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!.
"Pleasure to meet you." He said, shaking her hand. For some reason, maybe sensing another person's struggle with balance, he looked down at her foot, but saw nothing out of the ordinary, then reminded his lizard brain to mind his own business.
"If he jumps out of here, then I'll be raising my standards in the schooling ring." He joked, but he wondered if that was a common occurrence here. Would Dragon decide to copy his new friends and clear the pasture fence? What would he do with himself once he was out of the confines of the pasture? Dragon was a social animal, but his big vice was rearing, not escaping. He did worry that Dragon might over dose on grain and colic or if he would see a child on a tricycle or another such monster and lose his mind and run into something solid and kill himself.
In answer, he pulled out a handful of broken horse cookies. "He likes his new friends more than me. Typical child."
"Allow me." He said, moving over to the offending fence panel. "Where's yours? Or are you merely on fence duty today?"
He felt a hip pop as he picked up one end of a cavaletti and dragged it to the center of the arena. A part of him would rather still be in bed. How could it be colder here, in the south of England after he had spent most of his life in Ireland? He set the little jump down, nudging it into place with one frozen toe.
"Uhh..." He was caught. "You're my first student....here. I've taught before, just not....here." He admitted. He knew that he had to start somewhere, but something felt shameful about admitting she was his first student. It was as thought he was under a microscope all of a sudden and any mistakes he might make would be scrutinized. It was unfair of him to assume that of her, of course, but he couldn't help feeing self-conscious.
"It's certainly colder than I thought it'd be." He admitted. "I thought I was leaving the cold Irish mornings behind, but maybe it's just me." He half-carried, half-dragged another cavaletti to the center of the arena. "How long have you been here?" It was easy to make small talk and it gave him something to do as he felt that all his acquired knowledge went slipping through his fingers.
"All right, start her at a working trot when you feel ready, not to much contact, let her stretch her neck to start off." He said, dragging the fourth and final cavaletti to the center of the ring. "I bought him two years ago at auction. He won't leave you bored."
It was still cold outside. Gideon's tiny flat was still in shambles as he attempted to get his new life together. He was thrilled with getting his first teaching job, although the students hadn't been coming to him as quickly as he had hoped. He was pleased and a bit surprised when another instructor had signed up with a lesson with him. He had looked her up online (of course) and had been even more surprised to discover that she was a show jumping instructor. He had still been taking lessons at home, but he had been competing. This was his first time as an actual teacher and he was still finding his footing.
As Dragon was out in the pasture, not being cold and ignoring him, he went straight to the arena. She was already there when he arrived, gloved hands in his pockets, turtled into his heavy jacket. "Morning." He responded, a valiant attempt to sound chipper. "It's my pleasure." He didn't add that he was surprised, deciding it would be better to remain professional at least until he got to know everyone.
"Ah, yes." He said, as it was better than revealing that he didn't have any students yet. "Quite busy over here. And it's nice to have Internet and unpack a box or two. And you, I imagine you've got a busy schedule as well?"
Seeing as she clearly knew what she was doing, he forced his stiff legs to walk to the side of the arena and start moving cavaletti's into the center of the ring. "You have a warm-up you like or would you like me to lead you through it?"
There was nothing he could do but watch Dragon's retreating white ankles and black tail, the shabby rug that covered him flapping in his wake. Giideon stumbled and wobbled dangerously for a moment, trying to find his footing. In his haste to get to his horse, he had not been paying attention to the half-frozen mud under his feet. He cursed again, then straightened up and made to get n with it - trudging into the pasture, which he could only assume was quite large.
He turned around, embarrassed. He thought he had been alone. He hadn't realized he had had an audience to his cursing and stumbling. A blonde woman was also looking cold. "He thinks he's so funny, doing this." He said in answer. He turned around and approached her, as it was clear he wasn't going to get near to Dragon any time soon. "I'm Gideon. I'm new here. Just moved from nearby Dublin." He proffered his hand.
"Uhh, how big is this pasture, exactly? As in -- how much space does he have to play hide and seek in?"
It was quite cold on this particular morning. Gideon had spent the morning huddled in his small flat, sipping coffee and staring out of the window. He was no stranger to rising early to go to the barn, but he was dreading stepping into the cool air just then. He knew he would warm up the moment he started moving, but he dragged his feet as he pulled on old jeans and zipped half chaps and the thickest, puffiest jacket he owned. At this point in his life, Gideon had stopped dressing properly to ride - he owned jodpurs and britches, but rode in fitted jeans anyway, even though identical patches of hair had been rubbed off a small part on each of his inner thighs. He didn't much care about that. Sure enough, when he pushed open the door and stepped onto the small landing outside his flat. He shivered, then waddled the short distance to his car. It wasn't far to the barn where he was keeping Dragon, but he was still getting used to the idea of commuting to him.
Once he was there, parked, and had had the benefit of fifteen minutes of blaring rock music to wake him up, he was much more awake. He had several hours before his first lesson that day and wanted to get some work in on his own horse, what with being in a new place. It felt only right that he should be familiar with the facilities before he went around asking his students to go in certain places. At first, he went to the barn, but Dragon wasn't in his stall, so he must have been put out to pasture. He slung his halter over shoulder and started out. He had several half broken treats in his pocket and Dragon was food-motivated.
When he finally arrived at the pasture, it was to see his horse with his big head hanging over the fencing, nickering at him.
"Hey buddy." He said, unbolting the gate, but as soon as he had stepped inside the fence, Dragon took off, several other geldings in his wake. Gideon cursed under his breath and started to hike in Dragon's general direction.
show name • Slay the Dragon stable name • Dragon age • seven breed • Irish Sport Horse height • 16.3 HH discipline • 3-Day Eventing, Show Jumping gender • gelding
the appearance
identifying features• A tobiano gelding with a dark, friendly face. Dragon is a lot of horse. He likes to move (often too much). He understands competition, where he stands in the pecking order and while he's not so hot that he spooks at every horse-eating garbage can he sees, he does like to look and snort at all the “monsters” out there.
likes •
- food - playtime - competition - scratches - attention - nap time in the sun
dislikes •
- trailers (he'll load, but they're terrifying) - kids on bikes - unclear human directions - shadows - cavaletti's and other such small, insulting jumps - small yappy dogs
strengths •
- jumping - social (with humans and other horses) - athletic
weaknesses •
- questions everything – constantly testing everyone - rears when frustrated – this has been documented - must be ridden with constant vigilance, as he refuse, swerve, and otherwise ruin your day
fears •
- shadows - garbage cans, tarps, small dogs, children, and other “monsters”
overall personality • While not a hot horse, Dragon is “alive” and aware of the many perils of living as a performance horse in modern society (motorcycles, tarps, laundry, and the potted plants in a new direction). He's not stupid, but he won't let it pass without a solid snort and some dancing. The snorting is how he got his name, Dragon. He's stubborn and self-important and will test his rider every minute of every day. He's not a horse for a beginner or even an intermediate rider, but he's friendly and sociable towards everyone on the ground. Above all, he hates shadows. No one knows what they did to him, but they are his chief nemesis.
the history
owner • Gideon Daley father • Call Me Cavalier mother • Slay Ride siblings • [leaving this blank for now for potential plot reasons] overall history • Born and bred in Kildare, Ireland, the decision to geld Dragon was made early, due to his color. Although allowed to be registered, solid colors were preferred. He had an excellent temperament and was started under saddle. Everything was going well until he threw his trainer one afternoon session when he was ridden into a shadowed corner of the arena. No one knew why, but he was put up for sale a year later at 4 as an Eventing prospect. He was purchased for a 14-year-old girl in Dublin and although she was a solid rider, Dragon reared up with her. He didn't fall, but he went high-ho silver.
He was almost immediately auctioned off and his price dropped dramatically, as he was known to rear. This intrigued Gideon and he won the 5-year-old gelding. To date, Dragon has reared twice with Gideon on his back, once catching him off guard so bad that he slipped and clung on in the most undignified manner. Unknown to Gideon, Dragon has a small imperfection in his right eye that causes him to perceive certain shadows as solid walls. When Gideon quit his job managing the racing barn, he took his new purchase with him to the UK.
the role player
alias • Peregrine “Pip” age • I don't want to think about it other characters • this is Gideon's horse
full name • Gideon Lorcan Daley nicknames • Gid age • thirty-four birthday • January 8th, 1989 occupation • instructor, Olympic hopeful gender • male (he/him) sexuality • heterosexual
the appearance
face claim• Aidan Turner
identifying features• Gideon is a good-looking man of medium height (5'9”) and a slender, athletic build (about 150 lbs). His dark curly hair remains impossible to tame and his eyes are hazel. He now needs glasses for reading and he has thick body hair, making him very smelly after a long day outside with the horses. His skin is light olive and he is mostly of Irish descent, but is 1/4 Irish traveler and 1/4 Greek on his father's side. He is partially deaf, but self identifies as "hard of hearing".
the personality
likes •
- horses - libraries - close captioning - music (plays guitar) - fox hunting - summer and warm days
dislikes •
- loud parties - crowds - fancy affairs - math - lazy or slow horses - thick, squishy, cold mud
- anger management problems - feeling of not belonging and existing in an in-between no man's land (he's not fully hearing and he's not deaf) - self-doubt/imposter syndrome - still not fully aware of how privileged he is (being wealthy and related to nobility) - struggles in loud group settings and bars
dreams •
- make the Irish Olympic Eventing or Show Jumping team
fears •
- blood - failure
overall personality • Gideon is a rather intense man. He's the type of person wakes up in the morning, drinks his green smoothie, rides five horses before 1 o'clock and then gets frustrated when everyone else is going as hard as he is. He brings 150% to everything he does, which makes him a fierce competitor and a passionate teacher. Although he grew up never wanting for anything, material problems don't set him back – a broken bridle? No problem – he'll fix it with baling twine. Broken girth? He'll ride bareback. He's a gutsy rider and easily becomes bored once he masters something and often his frustration leads to badly managed anger issues.
the history
father • Cormac Daley, 64, tech entrepreneur mother • Caitlin Daley (nee Talbot), 60, socialite and equestrian entrepreneur siblings • Fiona Daley, sister, 31, socialite and fashion designer important people • Talbot family hometown • Malahide, Ireland overall history •
Gideon Daley was born the great nephew of the then-Baron of Malahide. His mother was the niece of the baron and his father was a tech wizard who married into the family. He grew up wealthy and was expected to attend many fancy social events and behave accordingly. Gideon was born almost completely deaf in one ear, which caused balance problems and frustration on his part because he had problems understanding what was said in noisy, distracting environments like parties, even calm ones. He much preferred talking one-on-one with people and being able to see their lips move. He never learned to sign and does not identify as a member of the deaf community.
His mum, Caitlin, had had an interest in dressage from a young age and she got him started with horses. Gideon instantly took to it – it was something that allowed him to communicate without many words and he could balance much better on horseback than on the ground. It was a quiet atmosphere and he didn't need to rely on mis-hearing other people all the time. As he got older, he turned to jumping, fox hunting, and other more “exciting” endeavors. He even worked as a Steeplechase jockey in his later teens (much to the displeasure of his mother's family), but then he got too big. At first, he thought he wanted to be a vet, but his math scores were too high and he's afraid of blood and anyway, he loved competition more than anything else in the world. He attended University for Equine Business and Irish History and it was then that he decided that what he really wanted to do was compete for Ireland in the Olympics. After university, he managed a Steeplechase barn for a few years while he continued to compete. During this time, he continued training and competed. He tried out for the FEI Games twice, but did not make either the Eventing or Show Jumping teams. He needed a change and made the move to Hickstead for a few years. Maybe he'd meet a few people and then try out again for the Irish team.
the role player
alias • Peregrine, Pip for short – pronouns are he/him/his age • old enough to be complimented when I'm carded other characters • give it time
