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!.
Even though the store was closed, Kas still had animals that needed a bit of attention, so he stopped off at the store to play with the puppies and kittens. The envelope with his name, sitting by the cash register, caught his attention and he smiled as he opened it and read through an invitation to a picnic. There was, however, no signature. Do you think it's from Tempe?" He asked the African Grey who was sitting on top of the monitor, and then rolled his eyes when the bird started making kissy noises. "Cute it out, Frank!" He said, though laughed at the bird's antics.
After a phone call with his mother, he headed home to change into some smarter looking clothes; black jeans and a polo shirt, rather than the scruffy clothes he'd worn to the store so that he could muck around with animals. When he was happy with how he looked, and he sent his mother a photo for her inspection, he left his flat, with the cheeky bird watching cartoons, and after buying a small bouquet of spring flowers, headed toward the park.
Arriving at the area the invitation had mentioned, he smiled when he saw the table that was set and the woman standing there. "Hi" He greeted with a nervous smile, not quite knowing what to do with the flowers in his hand.
Kas was leaning against the wall, watching the remaining two White Shepherds play tug-of-war with a rope toy in the puppy play room. He laughed as one pup, obviously bored of the game, released the rope and sent his sister rolling head over tail backwards before she landed, looking a little bewildered, with the rope still in her mouth. "You alright there, little girl?" He asked with a chuckle and laughed more as the pup shook herself and then lay down to chew on the rope.
Kas' attention was pulled away from the pups when he heard the sound of a phone ringing, and rolled his eyes when he saw Frank sitting on top of the shelf unit, trying to look like he hadn't just been making a phone sound. "My phone doesn't sound like that." He said with a smile. "Anyone would think you were jealous." The African Grey shook himself and then flew over to sit on Kas' arm. "Kas loves me." The parrot cooed, before making a kissing noise. Kas laughed as he scratched the bird's neck. "Anything's possible." He laughed as he walked up to the counter, and checked his email to make sur he hadn't missed anything while watching the pups.
Kas nodded, he knew all about strength, even before he'd escaped, he was beginning to age out, and it took everything in him to keep in the favour of the people in charge. He may never have liked the buzz, but he was so cautious about any kind of medication he took, and wouldn't take anything that could be classed as addictive, which made him such a fun patient when he was injured.
"Success is about surrounding yourself by the people that are right for you." He gave a cheeky grin and shrugged. "That's one of the first things my dad taught me." His earlier years had taught him how to stay alive, his later years taught him how to live.
Her question caused a smile to tug at his lips and he closed the space between them as he circled his arms around her, resting his cheek on the top of her head. He had never been a philosophical person, but he wondered if him and Tempe had been drawn to each other due to their broken psyches, though right now he just wanted to enjoy the feel of holding another person close, when he had spent so much of his life keeping everyone at arms-length.
Kas gave a small smile and nodded. "He's an idiot." He confirmed.
He listened quietly as she spoke, knowing that there were times a person just needed to talk without the pointless platitude that he'd heard from others in the past. He raised a hand and used his thumb to gently wipe a tear from her cheek. "I became who I am when I was sixteen, when my parents found me. I was freezing and looking for food in a bin out the back of a hotel. I don't who who my biological parents were, or even who I was. Where I had been before Lason and Sara found me, the people in charge used pills and alcohol to keep us kids compliant. I was lucky and never took a like to the buzz they gave us, but I did see how they affected some of the others, how they would then do anything, rat on others, to get that high again." He pressed his lips together, swallowing hard as looked across the pasture, trying to chase the past away. He squeezed her hand gently as he turned back to her. "Going to rehab to be a better person for your son was the most selfless thing you could have done, you should be proud of yourself for that."
Kas smiled as he watched her interacting with Ash, knowing that the mare would happily stand there for as long as she was needed, the only part of her that moved was her tail as it swished from side to side every now and then. Which gave Kas the chance to just stand there and observe, he could tell her that the mare had a spot just under her forelock that she love having scratched, and she closed her eyes in bliss when getting a good chin rub, but these were things that were better for a person to discover themself.
"I'm sorry" The words sounded dumb, but they were the two words people used when someone expressed something that would have emotionally injured them. "He was an idiot for dumping you. Which means you're better off without him." He pressed his lips together to stop any more babble from coming out and gave an apologetic shrug. "Sorry. I shouldn't be giving relationship advice, as I can count all my relationships on one hand. I..." He blew out a breath and started again. "My childhood wasn't the best, so I've struggled with letting people in." He gave a half smile and shrug. "I'm still struggling with letting people in."
Kas hated the fact that he was so awkward around people, especially a person he quite liked. Then those emotions just confused him even more.
He knew when she was walking beside him, though he still flinched a little when her hand touched his, but he didn't pull his hand away this time, enjoying the feeling of her hand against his, even if she did have gloves on. "Ash is a really good nanny mare." He said as they reached the fence of the pasture the mare was in, and he clicked his fingers to catch the mare's attention. "And she doesn't care if you're a foal or a human. If she feels you need looking after, she'll look after you." He smiled up at the Gypsy Vanner who approached them, her black and white forelock falling over the wide black on her russet brown face. "Hey, beautiful." He greeted as he ticked the mare's chin. "Tempe, this is Ash."
The mare's attention turned to the woman, as she lowered her head over the fence and blew a gentle breath over Tempe's face, though the mare didn't push herself into the other woman's personal space, waiting patiently to see what would happen next
Kas nodded. He kept his hair cut short so that he could keep it under control, as when it got to that too-long point, with a little moisture in the air and he ended up looking like a chia pet - not that he was going to share this information, regardless of how cute his mother thought it made him look.
He nodded again, animals did have a way of making everything... better. They were good at removing the dark cloud that often surrounded him when he was left alone to his thoughts, probably the reason he and Frank had bonded so quickly when he had taken over the store. A shudder ran through him at the mention of snakes, which was silly, as he had reptiles in the store every so often, but he hadn't had the most pleasant of experiences with snakes once, and that had left him with the wish to remain as far away from them as possible. "It's probably that they listen so well too, and don't always have to reply." Well, Frank was on that category, but other animals were.
He gave a bright smile as he looked over over the pastures, his smile growing when he caught sight of the large bay and white mare grazing in a pasture not too far away, playing nanny to a handful of young horses. "I'm sure that Bruce won't mind if we go and say hello." He said with a grin as he reached for Tempe's hand, quickly releasing it again, his cheeks heating up, as he realised what he had done. "Um.. this way." He said with a boyish shrug and grin as he walked down to where the mare was grazing.
Kas gave her a soft smile. "I didn't say it was a bad thing." He assured her. "You're just a little more... hesitant, than someone who is around horses lots." He nodded at her explanation. If he thought back to his childhood, not that he had any memories of his birth family, he didn't think he'd have got into horses either. "I was... I guess I kind of lucked out with my parents." His parents were his parents, but he didn't want to get into the fact that he was a teenager when they became his parents, as that wasn't a conversation he was ready to have with anyone.
He grinned and nodded, horses were peaceful. He looked over at her with a grin. "Or, they really like your haircare routine and like the smell of what you are using?" He suggested with a shrug, at least he liked her haircare routine.
Kas gave a soft smile. "There's an old saying; that the outside of the horse is great for the inside of a person... or something like that. And I can attest to that being true, as horses seemed to fix something in me that was... broken." They had taught him that it was alright to feel, it was safe to show emotions when he was around them, that he could break down with no worry of repercussions. "This guy probably isn't the most touchy-feely horse, but one of the instructors here has some really quiet horses, if you'd like to be a little more hands-on." He'd met Bruce not long after he'd first arrived in Hickstead, and the natural horsemanship instructor had been generous enough to let Kas ride his Vanner, and Ash was so gentle that it was easy to forget her solidness.
Kas ducked into the pasture and even without a halter and lead, the gelding stood rock solid as his owner ran his hands down each leg, checking for heat, and inspecting each hoof. He knew that he was keeping himself busy to avoid thinking about the past that he had tried really hard to block out.
"Brat is one word that would never cross my mind when I think of Tanner." He assured her with a smile as he gave the gelding the signal to move off and he exited the pasture. "He's helpful and polite. Couldn't ask for more from anyone working with me." Okay, the boy worked for him, but he was as hands on as everyone else, so they all worked together.
He shrugged the compliment off. "He's a hard worker." Kas tried to see the best in everyone, until that person did something prove otherwise, and he guessed that helped him with his staff, as the respect went both ways. "You aren't a horse person?" He knew the question was bordering on too personal, but with the way that most of the people in Hickstead were horsemad, it always piqued his insterest when he encounted someone who wasn't.
Kas smiled as he watched Tempe and Wildfire interact, before the horse grew bored of the attention and went back to finding the best grass to munch.
He nodded, the time had gone a lot faster than he had thought, it was hard to believe that he'd been here for five years now. He scrubbed his hands against his trousers as he tried to keep his thoughts on the here and now, not allowing his mind to wonder along the lines of where he might be...
He grinned. "Yeah, it was a huge surprise, and a little daunting." He'd been very unsure of everything when the horse had arrived, and maybe the gelding had been to help Kas settle in, he probably should have asked. He flashed a boyish grin. "I got into a little trouble in my last years of school for hacking into places I had no business being." The grin vanished just as quick. "Um... no. I was introduced to horses as a teenager. My parents felt that they would help me... well, with everything." He shrugged, attempting at a smile. "I understand animals a little more than I understand people." Thus the pet shop.
Kas smiled as Wildfire inhaled and exhaled over Tempe's hand, ears flickering back and forth before he lifted his muzzle to her face and blew out gently. "He's saying hello." Kas said with a smile. "It's polite to blow back, if you want to."
His eyes moved toward the barn, hoping that the owner of Wildfire's neighbour wasn't being bothered too much by the bird, who would no doubt be sitting on the gelding's stall door. "I've had him for about five year." He pulled a face in thought and shrugged, sure it was about that that he'd arrived here. "Dad found him and sent him to me." He laughed at the memory. "I didn't even know he was arriving, just that dad told me that someone was here, at the barn, who wanted to meet me." He'd never owned his own horse before, and had never expected that his parents would buy him one. "I often wonder if getting me a horse was their way to keep me out of trouble." Not that he was exactly a trouble-maker, but as a teenager, when had too much time on his hands, he tended to find things online that could possible get him in trouble - something he had grown out of many years ago.
Kas nodded, as he got to know the horse, he'd found that Wildfire suited his name perfectly; the horse was unpredictable and full of energy, but, unlike a real wildfire, his energy was manageable and could be redirected when needed.
He smiled in reply to her laughter, a sound he liked hearing more than he'd admit, though he wasn't sure how to reply to her statement, as he didn't think he'd ever want her to be gone. It was times like this that he enjoyed having Frank at his side, the Grey always knew what to say at the right moment, and right now he felt more than a little tongue-tied.
Kas watched as she pulled on her gloves, wishing that he had thought to wear gloves, but this wasn't the time to think of what he didn't have. "Right this way." He continued down the path that led to where his horse was watching their approach, the Westphalian tossed his head into the air, his mane flying around as he bounced on his forelegs, surprisingly living up to his name. "Tempe, this is Wildfire. Crazy horse, this is my friend, Tempe." He knew that the horse didn't understand his words, but giving the introductions both ways was just how it was done. He smiled as the horse stretched his muzzle toward Tempe, seeing if she had anything for him, as he could smell bread.
Kas grinned in response to her greeting, shoving his hands into his pockets to keep them warm.
His smile widened at her question, his eyes moving down the pastures until he located the gelding he had come to see. "I guess you could say that I'm visiting." He replied with a cheeky grin, momentarily feeling like a rebellious teenager. "The grey down there is mine." When the Westphalian had arrived his colour had been similar to that of a blue roan, now he was almost completely greyed out and was more white, than grey. "His name is Wildfire, but don't let that make you think badly of him." When he'd first met the horse, he'd done the same thing. With a name like Wildfire, he'd already visualised the horse as being high-strung and fast. Their first ride, the gelding had showed his rider that he didn't get his name because of his personality. "If you're not in the middle of anything, would you like to come and meet him?" The woman already knew the other man in his life, she may as well meet his horse too.
Holidays had never been high on Kas' list of things to do, even after he had been take in by the Dimitrious, and he was happy enough to use the shop as an excuse to not have to go home for them, even if he did close the store for the entire week between. Telling his parents that he needed to remain in Hickstead and keep an eye on the animals seemed to be enough, and even though he could hear the disappointment in his mother's voice, she seemed to understand, and there would already be a large box in the mail for him even before he'd said he wasn't coming home.
The week had been going well, until that morning. A coupe of the puppies had been looking little poorly that morning, and then by lunchtime they hadn't got any better so Kas had made the decision to close the store for the rest of the day, in case the pup's were contagious and he didn't want to risk any other animals that came into the store.
Having a little extra time to himself, he headed to the stable earlier than he'd normally get there, wanting to give Wildfire the time that the gelding actually deserved, rather than the flyby that the gelding normally got.
Getting out of his car, he laughed as Frank dramatically shivered, fluffing himself up before he flew toward the stable. Shaking his head, he locked the car and headed down the path that led to the pastures. A smile lit up his face as he saw a vehicle he recognised parked near the stable. “Of all the stable in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.” He said with a grin as he got closer and saw Tempe. "Hi."
Kas smiled as he listened, it sounded like the pup knew exactly what he was doing. "Chickens are pretty good about looking after themselves, and they'll sort the pup out if he becomes too much of a problem in their opinion." As small and cute as chickens may seem, they could be quite vicious when they needed to, roosters more so than hens. He shook his head to having something in the store to stop the pup's instincts. "Age and distraction." He suggested with a shrug. To a lot of adults, he knew that sounded like a cop-out, the answer from someone who didn't know the proper answer. In this case though, it was all that could be done; it was something the pup would grow out of and distraction worked for everything. "Just make sure that your dog has good recall... knows that when you call, he comes back to you, without hesitation."That was something that a lot of people seemed to overlook when training their dogs, and in a horsey place like this it just led to trouble.