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!.
Othello gave a bright grin and shrugged. Some could say I was kicked out, my parents will tell you that it was suggested that I found a new school." It was something he was still bitter about, as he was completely innocent, yet it had gone on his permanent record - though he was glad the rats had got away. "Just me, actually." He shrugged as he flicked a piece of Harry's mane back onto the correct side of his neck. "My parents have some close friends that live in town, so I moved in with them when the school here accepted me." His grandmother had offered to keep him at their place and she would just homeschool him, but his parents were worried about him becoming too isolated, blah, blah, blah...
He shrugged off the question. "Yes, I mean rock climbing." He grinned again. "I like the challenge." That and the adrenaline rush of whether his next grab was actually going to hold while he found somewhere to place his foot before pushing up again. "I'd like to, but I'll need to build my strength up again, as these noodle arms won't help with anything." He dropped his reins as he flexed his left arm and prodded at the lack of a bicep with his right index finger, and then shrugged as he took up his reins again, patting the liver chestnut who had continued ambling along.
He pulled a face and shrugged, he hadn't looked at taking lessons at the barn, so he really didn't know who taught what. "I met Leo on my first day here, he was really nice and showed me around." That wasn't what she was asking, but all he had to offer. He quirked a slightly offended eyebrow at her question. "I may not have had what people would class as professional lessons, but as you can see, I can ride without a lead rein." He pressed his lips together and then released a slow breath. He shortened his reins a little and applied subtle pressure with his legs, smiling as Harry bounced forward into a trot. "Sorry. Yes, I have trotted all by myself before."
Othello sat on Harry's cover in the corner of the pasture the gelding was standing in. He sighed as his pen moved across the page of the book resting on his knees, as he played keep-away with the ball cap that the horse kept trying to steal, which the teenager would rather remain on his head.
Things had been going great since he arrived in Hickstead, he was doing well in school, he was learning to be the equestrian he wanted to be, and then he'd spiked a fever and ended up in hospital. The bonus about that, is that it had happened after school had finished for the year, so he hadn't been missed. The down side, his meds weren't working, and he was back on no physical activities - aka, no riding. No, worse than that, he wasn't allowed to do basic things like grooming or mucking out either, as anything that spiked his heart rate, let to him leaning over the toilet.
He sighed again as he continued drawing, part of him annoyed that it seemed he was drawing a superhero; a person wearing a cape and mask. "Harry!" He cried as the Suffolk Punch cross finally got hold of the cap and took off across the pasture, waving the hat like a victory flag. "Funny, ha, ha." He dropped the pen and pulled the hood of his hoodie up to cover his head as he studied his picture, wondering if there was anything he could do to not make the image look so superhero-ish. Blowing out a breath, he turned to the next blank page and thought about starting over again, though he rested his head back against the corner post, shaking his head as he watched the liver chestnut drop the cap into the water trough. At least it wasn't one of his favourite ones.
"I get that, Foundations are important but there needs to be a balance between getting the basics right and then building on those skills and progressing." Othello sighed inwardly, he was sick of hearing about foundations and progressing from the basics. These were things that were drilled into him as he was recovering from all the chemo and he was struggling to do anything that involved more than sitting up in his bed. However, he could understand how important foundations were in horse riding.
"Oof, guessing she was quite tough on you?" He pulled a face. "The opposite, actually." He laughed and gave a shrug. "I went and lived with her while I was... getting better, and she felt that Harry was part of my... um... recovery."
"I'm glad you're enjoying it so far - and you're doing great! This relaxation will help you get a better feel and contact with Harry too, you should be able to feel more in tune with his mouth and how relaxed he's feeling too." He smiled, as he could actually feel the gelding play with the bit in his mouth, something he hadn't really noticed before. "Okay, let's pop forwards into a trot and see what happens." He laughed as he was almost left behind when Harry heard the word 'trot' and sprang forward into the next gait, though the boys quickly pulled himself together as he took shorted the reins fractionally and watched the gelding's stride before he posted with the outside leg.
"looking good!" Othello sat up a little taller, pleased with the praise - though knew it probably had nothing to do with him, and everything to do with the schoolmaster he was riding. "He's listening to you nicely, you guys clearly have a good partnership." He nodded as his fingers tickled the side of Harry's neck, the gelding had really helped get him out of a dark place. "Just need to add a little more inside leg on those circles, and a little firmer hold on your outside rein to support him - it'll help smooth out those circles a bit more and make sure he doesn't fall in or fall out as much."
The teenager frowned in concentration as he tried to follow the instructions. "I knew that having my grams as my instructor was going to bite me at some point." He chuckled. There had always been a part of him that wondered if he would be pushed a little more if his instructor wasn't related to him... or his nurse, as the case may be, and he wondered how many bad habits he'd picked up while learning. He shook himself out of his thoughts and actually applied the instructions given, a little more inside leg and outside rein. "I'm guessing that there's always the change of using too much inside leg and outside rein?" He asked with a shrug, and then wondered if it was something he should be looking up later.
"That's a great start, and we all need to start somewhere. It all adds up to experience, and it'll help make you both more comfortable in the ring going forward." Othello nodded and shrugged. "I'm just sick of doing things that kids that have just graduated from lead rein classes are doing. Though he was probably lucky that he was too old for lead rein classes, as he could see his mother wanting him in those classes if she could.
"good, that should feel more comfortable for you too - less tension in your hips, it just might feel a little less secure to begin with but it will actually help with your balance in the long run," He nodded, though he wondered if he was so stiff because he knew his riding was being analysed. "Don't worry if things don't go to plan straight away, it takes time to cement it all in your head and make it feel natural, it'll be tough work to start with but one day you'll suddenly find you don't have to think about it anymore.""Probably didn't help that my Grams was my instructor."
"sorry - always let me know if I don't make sense! The best way is to relax your arms - not in the way of just letting them slump to your sides, but you shouldn't feel tension in your arms or shoulders, you should be able to move your forearms back and forth by your sides here nice and fluidly, If you feel like your arms are locked in place, or feel tired or tense through your arms, it'll mean your elbows aren't soft. Does that make some kind of sense?" He watched her, his entire upper body relaxing. As his shoulders relaxed, so did the rest of his arms, and he nodded. "That makes lots of sense." He told her with a smile. "It's good getting technical instructions." Though he had a feeling that he was going to have to relearn a lot of things.
"I got you," Othello grinned, glad that someone seemed to be in his corner. "with eventing, dressage can make or break your score. The jumping is important too, you want to be going double clear, but if you don't get a decent dressage score, then the clears won't put you in the ranking." He nodded, this much he knew from what he'd read and seen on the TV. "It's also a good foundation for your jumping - dressage will help on both you and Harry's balance and flexibility, all good things to help with eventing." He pursed his lips in thought as he had his horse walk slowly around the arena. When he really thought about it, he could understand how the foundations of dressage would help out in other riding events...kinda.
"Alright, well let's see where we're at. If you take Harry out wide and just start warming him up. Get him on some big circles and then smaller circles, change the rein and do the same. Through in some halts and such too.... let's get him listening to you and warm. Take your time, there's no rush." He grinned as he sat up a little taller, and squeezed the reins as he asked the gelding to wake up and move from his hindquarters as they began to actually work, rather than the trail-ride plod the gelding had been doing before. At K, he brought the gelding off the rail as they rode a large circle, which Othello thought he managed to his most of the right places, sure that it was more circle than hexagon...ish, and then rode along the rail again as they continued to work around the arena, with a few more circles of different sizes, change of rein, more circles. Asking for a half halt right before he asked for something so that he knew the gelding was listening before he asked for something new.
There was something about mindless work that was almost freeing, not that Othello would actually admit that to anyone, but he motion of just putting things away was relaxing. He shrugged as she asked about Leo's MO. "From the talk around the barn, and even when he showed me around the place, I had a feeling that that's his thing." He offered with another shrug.
He laughed and spread his hands. "Sorry, that was a terrible example, but it was the first thing that come to mind." Stupid theme song to Fresh Prince! He grinned. "I think the worst you'll get is 'I love your accent!' He rolled his eyes, and wished he didn't as the room continued to move even after his eyes had stopped. "I go to the Secondary too, if that helps." If nothing else, he could offer her a friendly face.
He laughed too, picturing one of those cartoons of the horse wearing a million rugs and the other horses laughing at the overrugged horse, with the blub 'my mum was cold'. "Well, if you do put too many rugs on him, you'll be able to see how quickly he can get out of them." His grandmother had a couple of horses who always managed to ditch their covers as soon as they went outside. He grinned as he was asked about his horse's name, and he dug his phone out of his pocket, quickly flipping through the photos to find the headshot he wanted and handed the phone over so that Brooklyn could see the "lightning bolt" marking on the liver chestnut's forehead. He kind of picked his own barn name. His registered name is Gift of Poseidon." Though, until he started competing, the registered name was never used. He grinned when she seemed keen on the idea of trail riding. "I'm here every afternoon, and all weekend if I can get away with it, and going off the grid sounds like an adventure I'd be happy to take part in." His aunt would kill him and be on the phone to his parents if she found out, but what she didn't know, wouldn't hurt her.
"nice to hear he was being useful, it makes a change." Othello grinned and shrugged, not sure that anything he could say would help or harm the situation, so he opted for silence.
"That's fine, you don't have to know exactly what it is you want, that will come in time, but that's a great starting block. We'll just work on getting you solid in the saddle and confident." He gave a small nod. "I've done a few baby shows - as mum likes to call them - where I walked, and trotted around a judge standing in the middle of the arena. I just want to do more than basic walking and trotting. Grams was my instructor, so she was probably a little biased." Okay, she was a lot biased, as he knew he didn't have the best seat.
He kept his hands light on the reins, keeping that contact, but not pulling on the gelding's mouth. "you're looking great up there, already a good position." He gave a small smile, at least that was positive. "Try to relax your knees a little and soften your elbows, your lower leg position is looking strong already, we just try not to grip with knees as it can send the horse on a little quicker than we're asking. Softening the elbows helps with our connection through the reins." He frowned as he tried to follow all of her instructions, pleased that he had signed up for private lessons. He sat back in the saddle a little, opening his hips, which released the grip his knees had, but then he had to push his heels down again. He gave up trying to do everything at once and closed his hands on the reins, rubbing Harry's neck when the gelding halted and he turned the horse to face Lily. "How does one soften their elbows?" He asked with a self-conscious laugh and shrugged.
"Nope, right on time!" Othello mimed wiping his forehead - or as close as he could get with a helmet on - at that news. "This must be the famous Harry?" He grinned and nodded, letting Harry stretch forward as the gelding stretched his nose toward the man and sighed when he worked out no treats were on offer.
He tightened the girth before pulling his stirrups down and swinging into the saddle, closing is eyes for a moment as the ground seemed to vanish from beneath them from moving quickly, and he blew out a breath as he opened them again and patted Harry's neck before slipping his right foot into the stirrup and sorted out his reins. "Alrighty, so... dressage! I understand you're just starting out, so how far have you got so far? Feeling comfortable in trot and canter yet or just getting used to the movements?" He shrugged, suddenly self-conscious. "I've done basic showing, walk, trot, canter on command around the judge." He shrugged again. "Even though my mum as an aneurysm every time I talk about wanting to do it, I want to give enventing a try, and I from watching it on the telly, I know that dressage is a bit more than just walking, trotting and cantering around an arena, and I want to know how to turn my riding into what they can do." He shrugged a third time, knowing that he was babbling but hoping that Leo would get the gist of what he was saying.
"Bless you." Othello said as Harry sneezed while being groomed. The boy felt a little nervous while he finished grooming the liver chestnut and then tacked him up, wondering if he was as ready for this as he thought he was. At least this was a lesson his mum knew about, and he'd had a video call with her last night talking about stuff - her nagging him for not eating enough, because she could see he'd lost weight, her telling him to be careful around horses, blah, blah, blah.
"Let's do this." He gave a grin as he zipped his jacket up and led the horse out to the arena, while he pulled his riding gloves on. His grin deepened when he saw the man who was going to be his instructor. "Not late, am I?" Maybe he'd be lost in his own world for a little longer than he should have been?
"nice to meet you Othello, I hear you met my brother the other week, I hope he didn't annoy you too much." Othello's grin widened. "He was really cool! Helped me find my way around the place." And then wondered if he was being too informal... oh well, to late for that. And Leo had been a great help for when he'd first arrived and wasn't exactly feeling the best. "Lovely to meet you too, Harry," He loosened his hold on the reins, letting the liver chestnut stretch out and say hello to their instructor.
"Alright, so you want to get cracking with eventing, is that right?" He nodded, though guilt gnawed at him a little. "Is there anything in particular you've been struggling with so far, or want to improve on? Anything you have in mind that you really want to achieve or get out of this?" He pulled a face as he thought of his answer. "It can be something really small, or what you might think is small, but any target and achievement is huge." He fiddled with the buckle on the reins. "I just want to show mum that I can actually do stuff on horses, not just walk around the arena." He shrugged with a sigh. "I'm not really sure what I want to do, but I've always watched eventing on the telly and wondered what it would be like to actually get out there and give it a go." He shrugged again, knowing that he was making a huge hash out of this.
"When you're ready if you want to get on board and start getting warm, so we can get down to the hard work once you've both gotten moving and relaxed." He smiled and nodded, as least this was something he could do! He pulled down the stirrups, tightened the girth up as much as he could and lifted the reins over the horse's head before swinging into the saddle. He rubbed Harry's neck as the gelding stood like a statue as the boy found his stirrups and then squeezed the horse forward, guiding Harry to the outside of the arena as they began their warm up, though his mind was going through his position in the saddle, going through everything his Grams had taught him about straight lines, shoulders and heels.
Othello had signed up for the lessons before he had told his parents what he was doing, but they had been pretty okay with it, as he had told them that he was only doing low level lessons, so it wasn't like he was going to be going over Olympic sized fences.
The day had started pretty good, he brought Harry in from the pasture, gave him a thorough groom and tacked him up, making sure that his gear was clean and that he too was looking tidy. It was as he was leading his horse to the arena that he wondered if he should have signed up for a group lesson, but at least with just him and the instructor, it wouldn't be too embarrassing if he was sick in the middle of the lesson.
He paused at the entrance of the arena, giving the one person who knew about his medical issues, a nervous smile. "Hi, I'm Othello and this is Harry." The Suffolk Punch had some fancy show name, but Othello could never remember what it was, and with the lightning shaped star on the liver chestnut's forehead, Harry suited him.
Othello nodded, he missed his parents enough while he was here, he could imagine that he'd miss any siblings as much too. "I was born and raised in Exeter." He replied with a grin. "I... got in trouble at school there, and my parents have close friends here, I've called them aunt and uncle forever, and this seemed a good move." At least was kind of the truth.
He moved Harry's mane from one side of his neck to the other as he worked out how to answer her question, without mentioning the extent of his illness. "I had an accident while climbing a couple of years ago, which lead to a few complications, and because of that mum's a little more freakish than she was before." She gave a boyish grin and shrugged. "She's lucky that I found a new interest during the summer I spent with my grandparents... and not just horses either." That was the summer he had decided he wanted to be a vet.
He reined his horse in when Harry wanted to follow the squirrel, using his seat and legs to keep the gelding where he wanted him, and nodded as he listened. "I'm sure I could talk to the Whites about a dressage coach." He said with a shrug. He swallowed hard at the thought of trotting, but knew that Harry would enjoy the faster pace. "Sure!" He said with a bright grin that he didn't feel - fake it 'till you make it. "Trotting sounds like fun! He sat up a little straighter and waited until the woman cued her horse to start trotting before he asked Harry to do the same, knowing that his horse had a long stride in the trot.
