head, and truth be told, it had been fortuitous that Lani had been the ranch hand that had been free to help him out. Not that he would admit it, mainly because he was fairly certain that Lani would never let him hear the end of it, and Sam hoped for a peaceful ride back. But the young woman did have experience in the States with cows, so it was likely she had more wild ideas than he did about solving their problem.
Sure enough, Lani delievered something, and he nodded. He got up once more and grabbed a small utility shovel from his saddle and then returned to Shay. The cow bellowed at him, the whites of her eyes showing. Sam merely whispered sweet mumblings, doing his best to relief his napping buddy of any fear as he went to work. Sam dug around the leg with the shovel, once he felt like it was down deep enough, his hands began to dig out on the rest of the dirt that up against her leg now - having been too nervous about nicking it earlier with the shovel, "I take it you've had a similar experience out here before with the cows? Or at least, on a job?" Sam asked now, feeling the shadow of Bear, Daisy, and Lani now hovering over him.
Shay wriggled a little as she felt Sam's hands loosen the dirt all good now and she attempted to move, although she still proved to be stuck. A frown sat on his lips, his hands running over Shay's body once more, soothing as blue eyes looked down at the hole, "Think you and Bear are up for some pulling? I can stay down here and see what I can do while you two provide the extra...strength I guess."
What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person.
thanks aofie!
Thirty . Ranch Hand . LGBTQ+ . It's Complicated - TENAYA SYDNEY HOLLAND (unrequited crush - 2 years)
