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!.
Monster's ears flicked forward again briefly, but that agitated look refused to budge. He stomped, both in warning and to scatter the flies, blowing loudly. He wasn't entirely sure what to do, no sure what the man was asking as he stood square on, glaring.
"Shh."
The stallion stood mostly ridged, rooted to the spot, for the time being focused on the man in front of him. It was perhaps a god-send that the yard was quiet, most of the other horses out of the stables in pastures beyond or even working, allowing Monster to stay on track with one thing and not many at once. He flinched at the touch, the skin trembling under the man's hand, his breathing picking up loudly. He worked the bit over again, metal clicking against his teeth, turning his head slightly and raised his lip a little, flashing teeth in warning. He was quick, as that young stable-boy had found out, and he was not the sort that forgave after one strike.
"I can help with that itch if you let me."
His tail started to go, flicking back and forth in irritation, skin jumping and twitching. The man wasn't backing off. Most people backed off. He stomped a hind hoof hard into the ground and kicked up dirt with for foreleg, stirring up the dust. He didn't understand the man. There was fine line, a hair-trigger with the pressure between them. Monster wasn't even sure in himself whether to kick or bite, but he was not fond of the idea of bending to the will of the man.
Monster's ears were pinned back flat against his next as he stomped the ground. He caught the movement from the corner of his eye, whites wide and clear, turning slightly so he was facing the man a little more squarely. There was a slight knocking on the steel rails as he bumped his hocks into them, but in a convenient twist of some kind, he wasn't tangled in the long line any more.
The stallion could only stare and watch the human's movements, wondering what was going to happen now. He wasn't getting his way, and people weren't scattering like flies to get away form him as they tried to get him back in the stables. He took a few hesitant, almost skittering steps forward off the steel rails, an ear flicking forward for half a second before falling flat again. His head dipped a fraction lower, just starting to relax a little bit. He turned his head sharply to nip at his near side, snorting loudly as he did.
Monster kept up his display, making his body shiny with sweat as he kicked and lashed out around the human, not allowing the human to move. His hooves landed around the man, inches to spare as some of his hooves hit the ground. He snorted and shook his head, spit flying about as he showed off his size and strength, making himself bigger against the human.
Once he snaked his head towards the man's legs, swinging around and biting only fabric before dashing off to the other side of the pen puffing and blowing. His legs shook a little as he stood there, the sort of tremble that came from a tiredness of a horse that lacked the stamina. He was under worked, and it showed. His display wearing him out to a point that his body trembled. His veins were clear under his coat bringing flies to land and bite. He turned tried again in vain to clear them with his tail and a shake of his tightly braided mane to no avail.
He snapped his head around to try and scratch, the bit snapping against teeth as it was jerked awkwardly to one side. He jolted and backed up a few paces, working his jaw from the sudden discomfort. He paid the human no mind as he stood there, the line still trailing on the ground. He was done for now, out of breath, walking slowly with his head low towards the gate. Most humans knew what he wanted that there was no resistance to ending work and getting to rest for a bit.
Monster picked up on the change of energy; it was sharp, sudden and aggressive. Not to mention the tone of the two humans added to it. Moving from a trot into a hard canter, he circled the yard several times before immediately changing direction hard. There was pressure all around and there was no escaping it, and that damn lead! It was dragging around and about his legs, catching under his hooves and jerking his head down.
The groom was quick to scurry off and the movement caught Monster's eye, rearing up and lashing out at the bars with a heavy metallic thud of his hooves against the rails, letting out a shrill challenging neigh as the groom disappeared into the stables. He was riled up now as he came back down onto the sand and stomped his feet in agitation. The flies were proving to be just as irritating at the humans, biting at his neck face and body without any way to shoo them.
Tossing his head around and snorting, he'd had more than enough and was no longer feeling as willing to listen anymore. He kicked up his hooves, charging by the human still in the pen with him, tensing up his quarters and letting loose a kick that only caught air, deciding to challenge the pecking order. His whole body language changed in an instant, going from mildly annoyed to extremely irritated, his ears flattened back and his eyes hard.
He charged up to the human with a squeal, immediately getting into his space, no longer polite as he chewed on the bit and foamed lightly at the corners. He was not about to stand another minute of this!
He stomped at the ground in an irritated manner, unable to shoo the flies that were happily nipping at him as he sniffed at the edge of the arena, assessing who had been there before and if it was the most recent thing to go down. He lifted his head and reached for his shoulder with a huff, stomping again.
"You don't like the horse, do you?"
The groom looked up and frowned, "Not particularly no. He's mad. He's already bitten two of the younger grooms that work here and rushed gates - on top of what I've heard he's done at Blue Acre. His owner has told us he's a little spooked, I call it being feral. Looks handsome, but the Devil is in his veins."
Monster looked over at the groom and seemed to pick up on something, the tone of voice, the unpleasantness that turned his ears flat. He knew that tone all too well, he had been on the other side of that sort of voice and it was never a kindness to be had. He pawed the ground again, stirring up the dust, challenging the voice of the groom to try him.
"Lets see if we can get that rope off you."
His attention turned to the new comer, a kinder tone - was this going to be much better? He lifted his head up a little higher yet and watched the man warily, shifting on his feet, making sure he was ready for what might come.
"I wouldn't untether him," the groom added, shaking his head, "There's enough trouble trying to catch him, be it in the yard or stalls. He'll sooner mow you down."
Monster watched the man in the pen with him for a moment, chewing and jostling the bit like it was a nervous tick and a notch too far back to be comfortable. After a tick, he lowered his head, and turned more to face the other man, though he was quick to take a glance back at the groom, shuffling his feet. It was a creeping curiosity that eventually got Monster to take one hesitant step after the other to get close enough to reach out and sniff at the hand, then at his arm and shoulder, getting closer so he could nose and push at him curiously. The groom made some noise, faint, but enough to make Monster back away from the strange man quickly and trot off in a bluster.
Monster pulled against the lunge line all but dragging the groom off balance at each turn, working the bit in his mouth as he foamed, ears forward for the most part. His bucking was light and eased off after a few laps of the ring. The groom was struggling, feeding more line to the stud as his circles all but reached the ring edge, and Monster knew it. He'd done this before when he was all strung up and in the right mind. He threw his head down in a sliding stop and turned, the line over the top of his neck as he changed the way he was running, pulling his head up as the groom tried to resolve the issue.
The black stud let out a loud shrill noise, throwing up his heels again before coming to a stop again. He was still as the groom began rapidly winding in the lunge line, the slack between them worrying. For a moment Monster faced the groom square on, silent and still as the slack lessened. The groom hesitated for a moment before he moved into the stallion's space with more pressure than he had previously, grunting at the stud to move on. Monster's ears pinned flat as he backed up, his hind quarters finding the arena edge with a thud before he pulled off with an aggressive, almost pissed off snort, pulling the groom right off his feet as he galloped off to the far side. Swinging around, the stud eyed off the groom laying in the dirt and pawed the ground hard, kicking up dust before he charged forward.
The groom was smart enough to get up quick and rush for the closest wall, scaling it rapidly as Monster drew up and reared, lashing out at the groom without landing a strike on the young man on the receiving end. The groom muttered angrily as the stud trotted away proudly, line dragging behind him. It was then that Monster saw another human just perched on the other side, his ears perking slightly as he approached slowly, dark eyes watching him. Breathing in the human's scent from a distance, the stallion snorted and tossed his head slightly before stomping his hind legs and flicked his tail trying to shoo the flies off his warmed skin. Up closer, some of his scars were a touch more visible where there were ridges under the smooth black coat and the scar by his eye though faded, was still visible - balded from the healing process. Turning back again, the stud sniffed again, soft nose blowing hot air over the man's arms before he walked away to investigate other things.
Monster stood in the cross ties as the groom worked on him gingerly. The stallion was already beginning to feel somewhat testy with the nervous air that was surrounding the groom. If anything, it seemed that people were more cautious about him and that suited him just fine. As far as humans went, they served his purposes - food, water, lightly worked because no one wanted to try their hand at him. But it was that nervy air that made him stamp the ground impatiently and swish his tail about that made the groom pause and hesitate.
It was all posturing at that point, with some mild irritation thrown into the mix. His ears flickered to the sound of other horses calling out in the pasture, to which he echoed his own shrill reply that made the groom scamper away. What was more, it was new surroundings for him too. After the incident at his previous stable, it had been enough to see him brought to another, smaller private yard where the people seemed to avoid him.
The farrier had been in the week before and got bit on the leg for his troubles, and that was more icing on the cake. But for whatever reason, the groom was taking time to make his coat glossy and had even called over another to clean his feet no less. His mane was pulled into a braid and his tail likewise maneuvered into some sort of fancy bun that let the damned flies land and bite him. And then with slightly firmer hands, he was taken out to the round yards for exercise he hadn't had in a day or two, so he was feeling quite fresh, pulling the groom over being led.
With some more stomping and pinning of his ears, he was engaged into a walk that he kept for all of a minute before his patience ran thin, taking to a lively canter with a few quick kicks.
show name • Popular Monster [Formerly - Life Waster] stable name • Monster, Corpse age • Six Years Old breed • KWPN Dutch Warmblood height • 17hh discipline • Show Jumping, Dressage, Cross Country [3DE] gender • Stallion
the appearance
identifying features• Has a hard look in his eye, RBF. Has minimal white on three legs. Has superficial scarring on face, neck, chest and legs, only notable when clipped.
the personality
likes • Apples, Being Pampered, Working, New Challenges [bores easily], dislikes • Spurs, Crops, Hard Hands, Nervous Riders, Cats strengths • Wonderful Jumper - hardly refuses, Graceful weaknesses • Drama-King, Fluttery Banners/Objects fears • Dogs overall personality • Monster is very much like his name sake, a monster. If he isn't trying to break things he's probably trying to bite you. He can be nice, but you have to earn that, so it is best to wary around him. One moment being loud and obnoxious, the next he's rushing to get out and about. But if you can get through to him and convince him that you are worthy, you'll have a loyal companion who will wear himself into the ground for you.
the history
owner • Jake Ryan [Shadz] father • KWPN Sire mother • KWPN Dam siblings • Many overall history • A planned foal, Monster was a typical colt living his best life with his dam and many other foals on the stud he was born. He was weaned off at a year old and let continue maturing for a further year in sprawling pastures, lightly trained to accept the halter and lead nicely. He was all round a nice horse to deal with.
There was a trail between one pasture to another and there were often people passing by, but one such group were teenage boys who found fun in spooking the horses by yelling and throwing stones at them. One stone caught Monster by surprise just above his right eye, cutting into the soft skin. It was found a few days later when the horses were brought in for a brief time. It healed up fine, leaving only a faint reminder of its existence. From there on, the horses were checked on daily. At two and half years old his training began more thoroughly. He was attentive and took to training easily.
With the start of dressage and jumping in his career, he was sold onto a man as a show prospect. Monster was always open to the competitive nature of his owner, moving with grace and purpose at every turn. For over a year he was ridden competitively, only being sold on when he started at fluttering banners which did no suit his rider. His next owner was a young lady that was an aggressive rider. She was more for the thrill of the cross country course, hurtling over jumps and turning sharply, however one such ride lead to him throwing his rider. They rounded a corner and a rabbit rushed out in front of him, shocking him. He tried to stop but she spurred and whipped and pulled at him, forcing him to go over the jump. The landing was off as he clipped the jump, sending his rider over his neck but she kept a firm hold on his reins as she flew off, which was not well received by Monster, who limping, tried to ease the pressure on his jaw and tongue. He only sprained himself thankfully, but his mouth was left a bit of a mess from the adventure.
He was sold again, this time to another man who took a fancy to him and rode him gently. He was still a handful but the young man didn't mind. He was kept happy, light competition in dressage and jumping, getting him back into it where his name was changed from Life Waster to Popular Monster. He had one final accident where a pack of dogs chased him through a field and in a panic, he busted through a barb-wire fence that kept cattle out of the pasture. Cut up, he was chased by the dogs for some time until they gave up and Monster was left trembling in a lane, lost and confused, stinging with the pain. He was found late in the afternoon by his owner who spent the day searching for him and called for a vet.
The damage was very much superficial, needing only a few stitches for the few deep cuts. After some rest the vet deemed him completely completely sound with a clean bill of health. He was later sold on again as his owner no longer had any more time for him. Now at six years old, Monster is waiting in a private yard up for sale to anyone who can get near him. His time recovering made him fairly bitter and prone to snapping at people. In recent times, he injured a young horse exerciser - lashing out unexpectedly, landing shod hooves into the young man which resulted in an unexpected hospitalization.
the role player
alias • Blackjac, Jac age • Mid 20s other characters • too many XD
