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!.
Marie was in the middle of a weird dream, the fact that she knew it was a dream told her that she was also kind of awake, but not awake enough to bring herself out of the dream as she ran from whatever was pursuing her. She awoke with a start as her dream-self fell to the ground, and she sat up with a gasp as she caught her breath, frowning slightly when she saw she was alone. That half asleep/half awake thing must have been more the former if she hadn't noticed John had left.
After a shower and a quick breakfast, Marie filled two travel mugs with fresh coffee and headed out the door. It was still early, but there were new horses that she wanted to check up on, and broodmares that need attention. Plus, the house was too quiet and she needed to be surrounded with noise.
Parking next to John's vehicle, she headed into the barn with a smile, not too surprised to discover it lacked her husband, though her attention was caught by a chestnut face with a wide blaze. "Hello, lovely." She whispered as she set the travel mugs on the ground and ran her hands down the gelding's face before she gathered his halter, slipped it on and led him from the box, stepping back to stand at the end of the lead to take a good look at the horse's conformation. "Wife!" A grin lit up her face at the sound of her husband's voice. "Husband!" She replied as she stepped up to the horse's head again. "Sorry if I woke you. I tried so hard to let you sleep in," She wrinkled her nose as she accepted the kiss, laughing as the horse turned his muzzle toward John for a kiss too. "Although, believe me, I am not complaining to see you here." She grinned again and nodded toward the mugs. "You didn't wake me, a strange dream did that, and being here, with you, seemed more entertaining than going back to sleep. I brought coffee."
identifying features• With brunette hair that falls down past her shoulders and eyes the colour of warm coffee, Marie is of medium height and build, mostly muscle from all her years working with horses
the personality
likes • her family (duh), eventing, reading (anything from biographies to the latest releases), horses, peppermint hot chocolate, winter, introducing foals to the idea of working
dislikes • too much noise, conflict, surprises (in any form), rap music, too much rain, people who ride with their hands and feet, abusers
strengths • Finding the right horse, memorising a course and finding the take off spot,
weaknesses • she's a little too forgiving, her family, not knowing her own limits
dreams • she's kind of found her dreams, and will do anything in her power so that her children will find theirs
fears • The past coming back and biting her, anything happening to John or their children
overall personality • Marie is very happy-go-lucky, she tries to see the best in everyone, and will easily forgive a small error. With that said though, if you do something to really tick her off, don't expect her to welcome you back with open arms the next time you need help. Her children are her heart and soul, and she will unleash the mama bear if anything threatens them. She can often be found in a stall, reading to a mare, while on foal watch.
overall history • Maire came from a very well-to-do family, even if her father lived in an apartment in London for most of the week and they played happy families during the weekend. No matter that she spent most of her childhood with only her mother during the week, she knew that she was loved by both of her parents, and was spoiled enough to prove it.
Having an accountant for a father wasn't so great once she started school though, as Mattie expected her to be as good with numbers as he was, and he would often lose his temper with her when she didn't catch on as fast as he wanted her to, not that he ever hit her, and she vowed that when she had children, she would never treat them like this.
When she was bitten by the horse-bug, it became her escape. No matter how much she was yelled at for not having the perfect scores in maths, she could always escape to the stables and work off her frustration by cleaning out stalls or stuffing haynets, or even just standing ringside as she watched the adults train horses. This is what she wanted to do when she grew up!
Marie was ecstatic when the owner of the yard offered her a position as one of one of his working pupils, and her parents agreed, as long as she kept up with her school work. Training horses was just as amazing as she had always thought it would be, and it wasn't long before she was taking on the bigger and bigger jumps. The main downside to the job, was the guy who was training with her. She was sure that she had seen him around before, but he was like a stain in her favourite show shirt that she just couldn't get rid of, Every time she turned around, there he was.
It was somewhere between all the competitions and training that Marie stopped seeing John as someone who was in her way to the top, but as someone she could spend the rest of her life with, she just wasn't sure how to tell him this. She admired the way he handled his mutt of a horse, maybe there was a little jealousy in there too, as this no-name horse could do anything her pedigree horses could. She was crushed when he gained the points needed to join the Olympic team, hated herself because she knew that if she had been just that little bit better, she would be there, not him. The proposal had come out of nowhere, and she heard herself giving the affirmative without even pausing to think about it.
They had a beautiful wedding out in the country side - their friends, family, teammates, mentor, and yes, even the horses, had attended. They enjoyed their honeymoon and went right back to work. They bought a huge mansion with a five star barn and land for their horses. After a year of enjoying their young marriage, they decided to try for a child. Although, nothing was happening. So they decided to adopt a young child, whom they named Ben. They loved him dearly and threw him in the saddle the second he could sit up, bought him a pony. Two years later, Marie discovered she was pregnant and nine months later, welcomed Jake into their life, and another year later, their one and only daughter came also, Riley. Having three kids, all barely one to two years apart, was a rather wild time for the couple. They kept Ben's adoption hidden as well, deciding it would do more harm than good if he were to ever know.
Now that she was a mother, Marie didn't dedicate all her time to showing, though she did compete every now and then, just to keep her horses in the game, and make sure she didn't become yesterday's news. A has-been, that couldn't handle the pressure of being a mother and an equestrian. With all her years in the competition scene, she had picked up a good eye for horse flesh, and she could easily spot a horse that could become great.
As the years went by, and the children grew, needing to be free of their parents, the parents took a step back, allowing their children to choose their own paths now and forge how they wanted to take their competitive lives. Marie retired and took over the horse business completely, allowing her husband to keep competing, keeping the Ryan name in the large shows. Everything had settled, everything was peaceful until it was not. Then, shit hit the fan, and it was one thing after another. Ben had cancer. Jake became a father. Riley ended up in the hospital due to problems with an eating disorder that they had missed. And then Ben found out he was adopted. One by one, each child moved out, but any fractures in their relationships had been repaired, for now. There are times when Marie misses her life before she became an adult, she misses the thrill of the competitive world. She loves where she is now though, she loves her children, her husband, what they have built together, and wouldn't change a single thing.
