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!.
Morgan had a very busy day. Despite having the day off from teaching spin, there were still client horses to ride and get paid for. After spending the morning at the barn, she did her office work at home. The invoices for both spin classes and working with client's horses were adding up. The red head was proud of herself for getting it all done before dinner time.
She decided to treat herself to a drink and an appetizer at one of the newer bars in town. Morgan had been there a few times with the regulars at her spin class, though it was time for her to try it on her own. Morgan got in the car, letting out a sigh once she closed the door of her car. She hated doing office work - though that was how she got paid. It was about a fifteen minute drive to the bar, parking her car shortly after arriving. Morgan grabbed her purse and headed inside, wondering how busy it would be.
Once she stepped inside it took her a moment to realize it was Happy Hour - something she didn't usually attend but she really needed a treat. Morgan immediately headed over to the bar seating - deciding that she had the perfect opportunity to socialize. Quickly choosing an empty seat next to and older looking man, she sat down. "Is it okay if I sit here?" Morgan didn't want to assume that the man was here solo but she didn't see a purse or anything close by.
The woman didn't know what the specials were - she assumed they changed every day with happy hour. "Can you tell me what the specials are today? I'm looking for a drink and something to snack on." She had a late lunch at home, but alcohol was better absorbed with something greasy.
Morgan didn't know what to expect when she threw sass at the stranger. She did her best to be nice to everyone, though she was working - meaning she was concentrated. "I've been run over here more times than you can imagine." Both by horses and other humans - her jobs often required her to act and think on her feet. Once people were clipped into their bikes however it wasn't as much of a hazard.
The woman moved herself into a plank now, pressing her toes into the mat. Morgan couldn't really argue with him not knowing her name, though most people who went to the gym knew who she was. Her name appeared often on the weekly schedule of classes after all. "True. I just thought that if you knew I taught Spin that you'd know my name." She held the plank for about a minute before allowing herself to lay back down on her stomach - taking a moment to breathe. When the comment about men not taking spin class, she scoffed. The red head got herself up and spun herself around to sit upright. "You'd be surprised. I have about seven regulars who are men. And no, they didn't just try it once and left." It was similar to yoga in terms of gender turnout, though she was happy about more and more men joining her class. "Do I know her? I do honestly say for people to take things at their own pace. I'm not the one adjusting the resistance on the bike." She shrugged her shoulders before putting her legs out straight.
Morgan reached forward with her arms and stretched her lower back now. "Nice to meet you. Now I don't have to call you spin judge. Honestly, it's really not that bad." She didn't have to convince anyone - her classes were making her money with or without him. "I live here in the mornings. After this I'm usually at one of the stables nearby. You don't live here do you?" Her regulars would joke about her living at the gym, though like them she had a life outside of work.
"That depends who you are. Most people I talk to don't know why I do the jobs that I do." She worked much better during the day - leaving her evenings to be free to relax and wind down. It also allowed her client's horses to go outside basically all day after she rode them, making it a win-win situation for everyone. "What do you for work that makes you enjoy the mornings?" Ever since she was a child, the mornings were the only time when her father wasn't abusive - the house was quiet and no one knew Morgan was wide awake.
The red head laughed at the joke. She really hoped no one would get injured, considering passing on her own turn as it wasn't something she was familiar with. "Uh, this isn't a cult is it? I'm honestly just here for the workout." She really didn't know what she was getting into. The woman followed the stretches - making sure her legs got the brunt of it. "How often do you guys meet anyway?" She went into downward dog, sending the heels of her feet down to the ground to stretch her calves.
It took Morgan a moment to absorb everything. She hated what the mare had been through, though she was happy to change that. "Well, that's perfect. I've ridden both Western and English so I don't mind putting in the work." The redhead didn’t have much of a life outside of work, which meant the horse would have more care than anyone else. “She is a chestnut mare, that’s to be expected.” Morgan laughed softly - the stereotype existed for a reason after all. Morgan was a rider who didn’t care what the horse looked like as long as the two of them got along and had fun. “Have you ridden her yourself?” It was a fair question - people who rode the horse tended to know them better - especially under saddle.
The woman nodded, expecting some sort of traumatic situation. Not many rescue horses came from good homes - or else they would have stayed there. “I really don’t understand why people decide to be abusive. Did someone drop her off here or did you and your family find her?” It would be heartbreaking either way, though maybe there was a shining light that the owners admitted defeat and trailered her to the closest rescue. “As for myself, I’ve been riding since I was six and competing when I was eight. Both in English and Western. I’m actually a catch rider so I’ve had experience training horses, even if they weren’t my own.” It was something she enjoyed so much that she turned it into her job - though having to say goodbye to horses she had grown attached to wasn’t something she was used to feeling. “I have discussed with Naomi Clarke if I can bring her there. Blue Acres is where I tend to have the most clients right now.”
She took her phone out and scrolled through her contacts. “I can give you the phone numbers of a few clients in town I’ve worked for. As for coaches, I’ve taken lessons from several coaches. Mainly Aurora Sky, Cassandra McLellan and Tobias Oliver. I can give you their phone numbers, they’ve been coaching me on various clients horses since I moved here.” Morgan really had nothing to hide and her coaches would stand behind her on it.
The blond man wasn't someone she had seen around before was what she realized when she first saw him. The redhead was happy that he had enough respect to give her room. She pressed down on the sides of her knees to deepen the hamstring stretch. “Oh, no problem. It’s not like I got run over or anything.” This was her favorite time of day, there was nothing better than an early morning workout.
“Spin girl? Really? That’s the best you can do?” She questioned, releasing the pressure from her knees and uncrossing her legs. Morgan felt herself wince slightly and stretched her torso forward to fold herself over. “You haven’t taken one of my classes before and forgot my name have you?” She was pretty good with names and didn’t recognize the man. He definitely wasn’t in that morning's class anyway. “My name is Morgan, by the way, prefer that over Spin Girl.” Morgan rolled herself so that she was sitting upright again. She took a few deep breaths to allow the stretches to work through before she would continue on.
"Yeah, that's me. It's nice to meet you too. Thanks for inviting me out, I'm excited to meet Montana." She had been itching to have her own horse for years now - one who needed training from the ground up. It was a rewarding process. "My first question would be, how long has she been here and have you been able to do any work with her?" She needed to know how much work the mare would need. Morgan was thankful she was able to ride all different kinds of horses - it made her a better rider and ultimately led to her doing catch riding as a job.
“Did you have any questions for me though?” It was quite often that it was the case as most people wanted to know what kind of home their horse was going to. She hadn’t quite decided on a barn yet, though Seven Oaks was somewhere she often did her catch riding. “And also, what kind of information do you have on her, if any?” Coming from a rescue, she did know that it wasn’t always possible to have everything the horse had done previously.
Morgan nodded, gently taking the piece of paper and her light colored eyes glancing at it. "Alright, I'm in. Sounds like something fun." She was practically warmed up after teaching spin class and the light jog she started. Always interested to see what other fitness classes there were - she was truly excited. "No, no. I'm curious to see what you do here. I'm Morgan, nice to meet you." Morgan made sure there was enough room between herself and the person next to her, prepared to get going.
She glanced at Robin, tilting her head as she got a good look at him. He was almost as pale as her and his dark hair was curly - she would describe him as handsome. "I do hope I'm considered normal. Though, I don't think normal people wake up at 5 in the morning to teach a spin class." That was when she was most active - riding early in the morning when she wasn't teaching at the gym. "Swing swords? What kind of class did I get myself into?" Morgan laughed, starting to do a bit of stretching on her own before the class started.
The red head was done teaching her beloved six AM Spin class. Her regulars were back from vacation and were all ready to get back into shape. Morgan used a towel to wipe the sweat from her forehead, glad everyone else had a great workout. She stayed behind, allowing her students to chat with her after. Most of them stating they enjoyed her class and would gladly bring a friend along next time. "Please do, the more the merrier. I think after Friday's class we are planning to grab coffee after so we can really chat. It's been awhile since we all caught up." Morgan tried to arrange once a month for her regulars to catch up - they found they had more in common than just Spin class.
As the last student left, she picked up her yoga mat from her classroom and headed towards the main part of the gym. Her cardio and weights were done for the day - though her calf was bothering her and needed a stretch. She laid down on the mat and put herself in child's pose - stretching through her back. She took some deep breaths, bringing her adrenaline down from the class. The woman closed her eyes, opening them again quickly after she heard footsteps stop beside her.
The red head sighed and got herself sitting up - crossing her legs to stretch her hamstrings. "Can I help you?" She tried her best not to sound annoyed, but her time after class was set aside for her.
Everyone clapped for the new rider. Morgan knew that none of her usual clients would scare anyone new off - it was much too early in the morning for that. "Alright, position number two is the same but just rotate your hands and put them at the bottom of the handlebars like this." She did as she said, continuing to pedal. "Now use position number one if you need a break. This second one if it's a race."
She took a few more heavy pedals and brought her hands up to the tops of the handle bars. "This is number four and we will be here when we do a climb. I'll ask you to do pumps and dips." She turned her elbows out when she mentioned pumps and brought her elbows back and brought her body closer to the handle bars when dips were mentioned. "And finally, number five is just your hands on top." Morgan put her hands on top of the upside down U shaped bar between the handle bars.
"Most importantly, the knob between your knees controls the heaviness. Make it as easy or as difficult as you'd like." She gave hers two good cranks to the right, slowing her legs down. "Any questions before we start?"
Morgan had been trying horses to buy for a few weeks now. Her clients were starting to take the horses she rode for them off to competitions around Europe. She was proud of the horses she worked with - they had come so far, but it was time for her to get her own.
She had heard about Helping Hooves through one of her clients at the gym, always wanting to help a horse who needed a forever home. Morgan had called and arranged a meeting - maybe even a test ride if she was allowed to. The red head was excited when Piper had agreed and was now on her way to the barn she had never been to before.
After getting in her car, she typed the address into her phone and let it guide her towards her destination. Thirty minutes later, she parked her car in a free spot and headed towards the main office. She knocked on the door and opened it. "Hi, sorry to interupt. I'm here to look at potentially buying a horse from you? I spoke with... a Piper over the phone." She remembered the woman's name as it wasn't one she had heard often. The red head closed the door behind her, in case this was a private conversation. Things in the equestrian world spread like wildfire through the community.
Morgan glanced around, quickly realizing that it was some sort of class. She didn't realize how popular the pond was for classes, but it made sense. If she didn't need a studio or standing bikes - she would have her classes outside as well. The red head wandered closer, stopping as she stood close to a male stranger. It seemed from the set up that it was some sort of fitness class.
A female voice interrupted her mystery solving skills about what was going on in front of her. "Oh, my apologies. I was curious about what was going on here, just on a walk to stretch out." She was about to turn to leave, though something inside her mind told her to stay and take the class. She had nothing else planned that day anyway.
"Actually, what is this class? If you have room for one more, I'd love to join." She wasn't quite done working out for the day, loving the opportunity to be outside. The woman took both earbuds out of her ears, pulling the phone out of her armband and unplugging the headphones from her phone - stuffing them into the pocket of her white windbreaker.
Her six A.M Spin classes were becoming more and more popular. People seemed to be spreading the word about it in town for which she was thankful for. After finishing yet another class, she clapped for everyone, glad that they had all done a great job. She tried her best to make her classes well-rounded, knowing that her participants were all over the map in terms of what difficulty they were comfortable with.
As soon as the last person left, she waved goodbye to the employees at the gym, leaving them to clean her room where class was held before she left. It was her plan to head to the pond to go for a walk. She knew most people found it was cold, but she enjoyed being outside as much as possible. The red head drove off, parking in the parking lot by the park about ten minutes later. She got out, locked her car and slid her phone into the armband holder, putting her headphones in as she started to walk, the cool fresh air feeling nice after being stuck inside.
The upbeat music filled her ears as she walked along. It seemed as though she caught a bit of luck as it wasn't raining like it would be in England this time of year. She turned her head, her eye catching a few people standing with sheets of paper in their hand, wondering what they were doing. She took one earbud out of her ear and started walking over to them, hoping she could watch from afar without being disruptive.
"Then I think you are in the right spot, this should be pretty similar to your usual class." She gave her class another smile, double checking to make sure everyone was on their bike correctly. It made for a more difficult class if the bike wasn't set up properly.
She turned her head to her laptop and started some up beat music from her laptop that was on a desk beside her. "Alright, let's go over the hand positions. So, if you put your hands on the part of the handlebars closest to your legs with your knuckles facing forward, this is position number one." She moved her hands to the right spot and sat down in the saddle.
Her eyes glanced across the room again, making sure her students were comfortable with it. "I'd like to give a warm welcome to our newest rider, Riley. Let's not scare her off.." Morgan smiled, hoping not to embarrass her newest student. She truly wanted everyone to enjoy her class and return as often as they wanted.