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!.
Lily finally finished setting up the course for the lesson, brushing the residual sand off her hands and straightening up. Nothing too challenging for a first lesson, especially as this was a new client - it was meant to be a group lesson but with two spaces still available, it was going to end up an individual one. Lily didn't mind, a client was a client. There was still a particular combination they were going to work on today though, to see how horse and rider worked together. Having dragged in some of the few cross country fences they had, she'd arranged a trio of jumps, each at an 45 degree angle, with the first facing toward the fence, the second facing away from it, and the third facing back toward it. A zig zag really, each with only two strides between.
It wasn't a huge question, but if horse and rider were not in sync with each other and the rider was not properly communicating, then the fences offered the perfect excuse to run out. She headed over to the gate, making sure to pop it open so that the student knew they could enter once they were ready.
Dice roll
Odd number - lesson goes poorly Even number - lesson goes well
Rory checked her watch, rushing to get up after realizing it was time for her to go out to get Merlin from his private paddock. She gave the mare in front of her a scratch under her forelock before closing the stall door and headed outside, picking up a lead rope on her way out.
She could see the dark bay in the back, munching on a flake of hay as she approached. A quick whistle later and the stallion lifted his head and sauntered over to his human. Rory chuckled and clipped the rope to the ring of the halter and led the bay inside and to his stall. She quickly got him ready before setting her helmet on her head and sliding her feet into her tall boots. Merlin pawed on the concrete, earning a swift slap on the shoulder from Rory. Clearly, the stallion had way too much energy today.
The woman slid the bit of the bridle into the horse's mouth and did up the straps before leading Merlin to the outdoor arena. She smiled when she saw Lily was already there - opening the gate while leading the bay inside, turning him around before she closed and locked it.
"Hello Lily. Long time, no see. This is Merlin. I do hope he behaves himself today." She stopped the bay by the mounting block and tightened the girth. The woman rolled down her stirrups before getting on. Merlin walked forward as soon as his rider touched the saddle.
Hearing the sound of hooves, she glanced up, giving a quick smile at the sight of Rory and her ride. "Hello Lily. Long time, no see. This is Merlin. I do hope he behaves himself today." Lily gave her a quick wave, helping to shut the gate, "Hello hello, lovely to see you again!" She, naturally, knew every person who stabled at her stables, or anyone who took lessons, but she didn't always get much opportunity to actually speak to them. "I hope so too, but if he doesn't then I guess we'll be in for some entertainment. Nice to meet you too, Merlin." She added with another quick grin, moving toward the middle of the arena as the pair began warming up around her.
She liked to let people take their time warming up, keeping an eye on them and offering suggestions as they got going, before she started really honing in on people. "So, how have things been going with you two? Did you have a particular goal you need to achieve, or something you really want to get out of this, or anything else going on?" She asked as she watched the horse move, seeing how he began to relax a little as they got going. Lily liked to find out what was going on with her clients, and if they wanted to achieve something specific in their lesson or just wanted to touch base with someone who could watch from the ground and give tips and pointers.
Rory smiled, glad that Lily seemed to be in a good mood. Though from working with her with the breeding program - the woman always seemed happy. "Thank you for fitting us in today. He has been behaving himself recently but you know how stallions can be." She took full advantage of being able to ride outside - wearing him out on the trails the day before.
"Don't tell the other two, but he does love jumping." Though the dressage was starting to come along - the horse needed a lot of work containing his excitement and energy. She slowly started to gather her reins, changing directions after one lap at the walk. "They've been going well, thankfully. We had a bit of a rough patch in terms of him having a bit too much energy." Sometimes she wondered if the horse was too much for a smaller woman like her.
"I'd like to work on his rideability. Some consistency of pace would be nice. He likes to rush at the jumps." She did appreciate his enthusiasm, but it needed to be contained when it came to jumping. "I feel like that is what is hindering us from competing at a higher level." Rory nudged her horse into the trot, letting him move forward.
