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!.
Well, Jaana certainly had solved the conundrum of rides pretty quickly when she elected to go with Ronan's favorite. He didn't mind though, despite the cold, the flying chairs were a good, easy ride to ease into the mood. Whatever the mood was. The young man still wasn't sure, and quite frankly, he wasn't sure what Jaana thought of it either, "Sounds good. They're this way." Ronan replied with a smile, nodding with his head as they began to walk in the direct of the rides, and he made sure to stick closely to the red head so the crowds didn't gobble her up.
For a moment, Ronan thought this night might actually be okay. Then he asked a stupid question, and the young man clocked the look on her face. So much for that thought. Thankfully, Jaana didn't look repelled by the idea as many girls in Australia had been. She did, however, look quite confused: “Oh! Uh, we can try?” It took everything in Ronan's power to not shy away. Thankfully, and quite comically, Jaana held her hand out - but like a handshake.
Blue grey eyes looked at the hand, and he couldn't help but to chortle, "That's a hand shake." He informed her now, reaching to grab her hand with his left hand. Gently, he squeezed it before guiding her to drop it, as they walked hand in hand under the stars and clouds, "This is holding hands." Ronan watched her now, "Is it okay or does it make you uncomfortable?"
People ought to quit worrying so much about whispering to their horses and just start listening to them.
He had not been expecting Kenzie to comment on his burning cheeks - in hindsight though - it was stupid. She was totally the person who would call someone out on blushing. Ronan was annoyed with himself over it, especially when she accused him of being red enough to fry an egg on. The teenager bristled a little, the typical Ronan Slade way, as he gruffly responded to her: "I'm fine." He didn't trust himself to go into explaining himself, he'd probably stammer on something, and it would come off wrong, and the last thing Ronan needed Kenzie thinking was that he either had a crush on her or thought she was ugly which was neither.
At her killer cats pun, a heavy sigh escaped Ronan. Granted, he knew exactly what she meant and the fact that Kenzie was rightly teasing him. God, she was annoying. It was like having a big sister, or well, what Ronan thought it was like having a big sister who was somehow only maybe two years older than him. She never let him catch a break on anything it seemed, and had a quippy retort for everything. Blue grey eyes caught that look that Kenzie gave him - honestly, he thought it had been an innocent question, now it felt like she might think he was trying to get something out of her. Ronan made a face, "Why would I want to make you cry?"
At least the truck pat came at a critical moment, drawing the mood back to happier territory, "That is exactly why. She'll be mad at you, not me." And it wasn't often he had another person in the truck that he could blame, so today was his lucky day. Kenzie was fiddling there with her phone as he ignited the engine, surprised that she actually heard his question about wild animals as they drove off now, "Eh...Muffin's a rag doll. They're not exactly known for being ferocious." Now he was worried, his foot pumping the gas a little more to get them to his house a little faster. A snort escaped him at the name of the title, "Yeah, appropriate indeed." He took a quick glance at her screen, "Your killer cat playlist is titled Dark & Gothic? That sounds dramatic."
City streets and cobbled buildings slowly gave way to rolling greens and hills. The traffic died out too. Ronan didn't live in the proper town, but outside the limits. Hopefully Kenzie didn't think he was taking her out to axe murder her on top of thinking he may be out to make her cry.
Man, Emma loved to talk. He was learning more about her than she probably was learning about him. Ronan didn't mind though, if the young woman wanted to talk and fill the void, then he was happy to just let her. At least she was friendly, and not mean. Sometimes Ronan felt like people talked because they simply wanted to brag or boss, which the young man never cared for, "Ahhhh - well, I take it about then, you defilingly had more chores than me." He said with a faint smile now, "It was nice. A lot of work, but I enjoyed it. I felt at peace there, more than I ever did at school amongst my peers."
Blue grey eyes watched Emma now as she appeared in a wistful thought, no doubt about her former horse. He couldn't imagine what she was going through. Ronan suppose it was lucky though that she had said goodbye by choice verses being forced to. The young man locked up as she finished her explanation on Cash, and he just laughed, "Well - at least you knew it was your choice, and not someone else's...or nature's for that matter. Cash is lucky to have an owner like you."
Ronan watched as Emma gave a nod to his saddle, agreeing with him that it was the ultimate saddle of choice. A smirk couldn't help but to escape him as the young woman noted that her ass was often on the ground more than the horse, "Honestly - I can't judge." After all, a lot of people at Seven Oaks had seen him on the ground with Max standing over him wondering why he was there. At her question, Ronan nodded, "Yeah. Max is my horse." He mulled over her request, before agreeing, "I can't see any harm in it. I don't think the Whites will mind either. This isn't like old school Blue Arces." Ronan nodded for her to follow him, "Follow me."
While their last show had not gone as planned, Ronan Slade was feeling pretty confindent about this one. He had really put Max through his passes since signing up again, training and reintroducing Max to the obstacles that had given him grief previously, only this time in a bigger arena and outside the comfort of the lunging pen. While Ronan was fairly certain it had just been a bad ride that day, it made him realize that perhaps he had been taking Max's bombproof attitude for granted, and realized that training a horse was never truly done.
As Cara from Blue Arces finished their round now, Ronan and Max centered the arena. Blue grey eyes surveyed the arena as did Max's liquid amber ones. His ears forward, his head perked up, but in a good way. The chestnut brumby seemed to be oozing with confidence this timea round, and Ronan was feeling great as well. Nudging him forward, they started their round. No flappy bags disturbed them, and this time, Max got over the small jump with ease before approaching the bridge. He surged forward, the echo of his hooves not bothering him as they went over and straight into the water now. The pair lumbered through and back up the small hill to be greeted by a pool noodle display. Yet they didn't seem to mind it, walking through and onto the next obstacle. Ronan always kept his leg firm, and his connection between himself and Max in check.
It wasn't long before they had finished, closing the gate behind him. Once the cheers and claps escaped the crowd, only then did Ronan realize he hadn't been breathing quite right that whole time. Nonetheless, he grinned, leaning over to give Max all the love that he deserved, his brumby thoughtfully chewing the bit.
People ought to quit worrying so much about whispering to their horses and just start listening to them.
CHARACTER'S NAME;;HARLOW FREYA ALENKO CHARACTER'S AGE;; Twenty One WHICH STABLES;; Ryan Sports Hall HORSE'S SHOW NAME;; ICU HATIN' HORSE'S BARN NAME;; Alpha RPED BY;; Forever CLASSES WISHING TO ENTER;; Six Pole & Pairs (partnered with TY XAVIER WEBBER )
CHARACTER'S NAME;;JAMESON TYLER HUGHS CHARACTER'S AGE;; eighteen WHICH STABLES;; Blue Arce HORSE'S SHOW NAME;; Dr. Pepper HORSE'S BARN NAME;; Fiver RPED BY;; Forever CLASSES WISHING TO ENTER;; Novice Dressage, Freestyle Dressage
CHARACTER'S NAME;;SAGE ASTER LAVIGNE CHARACTER'S AGE;; Nineteen WHICH STABLES;; Blue Arce HORSE'S SHOW NAME;; Sorcerer's Apprentice HORSE'S BARN NAME;; Orb RPED BY;; Forever CLASSES WISHING TO ENTER;; Novice Dressage, X-Country, Novice Show Jumping (if avaliable)
CHARACTER'S NAME;;RONAN DAIRE SLADE CHARACTER'S AGE;; Nineteen WHICH STABLES;; Seven Oaks HORSE'S SHOW NAME;; Just Max HORSE'S BARN NAME;; Max RPED BY;; Forever CLASSES WISHING TO ENTER;; Handy Pony
CHARACTER'S NAME;;BAILEY AMBROSIA GALLAGHER CHARACTER'S AGE;; Seventeen WHICH STABLES;; Blue Arce HORSE'S SHOW NAME;; Badlands Barbie HORSE'S BARN NAME;; Barb RPED BY;; Forever CLASSES WISHING TO ENTER;; Barrell Racing
CHARACTER'S NAME;;RIVER ARLO BLOOM CHARACTER'S AGE;; Thirty Three WHICH STABLES;; Seven Oaks HORSE'S SHOW NAME;; Darkest Night HORSE'S BARN NAME;; Raven RPED BY;; Forever CLASSES WISHING TO ENTER;; Intermediate Show Jumping; Puissance
Ronan almost thought that the young woman might not follow after him, but as soon as the thought crossed his mind, he could hear her footsteps traveling behind him. Thank goodness too, because he hated dealing with the tack room door when his hands were full. Obviously, the young man could handle himself, but sometimes, Ronan just wanted to be selfish and have the door opened for him, "Ah, really? My dad is the one with the ranch," he said with a faint smile, "Must have been nice though. Probably had less chores than me." Emma probably had a loving mother as well, something that Ronan couldn't help but to feel a little jealous over. Not that it mattered, he was long over his mother and how she left, zipping in and out of his life whenever she saw fit.
They made it to his locker, and at her question, he merely shook his head in a 'no', waiting for her to open it up. Green eyes watched as Emma figured it out, jumping into their conversation topic with a jumble of words, "Ah, well, there's no shortage of nice competition horses over at the sale yard," Ronan replied, "Or a diamond in the rough, depending on what you're looking for. That was nice of you to look out for your horse though, between retiring him and not having him make the flight." The young man supposed he couldn't say the same thing about himself, he brought Max with him. But Max wasn't a competition horse, just a stock horse who wanted to have fun. Honestly, had he moved without the brumby, Ronan probably would have been a much angrier person in Hickstead.
He slid his saddle into the locker now, relieved to finally be free of holding it, "Hmmm? Oh, I swap between an American western and an Australian stock saddle." Ronan replied, clocking how Emma appeared to like to talk with her hands, "Both are nice and comfortable in their own way, sometimes, I think my ass just sticks better to the heavier one when Max is feeling frisky." Damn, he actually cracked a joke. He shut the locker door for her now, "So, I guess you've seen the tack room. Is there any where else you wanted to check out for your potential future horse? I have some free time left before I have to head home, and my horse is already out in pasture."
Ronan watched as the mystery girl's jaw dropped, although he really wasn't certain why. Granted, he was a teenage boy, Ronan supposed he was clueless to a lot of things. He did know that she was lucky to have run into him, unlike some others at Seven Oaks, the need to give a stranger the seventh degree was never in his bones, "It's fine. I grew up hauling them around." Cerulean eyes caught that embarrassed look on her face now as she covered it up in some mild embarrassment, stumbling through some words before offering her name: Emma Marie Brown.
Given the bundle of nerves Emma appeared to be, Ronan offered her a smile he usually only reserved for Piper Ledor-Kita, hoping that would calm her, "Nice to meet you, Emma Brown." He gestured for her to follow him now as they made their way to the tack room now, Ronan readjusting his grip on the leather western saddle while Emma continued to talk. The young man couldn't help but to wonder if all southern Americans talked a mile a minute, as he opened the door to the tack room, pausing at her question, "Me? I moved here a year ago from Australia. My grandfather needed company." It was more than that, but Ronan wasn't going to share too private information with a girl he had just met,"And I picked Seven Oaks cause it fit my personality. There are a few barns around here though."
After that, he stepped into the tack room now and walked over to his locker, "Mind getting my locker door for me?" Ronan asked, his cerulean eyes locking with Emma's gaze now, "So, if you 'literally' just got to town, I take it you're just figuring out everything in town and around it?" Maybe she had a horse in quarantine, but he didn't want to assume, "I take it you like horses though if you're here."
Ronan cringed inwardly a little bit with the girl hadn't been as lucky as him with the collision. Instead of remaining upright, she apparently ended up on the barn floor with a rather solid thud. That couldn't have been comfortable. Blue grey eyes peered down at her, "Are you--" But he never finished his question, because it wasn't long before the stranger was glancing back up at him with a wide grin on her face and giggling a bit - clearly, she was fine.
In fact, she might have been more than fine, she certainly hadn't lost her ability to speak. Maybe the blonde was nervous, but she started talking up a storm in a southern drawl that Ronan could only assume was American given she sorta sounded like Bailey Gallagher over at Blue Arces. She said her apologies, but then somehow got onto being both an energizer bunny and having, well, an ass. A snort of laughter escaped Ronan, like any nineteen year old boy would though, "It's no problem, really. I'm alive." He adjusted his saddle in his arms now, freeing up one so that he could help the mystery girl up now. Once she was settled, her blue grey eyes still stared at her and realize in all of her rambling, he still didn't know who she was.
While he often wasn't one for smiling unless he was with people whom he was comfortable with, Ronan still offered one if only to try and settle her, "I still don't know who you are though," the young man commented wryly though, "I'm Ronan though. Been here for a little over a year now, so I more or less know everyone. I need to get rid of my saddle though, you can come with me if you want." After all, the mystery girl wasn't exactly giving him a serial killer vibe or anything. He figured he'd live this encounter.
Ronan Slade had just finished up cooling down his horse and unsaddling him for the day. His brumby looked like he was ready to go out to pasture, and the teenager decided to be kind and not make him wait. Despite the impatience, Max walked for him quite nicely as they headed out to the gelding's pasture, with Ronan turning him around before pulling the halter. As soon as the halter slipped off, Max pulled back turned and let out a nice buck before running off. Blue grey eyes watched for a moment, before he shook his head - one would have thought that the pair of them hadn't just been put through their paces by Tobias Oliver a mere ten minutes earlier.
The young man headed back to the cross ties stall and cleared his grooming supplies, before heading back to grab his western saddle and bridle. Ronan slipped the bridle over his shoulder before bending and scooping his arms up under the saddle itself, hugging it close to his chest. With the school year nearly done, Ronan had a lot on his mind - mainly if he wanted to return to Australia for the summer or not. Part of him wanted to see his dad, but part of him wanted to remain, not only for his grandfather and the fact that he couldn't move Max for three months, but also because of Piper. The mere thought of her alone caused a heated fire in his cheeks, which caused Ronan to scurry off before people could ask questions.
He was making his way to the tack room the long way, and apparently the busy way, as he collided right into someone who...skipped there way in. Ronan felt a thud into him, and he braced his body and feet, remaining up right along with his saddle in tack. Blue grey eyes glanced over to see a girl now, who looked about his age, there, "Uh, hi." The teenager had never been the greatest with words, but figured he should offer more than than, and not bite off her head, "You new or are you looking for someone?" Either way, he didn't recognize the girl, and that alone meant a mystery to solve.
A snort of laughter could not help but to escape the teenager at Rory's words: "Honestly, don't tell Molly or Janie but I'm glad it's you out here." Truth be told, Ronan wasn't surprised by that comment. Brooklyn Hazelton would be an annoying one as well, "What? Can't handle some horse-obsessed teenagers, Rory?" He said jokingly now. God. Living here really has rubbed off on him if he could ask wry jokes like that. Granted, in the grand scheme of things, Ronan knew that he should be paying attention to the little foal in front of him.
Blue grey eyes watched as Radar's little tail and ears twitched about, as if he was trying to figure out how to best run away from the two humans now. It probably didn't help that he had Max hollering about, no doubt egging the little guy on. Ronan knew it wouldn't be long before other horses in his gelding's paddock decided to follow suit and watch the show, only to add more to the chaos. He nodded at Rory's instructions, shifting a little bit as he walked forward now, trying to edge the foal towards the fence line and Max, "Ah sure. We can go for a ride if this doesn't take up our whole afternoon." He didn't have much going on today given the summer heat, which hopefully would come to an end soon, "Glad to hear about Merlin. Max is doing well, as you can see. Took a while, but I think he's finally settled in. I think his last spook was in January."
Ronan took a few more steps, watching as the foal pawed the ground and whinnied again, "Ah, an escape artist and a dominate personality. You do have your hands full," he commented, taking a few more steps, "At least it's only him." He wasn't really sure how he was going to catch him for Rory, but he made sure to seem big enough to cover the ground. Radar dance a bit now, really thinking about what to do, and Max's head hung over the fence now, trying to get to the foal himself. Ronan took a deep breath, "Alright Rory, I guess it's now or never?"
"People ought to quit worrying so much about whispering to their horses and just start listening to them." —Greg Darnall
