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!.
“When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills.” - Chinese Proverb
With the children being cared by by Naomi, and a comment about Cara not taking enough time for herself, Cara found herself with some time on her hands. Rather than taking some time out - as was hinted - the young woman prepared the small horse truck and gathered the things she would need for a small outing, as well as her stallion's tack, and then collected the giant Irish Draught.
Apeiros was doing well with his training, and even without any shows under their belt, Cara had had a few people, who knew of the stallion, contact her with interest in the horse covering their mares, but they wanted to see what he was like in the show ring first. Now, the issue with this, was that the thought of entering a showring brought Cara out in a cold sweat. She shook herself out of her thoughts as she finished securing the horse into the truck and headed off toward the beach.
She knew that it wasn't exactly beach weather, but it would also mean that it wouldn't be crowded with people or too many other horses, so it would be a great way to add something new to the stallion's training. "What do you think?" She asked the giant dappled grey as they stepped off the ramp and the stallion raised his head into the air, nostrils flaring as he drew in the new scents of the ocean that wasn't too far away. "Easy, love." She soothed as she walked him in a circle just as his front feet were about to go up in a rear.
Once the stallion was calm, she tied him to the side of the truck and then she gave him a thorough groom and tacked him up. After locking up the truck, she clipped her helmet under her chin, untied the stallion and looked around for something to use as a mounting block, as her lack of height was not in her favour with a horse who was almost 18 hands high. "Come on." She led him over to a fallen tree down the path, which she assumed people coming from Seven Oaks would probably use as a jump. After pulling the stirrups down and tightening the girth she climbed onto the trunk and then vaulted into the saddle. "You're such a good, brave boy!" She praised the horse with a pat as she found her stirrups, took up the reins and squeezed him forward. She knew that she probably resembled a bit like a pimple on a pumpkin, but she loved riding big horses, and she had no fear about how high up she was from the ground. "I know it's new, but I'll keep you safe." She soothed as Apeiros leapt to the side as he spooked at a bird in the bush on their left. She kept her hands light on the reins as she began to wonder if maybe they should have come with company, rather than riding out solo.""
It wasn't often that it was Nathan 'Nate' Drummond who was the one with free time whereas his fiancé was not, but every once in a while, the universe threw them a curveball. They were suppose to go for a beach ride with his two horses, but something came up at the University the last second, so Nate found himself riding solo. Unfortunately, given that he only had one butt to give, one of his horses had to be left behind at their property as well. Truth be told, his one gelding didn't seem bothered by the aspect as he watched Dusty get loaded into the trailer, something that Nate was grateful for. The last thing he needed was Whitney to come home to a panicked, hollering horse.
He drove to the beach now, clocking someone else's truck and trailer, "Guess I won't be alone after all," he muttered to himself, that is, if they found he found the other horse and rider. Nate didn't mind either way though - some riders just wanted to be left alone. He got out, and soon unloaded the American Paint Horse. The man did a quick and dirty groom of the gelding now before tacking up, "Think we'll stick out like sore Americans, Dusty Bunny?" Nate asked the paint with a grin now, and watched as those tan ears twitched about, "Yeah, we will." Double checking the cinch one more time, he put his foot in the stirrup and swung up into the western saddle, and got himself situated
Despite the chilly weather, Dusty hardly seemed bother by the change of scenery or the sea salt in the air. They had been in England long enough to where both of his geldings had gotten used to trading Montana and the rest of the American West for the gloomy beach skies of England. Even when state side, he had made sure to trailer them out to lakes just to get used to different feels and scenery, "Which way's which again?" He muttered to himself, as Dusty's head cocked to the left, "Right, let's go." The moved forward, barely plodding along when they caught sight of a big grey stallion with a tiny woman of a rider just up ahead - a bird startling the pair.
Funny, the two of them looked awfully familiar. A comical looking pair like that ought to be hard to remember. Beneath him, a huge sigh escaped gelding now - hardly sounding impressed with what was up ahead, or perhaps, he was already happy to be out and about. Either way, Nate shrugged off Dusty's sound before calling out, "Hey! We're coming up on your left...maybe!" While his horse was a decent size for an American Paint Horse - needed to be to support Nate's body - he wasn't sure about keeping up with the gate of what looked to be an 18 hh horse. Green eyes caught sight of the rider now, and everything clicked, "Oh! Cara, right? It's Nate. Er. Dr. Drummond. I'm one of the vets who swings by Blue Arces from time to time." Now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure if she would even recognize him, "You need a buddy?"
My thoughts are scattered and gritty underneath my feet
Cara sat lightly in the saddle, holding the reins with just enough contact that the horse knew she was still there, and she could check him if he needed a reminder that she wasn't just a passenger, but not enough that the huge grey felt he had to be on the bit. She released a breath as she glanced around, remembering why she didn't often go on trail rides. Out here, without the constant thought about what was coming next; the next transition, the next jump, the next gait, out here her mind was allowed to wander and with half her concentration on the horse beneath her and the path in front of her, the other half was thinking about what she was going to do with her life.
She was now, in the eyes of everyone else, a young adult - not that she'd ever had the chance to be a child - and she really needed to take charge of her life. She'd had a word with her lawyer and any contact between her and the man who had sired her daughter was now gone. Her psychologist had spoken to her about taking back her life, letting go of the past and all that, but the young woman was struggling with that. While other people could just file their past away and tuck it in a box that would remain in the dark recesses of their brains, slowly forgotten over time, Cara didn't have that luxury. She did however, need to take hold of the reins of her present and steer it in the direction she wanted.
She snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of a voice behind them and used her leg to shift the stallion over to they gave the other horse and rider room to ride beside them, or pass if they so wished. "I am she." She replied, grey eyes glancing over at him and the Paint he was riding. "You came to the barn the evening that Ms Clarke's horse, Rex, decided to stand on his shoe when standing up in the pasture and ripped it off, along with part of his hoof. He is not enjoying the stall rest, but is healing well." While she had Dr Katsaros as her vet, she had seen the man around the barn. "Hush, mon petit." She soothed as the stallion spooked at a strangely shaped bush. "Company of a level-headed horse would be very much appreciated, thank you, Sir." She said with a small smile, rubbing the grey's neck as he settled down again. "Unless you have somewhere else to be." Yes, he had asked if she wanted a buddy, but she knew that people asked questions like that to be polite and weren't always genuine.
"Damn girl, you have a great memory," Nate said with a chuckle, "I am glad to hear Rex is doing well, minus hating the stall rest. I think I'll be stopping by in another week or so to check in on him." That had been quite the evening. Ironically enough, Nate had already been on his way to do a routine appointment for a different client over at Blue Acres - he was just happy that everything had worked out given he wasn't Naomi Clarke's usual vet. Their conversation didn't get very far as her large stallion attempted to spoke at a bush now, something that Dusty completely ignored other than popping his head up slightly at the thought of a 17 hand horse nearly bumping him.
Still, the paint gelding was a good horse, and stood his ground while he kept on walking. While Nate made sure to still pay attention when he rode, he had to admit that both of his horses tended to put him into a dangerous lull. While they were near perfect trail horses and 'bomb proof' as they say, he knew at the end of the day, both of his horses were prey animals at heart and sometimes, instincts just kicked in. He gave Dusty a good pat for not bulking before green eyes glanced over at Cara, "I think the only place we have to be is right here with you," Nate replied with a grin, "Besides, riding with company is always more fun than by yourself. That's my thinking at least. So, who is this big boy of yours?"
My thoughts are scattered and gritty underneath my feet
Cara shrugged at the mention of her memory. Some people have problems remembering thing, I struggle to forget." That was one of those comments when once they were out all you wanted to do was take them back, but one could do that the same way they could put toothpaste back into the tube. Rex loathed being cooped up in his stall, ad no amount of hand walking matched his need for a rigorous exercise regime, and she had actually been having fun finding different ways to work with the horse during their sessions; mostly getting him to work his way through a maze of poles, and she'd put together a few new toys to give him mental stimulation while in his stall.
Cara sat tall as her mount too offense to a rock, and she gave the stallion his head as he reached out to give it a good sniff, and pushed it over. "Yes, you are clever." She said as the grey gave a couple of prancing steps, clearly pleased with himself for showing that rock who was boss.
She gave Nathan a grateful look, a flicker of a smile, when he made his intentions of accompanying them clear. She knew that she wasn't in any danger with the stallion, but the calming presence of the other horse would be good for her huge mount. "This is Apeiros, or Ad Infinitum." She rubbed the stallion's neck. "I was... I guess a spontaneous purchase at an auction. He's got to the point that he's happy just being a horse, now we need to work out where he's going from here." She knew that Naomi had made noises about having the stallion cover a few of her mares, but the stallion needed a job that was more than just being a stud, but she was too small to be able to professional compete the Draught, as well as the fact that the thought of competing made her want to double over in pain - figuratively anyway.
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