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!.
"Yeah, I had a lesson after work with Beachy and had to ride my other two. I swear I should just live here at this point." She snorted and shook her head. "Don't let my dad hear you say that, he'd probably jump at the chance for a live in groom. .I used to try and stay out here when I was a kid but I'd somehow always end up in my own bed once I'd fallen asleep." She'd been very attached to her first pony as a child, never wanting to leave his side and whenever she would try to have a sleepover with him, one of her parents would wait until she fell asleep and sweep her back to the house. "What barn did he come from again? Anyone I know of?" She smiled as she continued to comb through the stallions mane. "He's from Beerbaum stables in Germany. I fell in love with him while I was training there" The horse hadn't been the only thing that caught her eye there, Porter had been her assigned groom for the few months she'd been there.
"I'll keep him a secret, I promise. Though promise me you'll tell them soon? They'll unfortunately notice eventually." She let out a laugh. "I promise I'm telling them later today. I just didn't have time last night." She'd had plenty of time to tell them since she'd been home but she'd want Kenzo to be here when she did. "Oh? I thought you did. Anyone of interest though?" She smiled, giving Ty a knowing look whilst tapping her nose. "Potentially." She said, not giving anything away. Things with Porter back in Germany had been casual fun, now he was in town, she wasn't sure what would happen. "I understand that, maybe a few flat rides too at first? You know what you are doing though." She nodded. "Yeah, I'll probably come up with a training plan with my dad once he's settled." She confirmed. "I only am grooming for you and one other person, but she shouldn't be here until the afternoon." She smiled "Oh really? Alright then." She didn't want to take his work from him.
"Yes. I am talking to you." Brown brows lifted in response the girl's snappy tone. "I gathered princess." She quipped back. "He's not a lowly stablehand, he's a groom," It was Riley's turn to bristle as Harlow snapped at her. "My mistake, but stablehands aren't lowly" She snapped back. She wouldn't stand for anyone looking down their nose at someone's job, not in her own damn stable. "Or did you forget most grooms are stablehand's first." She countered. A hand raised automatically to rest on her stallions neck when he lifted his head in response to Alpha's whinny. Now wasn't the time to get to know his new stablemate.
"Well. Since you're new," Riley half smiled, sure we'll go with that. "I'll only say this once: Stay away from Ty. He's mine." She cocked another brow at the girl's possessive outburst. "Wow, does Ty know he's your property?" She asked, briefly glancing back in the direction she'd last seen him. "Relax princess, I don't want your boyfriend. He's been assigned to my horses, so no, I won't be staying away from him if he's with them." This girl could bitch and moan all she wanted but if Ty was near her horses when she was, that was Harlow's problem.
"Yeah, I mean we met last night when he came in. I didn't realize he was yours until just now." She smiled. ”Oh you were still here? I didn’t see you, probably too busy fussing over him.” She had been keen to get the horse settled in after the long drive. "How long did it take you to convince your parents you needed a new horse?" She let out a laugh and shook her head. ”Well they actually don’t know about him yet” She grinned. She was hoping her parents would be okay with it. She’d convinced herself they would be anyway. "Long night with the boyfriend or something?" She snorted and shook her head. ”No I was here getting Kenzo settled. .besides I don’t have a boyfriend.” She half smirked. She had thought her fling with Porter was over until he decided to follow her home to England.
"I'll get Bonzai ready once you get on. I wasn't sure who you wanted to lesson with." She moved over to the bay’s head and stroked his soft muzzle. ”I’m not riding Kenzo today, I’m going to let him settle in properly for a few days first.” She said, assuming his stable was now ready for him. "My morning? It's alright, glad I could ride Captian at least before my shift started. Hoping to ride another one during lunch and then save one for afterwards. If I had to admit, I'm also tired." She grabbed a comb from the grooming kit and got to work on the horse’s mane. ”Busy day” She noted with a grin. ”I can take over here if you want to take a power nap.” She offered.
Riley moved the brush back and forth across the bay’s well-conditioned body, taking her time as she continue to build on the bond she had made with the stallion she’d fallen in love with whilst back in Germany. She glanced towards Kenzo’s face and pressed her lips into a smile when she saw that his eyes were half closed and his bottom lip limp. The horse was clearly enjoying every moment. ”Ay sleepy, don’t be nodding off.” She said, reaching a hand up to scratch the top of his neck.
She dumped her grooming kit back in the box and placed it outside the stable before grabbing the horse’s tack. She’d turned up just as one of the stablehands – Ty, was about to take the horse to be groomed but she’d asked to do it herself. She liked to spend the quality time with her horses when she wasn’t pushed for time. Riley spent a few minutes tacking up the stallion, double checking everything was sitting comfortably before grabbing her hat from the railing outside and slipping it onto her head. ”Come on then.” She smiled, leading the horse out of the stable and towards the exit.
The sound of approaching hooves made her pause and back up a step when the source of the noise almost collided into her. "Hey! Why don't you watch-" She steadied Kenzo as he backed up another couple of steps then looked back to the girl and her horse, lifting a brow at the girl’s outburst. She had been the one at fault. ”You! Why are you flirting with Ty Webber?!" She took a quick glance behind her, checking to make sure the petite girl was actually talking to her. ”The hell is Ty Webber?” She said, more to herself as she turned her attention back to Harlow. ”The stablehand?” She asked with a surprised laugh. ”If asking him not to groom my horse is flirting, then sue me.” She said, shrugging her shoulders.
Riley stifled a yawn as she ran a hand through her morning bed head that she'd just about managed to rag a brush through before racing out of the door, entirely too excited to contemplate even wasting time on grabbing breakfast when she could eat later. The horse she had fallen in love with in Germany had finally arrived to the family barn the previous evening – which wasn’t ideal but seven oaks didn’t have the room for him to stable alongside Nova. She’d just have to split her time between the two barns for the time being until she figured out a better solution. She had moved Nova to SOS a few months before the pair took off on the show circuit, wanting to distance herself from her parents after a falling out. Now things had settled maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to move back to the family barn permanently. .especially since a certain groom had acquired a job there.
She flirted with the speed limits of the road as she made the short drive to the barn, eager to get there to check Kenzo had a good first night and to possibly intercept her parents as she hadn’t told them about her new conquest yet. Her parents had already left for home when he’d turned up and it wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have right before crawling into bed. Riley parked the car and jumped out before walking quickly to the barn. She had a few hours before daddy dearest was turning up for her lesson on one of the barn horses – Nova was still having a well-deserved break but her father still wanted to see what her years away had taught her.
Riley headed inside to get Kenzo’s halter. A stable hadn’t been ready as his arrival was unexpectedly pushed forward so she’d had no choice but to turn him out into one of the smaller paddocks for the night – hoping he wouldn’t do something stupid. As she walked passed the cross ties, the sight of her horse made her pause, giving her time to recognise the groom who turned his head in her direction. She’d met him a number of times during the few weeks she had been back at the barn – mostly to bug Porter at work and to occasionally help exercise some of the horses. ”Hey Ty, I see you’ve met Kenzo.” She greeted. "Good morning Riley. It seems I'm your groom for the day. How are you this morning?" She walked towards the pair with a smile. ”Tired as usual, how’s your morning going? Sweet I’m riding Bonzai today. .I think he may have been in the field next door.” She said, recalling a glimpse of a similar bay in the scarce lighting in the adjacent paddock. Now that she thought about it, the two horses did look surprisingly alike.
She smirked again when her former bed buddy took the brush from her, teasingly brushing his fingers against hers as he did making her body involuntary shiver, traitor. "what did she do to you beautiful." Riley took a step back and half snorted, half scoffed at his words. ”Hey she’s been rolling in the field, I did nothing.” She smiled back, defending herself against his teasing. She watched Porter run the brush back and forth to remove the dirt from the mares sleek neck whilst having flashbacks to their time in Germany when similar encounters had started innocent but ended up with the both rolling round in the hay loft. "i think she needs to keep that beautiful ass in the saddle where it belongs and keep her hands off the brushes." She snorted a laugh and folded her arms across her chest. ”Well wasn’t that a backhanded compliment.” She smirked. ”What brings you overseas?” She asked, moving to Nova’s head to give her muzzle a scratch.
"I can understand that, I'm sure you have made your own mark on the world." She grinned a little and nodded towards Nova. ”I like to think I’ve started to, with the help of this pretty lady.” She said, giving the mare a solid pat on the neck. "I like the idea, I can be that way sometimes, but get stuck in my dressage mind set in the school." She nodded in understanding and smiled. ”Well if you ever fancy a play around over some jumps let me know.” She offered. "It is a beautiful part of the country, very quiet though, here feels busy." She was surprised at that. She’d always thought Hickstead was quiet compared to Willow Bridge but she guessed coming from an even smaller town, Hickstead could be perceived as busy. "It's equally beautiful here though," Riley smiled again and nodded in agreement. ”Yeah it is. . I’ve missed it.”
Riley let out a sharp whistle as she leant against the paddock fence, a large grin spreading across her face when the chestnut mare let out a shrill whinny in response as she cantered over. ”Hey pretty lady” She reached over and rubbed Nova in between the eyes before clipping on the lead rope and opening the gate. The pair headed back towards the barn, briefly stopping so Nova could have a flirt with the stallions in their paddock. When they reached the stable, Riley tied the horse up outside, making sure she had access to her haynet before grabbing the grooming kit from her storage box. She cleaned each of Nova’s hooves thoroughly then picked up a brush, moving onto her body, cleaning away all of the dirt and grease the mare had acquired in the field. "you call that well groomed? i call that a horrible attempt at a hack job. how about you let an expert try." She heard footsteps behind her but ignored them until a voice made her jump. A small smirk turned the corner of her lips upwards as she turned around, hiding her surprise. ”Have at it.” She said, offering the brush out to him.
"I'm sorry, maybe I have spoken out of turn," Riley's eyebrows rose slightly as she shook her head with a small smile. "Don't be daft, i've been thinking about it for a while, even before I got back home. . I've enjoyed doing my own thing out of the shadows of my brothers and I'm keen to continue. ." Before she had left she had trained at the family's own stables with her dad as her coach but boarded her horse at seven oaks to get some space. She loved her parents but living at home and having her father as a coach was enough, spending all day every day with them at their barn would be too much.
"I would like that, if you in turn will give me courage for jumping." She gave the girl a wide grin as she nodded enthusiastically. "Oh definitely! I have a do first, think later approach so by the time i'm scared of the jump, i've already gone over it." She liked to thank her ADHD for that one. Her impulsive issues came in handy at times. Until she decided to go big or go home - usually ending up injuring herself. "I am from Tuscany, in Italy. Are you from here?" Riley smiled, already jealous of the girl for growing up somewhere else. "Ah it looks so beautiful there! Yep, born and raised."
"You should absolutely come to take a look. I am sure they will only improve upon the place with rebuilding but the facilities were top of the range, and the people are nice." She gave an enthusiastic nod as she smiled. ”Don’t tell my family but as much as I love it here, I may just be tempted by the new facilities.” It had been on her mind since coming home. She loved Seven Oaks but she’d trained at some brilliant facilities whilst she’d been away and was keen to continue that. Plus it may give her an edge against her brothers. "I have not yet competed since arriving here, but I plan to. I specialise in dressage. What about you?" She refrained from pulling a face at the mention of dressage. She didn’t hate the discipline but it was her least favourite out of the three. ”I’m an eventer. . maybe you can give me some pointers on how to stay focused in dressage, my mind always wanders” She loved the fast pace of show jumping and cross country. She enjoyed dressage to a point but she found it boring. ”Where are you from originally?” She asked, picking up on the earlier part of her sentence and her accent.
"Are we still talking about the horses?" Riley pursed her lips before breaking into a cheeky grin. ”Of course. . ” She hadn’t had much experience in the dating world but she was confident enough when it came to men. "They are not sure at the moment, but with such a wonderful fundraiser and with everyone that helped clear the site, there were rumours the building would start next week." She nodded with a soft smile ”Ah that’s good. . I’ll have to come check the place out when it’s done. . I’ve heard great things about the place.” She didn’t understand where the whole rivalry came from between the two barns but she wasn’t here for it. It wasn’t something she cared about. ”So what’s your speciality? Do you compete?” She asked curiously.
"No need to have it too easy, right?" She laughed and smirked softly. ”Exactly, I love a challenge.” They made her work harder. "I hope so too, I don't think they know much yet about how it was started so it hasn't been ruled arson just yet." She leant against the stable wall slightly as the other girl spoke and nodded. ”Well hopefully they get to the bottom of it. . any idea on how long the rebuild will take?” She hadn’t really gotten the chance to look around the rival stables facilities but she’d heard good things and she was interested to see what the place would be like once they had recovered from the fire.
"The quirky one's always are the best," Riley laughed and nodded in agreement. ”Definitely! Horses with character are the best! Most of her past horses had always had a cheeky side to them which made her love them that little bit more. "I don't understand it either, any lover of horses would never do such a thing. It had to be a random attack." She frowned and bit the inside of her lip at the thought of how she’d feel if something similar were to happen at seven oaks. ”Hopefully it was just a freak accident. .but if it was arson I hope they lock them away for good.” Anyone who was willing to endanger the lives of innocent animals deserved the death penalty or at the very least a life sentence in prison.
"My other horse is a mare, and she can be somewhat more temperamental but she is the easier to handle" She smiled softly "Nova is actually pretty loving when she wants to be, besides the boredom escapes she's been the best mare I've had so far." Although she'd only had the mare two years, they'd grown a good bond during that time which made them a good team. "I am perhaps a little biased but she has picked herself the finest looking man in the stable." Riley let a grin cross her lips at that and she glanced back at the mare "No unplanned pregnancies please madam." She warned playfully. "Luckily yes, everyone was able to get out with only minor injuries but it is still such a shock. An awful thing to happen." She nodded, frowning a little at the thought of the panic the fire caused to both people and animals. "I don't know how someone could be so cruel and evil"
Riley couldn’t help but smile as the other woman laughed. It was one of the things she loved to do – making people laugh. With a brother like Jake, it wasn’t unusual that she’d been one of the class clowns in school and making people laugh became one of the ways she figured would get people to like her. "I'm not sure what was the cause, perhaps even something going on that riled her up enough to go for it?" Riley gave a nod of her head. ”Yeah, if she was out alone she tends to get bored and go looking for trouble.” She said with a slight roll of her eyes. "It's fine, if I wanted an easier life I should have gotten a gelding," She shrugged with a grin ”Ah an easy life’s over-rated. .I’ve had mares all my life and they’ve all been tetchy”
"Nice to meet you Riley...and Nova. I am Katerina, her new boyfriend is called Croatian, he's just down the barn." She smiled and let out a small laugh ”Nice to meet you too Katerina. . if Croatian is as handsome as his name I get why Nova took a shine to him.” She gave the mare another nose rub as she mooched about before turning her attention to the manger in the corner filled with hay. "I actually board at Blue Acre but.. for obvious reasons... I am temporarily here.” Her eyebrows lifted slightly in curiosity as she nodded ”Ahh of course the fire. . I’ve been away for a while and only just heard about it. . did all of the horses get out okay?”
