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!.
Everett had thoroughly enjoyed his lesson with Sunday. They did well, which encouraged him to try it with his palamino gelding - Fernie. He gave the palamino a thorough brushing, knowing that even though they were doing natural horsemanship, he wanted to make sure his gelding was looking good.
He adjusted the leather halter on the horse's face, before clipping his lead rope to the ring and leading the gelding to the outdoor arena. Everett waved at Bruce as the pair entered - leaving the gate unlocked as he knew someone else was coming to join him. "Hello Bruce, I thought I'd bring Fernie along this time." He led the palamino over to the pile of gear and started the process of changing halters. Once he got Fernie reorganized, he moved the gelding away and found his own space.
The man glanced at the gate to the arena, smiling when he realized it was Jules and Blanche who were joining them. "If a horse has a spot they don't like you touching, does that mean something?" Fernie was generally a good horse, but sometimes his back caused him some issues.
Everett was glad the lesson was going well. Sunday was used to being close to humans - Everett had done chiropractic work on both his horses since he knew of their existence. He took his time finishing off the friendly game, Sunday kept calm and swished her black tail at the feeling of flies landing on her body.
He moved to stand in front of the mare, standing beside her as he watched Bruce's demonstration. "You have more than one horse as well?" Everett had a hard time keeping track of what horse belonged to who - but usually the owners showed up for their appointments. He smiled when Ash backed up before turning to face the blue roan's face. He held his long lead in his left hand, lifting his right hand and using his pointer finger to press gently against the mare's velvet nose.
Sunday flicked her ears forward - unsure what her human wanted. Everett shook his head and applied more pressure - Sunday tucking her nose towards her chest before backing up a step. Everett smiled and removed his finger from her nose. "Yes! Good job Sunday." He reached up with his hand and gave the mare a good scratch with his fingers under her forelock.
Everett had a full day of clients at the practice. People were wanting to get adjusted after the most recent horse show - even his barn days were starting to book up for the week. His mother was busily working the reception desk, passing him the clipboard for the next patient as he led the previous one to the desk for payment.
"Are you River? Everett is right beside you and will take you to the room." The woman knew by talking to him over the phone that he would be a bit of an interesting for an adjustment for both of them. Everett cleared his throat and held the clipboard in his hand. "If you follow me we can get started. I have a few questions." He made his way to the room, leaving the door open for River to follow behind him.
Everett took a wipe and cleaned off the chiropractic table - moving his hand to suggest to River for him to sit down on the table before he took a seat in the chair nearby. "So, tell me about what's bothering you. Did you have some sort of accident to cause your leg to hurt?" The more information he had the better treatment plan he could build.
Everett had the truck packed the night before - having to work on a few clients before he met up with Aspen and Danny on the trail. He took a bit longer to wrap up his last client as they wanted to chat afterwards. His mother shooed the man away - he had been coming to the chiropractic clinic ever since the family practice started. The man locked up his room and headed out, but not before his sister double checked he had enough food for the overnight trip.
He tried to wave her off but the sight of her trail mix was something he couldn't resist. The blonde woman tucked it in the outside pocket of her brother's pack and closed the door of the truck. Everett waved goodbye to his family, the engine of the truck coming to life before he drove off. Thirty minutes later, he had made it to the meeting spot - seeing that both Aspen and Danny had beat him. Everett waved back at Danny before he parked his truck close by. He turned the key and got out of the truck, pulling his backpack out of the back seat before locking the truck with his key.
"Hello to you both. I apologize I'm late. One of my regulars decided he wanted to chat after being adjusted. How are the two of you today? Ready to hit the trails?"
Everett nodded - he knew horse people could be touchy when it came to missing competitions. “Yes I know, but I was the one that brought it up. Paris will be here before you know it and I’ll be cheering you and Jett on from home.” He would be watching Aurora Sky as well as he had worked on her three horses quite often. “You aren’t a robot, John. You know perfection is impossible. You’ll do great.” The man was already starting to book his horse clients in advance - most barns choosing to do a monthly visit with him so he could balance days at the clinic and being in the barns. “I am happy that your family comes first for you. Not every Olympian does that.” The fame and glory were much too important for them - he often worked with the type and had to explain that their horses weren’t robots and needed to rest sometimes too.
“You know if I rode English I’d buy a horse from you. For some reason, Western stuck with me. That was what the local barn had for lessons.” His sister on the other hand rode English - neither of them minded the difference - they always had their sibling trail rides come the warmer months. “Do you have a few horses for sale this year? I can imagine it must be difficult to decide who stays and who goes.” That’s how he ended up with both Fernie and Sunday - he couldn’t say no to the last two horses at the rescue his friend ran. “Ah, is Jett your heart horse then? Is that what the young kids call it?”
The blond man waved off the comment. The two had no choice but to jump over the fallen tree. “Ah yeah with a little help from you, Fernie and I will be in the show jumping ring in no time.” The older chestnut gelding wasn’t meant for fancy jumping - he was quite content being ridden for fun by Everett. “Oh? Who did you manage to convince to come home?” He couldn’t imagine having children live away from him, but he also didn’t know the ins and outs of the Ryan family dynamics.
“That’s what I thought when I moved there. I may do the handy pony classes this coming season but I also know i have a lot of work to do.” He knew how to ride, but entering a competition was another rodeo in itself. “Oh come on, I’m sure your grooms coach you from time to time?” Everett always enjoyed having someone on the ground when he rode - its not like he could see what the lower half of his body was doing while on a horse. “That sounds perfect. Where did you get this miracle horse anyway?” He was already glad to be stuck with a bomb proof horse. Everett grabbed the bridle and began putting it on the grey’s head, sliding the bit into his mouth before doing up the various leather straps.
“A mounting block would be great, thanks. I’m ready when you are. Lead the way!” Everett held the reins in his hand and waited for his friend and the dark colored gelding to leave the grooming area.
Everett knew he needed to start taking lessons. He rode well enough to ride on his own, but there was always something for him to learn. The man was excited, deciding to go with Sunday to test out Bruce's lessons.
It was odd for him not to have to tack up the blue roan mare, but that was the whole point of natural horsemanship after all. With the mare brushed, he clipped the black lead rope on and led the mare towards the outdoor arena. It seemed the mare had finished her Spring fever, settling down to her usual self again recently. He opened the gate, leading the mare inside the arena before closing it behind him. "Hello Bruce, thank you for having us today. We are excited to see what our lesson brings." He continued leading the blue roan towards the pile of equipment and switched halters first, leaving his own halter and lead rope set on the other side of the arena fence.
Once they were ready, they found a place around the center of the arena. He made sure his mare was halted nicely before dropping the carrot stick on the ground beside him. "And what does this do?" He held the long lead in one hand and began touching the mare with his other one, starting with the mare's face.
“I apologize if I hit a sore spot. I’m just always curious about the plans for the future.” He also had to remind himself that this wasn’t a work visit. Everett discussed upcoming show plans to get his client's horses in the best possible shape in terms of his work. “Did you really miss both of them?” He didn’t realize it - though time seemed to fly by faster than anyone expected. “To sell them or show off the breeding program?” Either way, he knew Jett was the main event and one of their top show horses.
Everett waved his hand towards John as if to brush the idea aside. “Oh it was just on the trails over a fallen tree. Fernie decided he wasn’t lazy and jumped it nicely.” There had been a storm that had knocked over the fallen tree and required the older Quarter Horse to jump. He nodded, knowing that the other two barns were using that idea already - he had an idea making money often came from younger or beginner riders catching the horse bug and wanting to continue. “Ah yes, I do remember meeting those two. I’ll give you two months before it blends. This place overlaps way too much with your personal life.” He had a hard enough time separating work from his personal life - though he was also in business with his own family.
“See I have my lessons to keep me accountable. I’m usually at Seven Oaks anyway so I either ride before or after.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Sounds like you need a coach to keep you accountable.” Everett laughed and turned to watch John do up one side of the girth - it seemed simple enough. He followed the instructions on the other side, making sure it was tight but not too tight. “I mean, the fact that you allow your grandchildren to ride Rocket make me hope he has a good head on his shoulders.” He patted the grey and grabbed the bridle. “Yep, let’s get this interesting lesson started. Are we going to ride inside?"
"You'll get them next time. The 2024 Olympics will be here before you know it." There was already buzz around his clients about the qualification competitions coming up - and wanting their horses looked at before they headed off on the road. "Everyone wants their horses and themselves to have an appointment with me before they leave on the road." He glanced at the older horse, telling from the first glance that Rocket fit into the Ryan program. "Are you going to do the qualifications for it?"
He nodded, it seemed to make sense to him. "I do admit that I've jumped small jumps with my saddle. Though that was on the trails and we didn't really have another choice." There were often situations like that, though having an entire jumping lesson would be a different situation. "It's worth looking into if it works. I understand though it's busy running a place like this." Lesson horses meant more to look after and that wasn't always possible. He was lucky he had his two horses and a coach to ride with when he wanted a lesson.
"So, he'll be the one calling me if your horses need an adjustment then?" He always tried to be organized himself, thankful his mother kept their appointments in their system. "Oh good. She'll probably keep her schedule open for that. It'll make her year." The horse bug seemed to have bitten both Strome siblings. "And that's the way to do it honestly. My father tends to be that way as well. Making sure I don't have too many clients to see in a day, and leave time to ride my two." He often tried his best to group his Seven Oaks clients before and after his allotted lesson time.
He nodded, carrying the first load of tack over to the cross-ties. Everett set the saddle on the saddle rack and headed for the second load. He pulled out the bell boots and the set of front boots from the clear container, setting it back in the locker before heading to the grey horse. "Perfect, I think I've got everything. I think I know how everything goes, though if you wouldn't mind helping me with the girth? I didn't realize how different it was from the Western one." He started by placing the black full pad on the back of the gelding, then placed the half pad on top. "Should I go on the lunge line first? Or do you trust me enough to ride on my own?" Everett grinned, not really minding either way. He knew he wasn't ever going to be a pro rider.
The palomino gelding relaxed underneath his touch. He moved up over towards the tail bone now. "Is it more his ground manners or being under saddle?" He didn't want to diagnose the horse without being asked, but there were always ideas floating around his head about why horses behaved the way they did.
"Actually, it's been more my human clients who call me. If they've thrown their back or something. His horse clients tended to be able to wait, though he usually kept emergency appointments open for just in case. He could always send his father out if someone really needed it. He placed his hand on the top of the tail bone, putting one hand on top of the other and pressed down. "Only in the Spring though right? At least there isn't too much rain in the summer." He would much rather have the rain than the snow. From what he could tell, Germany was a bit colder in terms of temperature. "It's nice weather to hike in though. Can't really hike in the snow." Everett laughed, his friends back home would do the craziest hikes though.
"They are horse crazy over there too. Though they often gave me a weird look because I ride Western." He did try English riding as a kid, though it wasn't something that stuck with him.
"Is Apollo a work in progress then? I think a person would be worth more than just a horse treat." He didn't quite have all the Seven Oaks horses in his head now - it would take him awhile to be familiar with them all. "Thanks, that's the whole reason why I do it. His parents thought he was crazy working with such big animals, but they also knew how horse crazy he was so it made sense.
Everett glanced at Skye as he moved around the Quarter Horse gelding, noticing the blush. "Sounds good, I usually have it on in case the vets need to bring me in for an emergency. So even if it's a text at 2 AM, I'll get it." Or once a horse had surgery and was ready for physio, he was also ready to help if needed. "Nothing but sunshine and beaches right? I bet the rain really gets to you sometimes." He pressed his palm into another rib, pressing it back into place. "Germany is nice. Lots of different landscapes. I do love the Winter though, we do get a bit of snow too."
Everett nodded, he knew a little bit of show jumpers. Or at least what joints and body parts they used more than horses in other disciplines. "I'll take that as a yes then. Maybe it was his hidden talent and you found it." He had heard stories about it happening, though his two were bred and meant to do Western events.
He double checked and made sure the grey was groomed properly, seeing that the older gelding had slowly fallen asleep while being groomed. 'Don't take that the wrong way. I know you are an amazing rider yourself. I just was pointing out that usually the Germans are better at English riding." That though fell into their stereotype, which really shouldn't matter but some people made a big deal about it. "I do find the saddle comfortable. Though for jumping it's probably better not to have one, right?" He tended to avoid jumps on the trails, not knowing if either of his horses would enjoy it.
"Do you think the ones you want to keep could be good lesson horses? Maybe start a program?" It would be a win-win situation, the horses would have a perfect home and they would have a job to do. "Thank goodness, I don't like being the newbie for too long. What do you think of him so far? I'll have to go say hi to him when I see him." The small town was quickly becoming not so small - his father's clinic was slowly growing due to new people moving into town. "Thanks, let me know when you need me. If you don't mind, I can convince my sister to come out too." Johanna Strome was a competitive rider herself - and just like any other female, would give anything to be around foals.
The blond had met a few of the grooms, often having them bring the horses needed to be worked on and John was busy. "The ones I've met so far have been nice. How do you keep them happy anyway?" He really only had his parents who worked with him - they were looking for others to help. Everett patted the grey on the shoulder before he followed John into the tack room.
"Does he need a martingale or anything too? Boots maybe?" He began pulling out the English saddle and half pad from the locker, grabbing the black full pad and bridle.
"Do you now? Your horses think so too?" He liked to think his two horses thought he was their favorite person - though when it came to getting chiropractic work done, neither Fernie nor Sunday anted anything to do with him. After pressing gently against his left hind leg, he moved his hands down gently - checking for sore spots. "At least with people I can explain things to in English, but my equine patients don't understand until they feel better." It wasn't always instant relief for them, though he knew from discussions with their riders it seemed to help them.
He stood back up straight after checking the first back leg and nodded. "That would be great thanks. Now you have my personal phone number so... no excuses." Everett laughed softly as he ran his hand across the horse's hindquarters before moving over to the other side. "A good friend of mine runs the rescue they came from. Said they were brought in together. L.A? Hickstead must have been a huge change then?" Ev ran a hand down the right back leg and repeated the process.
"I was born in Germany but I've been here for what seems like forever."
"Oh wow. I had no idea that's how you got into riding. Was the horse you rescued a proven jumper and that's how you got into show jumping?" His story about how he got into riding was much more boring of that. Both of his parents threw him on the back of a pony in the hopes that the young boy would burn his energy.
He continued to brush the grey gelding, hoping he was doing a good job. Though it had seemed the gelding had gotten a bath recently and was relatively clean. "I do like to think my fellow German citizens are good equestrians, though Western riding really isn't our thing." He laughed softly as he switched from the curry comb to the hard brush. "What did you think of it anyway?" As Everett never competed but he did take Western Pleasure lessons when a coach was available.
"Uh, right. Unless you bring a horse that can jump with a useless rider then I'll just watch." He had watched some English disciplines at Seven Oaks, but it was completely different than what he was used to. "There are things they have to learn on their own. Honestly, it's like training a horse and then selling it. Though I'm not a father so I don't know if that's true or not." He shrugged his shoulders as he continued getting the gelding ready, finishing by brushing his mane and tail.
After cleaning out the gelding's hooves, he was ready to saddle up. "Another new person in town? That's always fun. It's always nice knowing I'm not the newest citizen." He joked, having been in Hickstead for what seemed like forever now. His German accent was practically gone. "Maybe he's ridden or been around horses before? That's a huge bonus when it comes to working here." It was like if someone came to work with his family. Having experience with animals was a must.
"Not everyone would be so kind. I'm sure there are some people who would love to see the chiropractor on a young hot horse." He would be the laughing stock of the community, though he also didn't know how this lesson was going to go. "Once they are born, I may have to drag my sister along to come see them. She always loves seeing the foals." That made his sister sound like she was pretty young, but she was only young at heart.
"Oh good, I would hate to hear you work them to the bone. I understand that running a place like this means it's easier when the grooms help out." If he asked nicely enough, the stable hands at SOS would brush his horse for him if he was late for his lessons due to a client. "I think I can figure it out. The girth is probably the only thing that's really different. I'm ready to tack up if you tell me where his tack is."
"That doesn't sound surprising to me at all. I assume your parents did the same with you?" He didn't start riding until much later - his parents hoping that it would help him focus and wear him out as he had too much energy half the time. "I'd have to agree with your wife on that one. I know how bomb proof your horses are but, newborns are delicate." He didn't want to go into detail about how the baby could suffocate in the saddle bag - it wasn't exactly pleasant conversation.
Everett nodded, he was sure it would be uncomfortable in an English saddle. "I was going to ask Kayleigh about it but she seemed to be busy that day. I never thought you would be one to ride in them. I do hope it was for a fun ride and not a jumping lesson?" Working the horse on the flat would be more comfortable in jeans, though it was the only thing he ever rode in. "I swear I'm at Seven Oaks every day. I'll have to come watch a clinic next time you are there though. I could also come get you and one of your horses if that works better." He could easily have it arranged with someone who had their own if he could borrow one.
"And I thought you were one who had all the patience in the world. Or would that only be with things that are not human?" Everett was always impressed how the Ryan family's horses behaved during their chiropractic sessions. He knew that it took a lot of patience and work to get the horses trained how they were. He glanced up at the lighting on the celling, impressed with the look of the barn. "I don't think I've heard of him. Is he new in town?" He also would admit that he didn't know everyone in town - though if he had a horse he was sure to at least have heard of him. "What makes you think he has something to prove?"
Everett took a glance at the grey horse he would be riding. The gelding seemed calm enough, for that he was thankful for. He knew how to ride, but riding English would be a whole different ball game. "Glad to hear. I knew I'd be in the right hands." If the Ryan grandchildren rode him, so could he. "How many foals are you expecting this year?" He followed John into the tack room and watched as John put the grooming kit down on the floor by Rocket. "Dang, I thought you of all people would have a groom to get your horses ready." He joked, picking up the rubber curry comb from the plastic kit and began curry brushing the grey.
