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!.
"Damn girl, you have a great memory," Nate said with a chuckle, "I am glad to hear Rex is doing well, minus hating the stall rest. I think I'll be stopping by in another week or so to check in on him." That had been quite the evening. Ironically enough, Nate had already been on his way to do a routine appointment for a different client over at Blue Acres - he was just happy that everything had worked out given he wasn't Naomi Clarke's usual vet. Their conversation didn't get very far as her large stallion attempted to spoke at a bush now, something that Dusty completely ignored other than popping his head up slightly at the thought of a 17 hand horse nearly bumping him.
Still, the paint gelding was a good horse, and stood his ground while he kept on walking. While Nate made sure to still pay attention when he rode, he had to admit that both of his horses tended to put him into a dangerous lull. While they were near perfect trail horses and 'bomb proof' as they say, he knew at the end of the day, both of his horses were prey animals at heart and sometimes, instincts just kicked in. He gave Dusty a good pat for not bulking before green eyes glanced over at Cara, "I think the only place we have to be is right here with you," Nate replied with a grin, "Besides, riding with company is always more fun than by yourself. That's my thinking at least. So, who is this big boy of yours?"
My thoughts are scattered and gritty underneath my feet
Nate had no idea he was putting on a show for his fiancé, the animals hadn't warned him to her presence. In fact, Nate didn't realize he was no longer the only human in the kitchen until Paula Abdul's voice came on the echo, only, she sounded an awful lot like Whitney. Then, it hit him. He looked over his shoulder, and saw her there in all of her beautiful glory. Dramatically, the man pointed the spatula at her now, rocking his hips to the beat, "Straight up now tell meeee - Do you really want to love me forever oh, oh, oh!" He could probably serenade her all day and night, but that wouldn't finish breakfast.
Although, quite frankly, he was a little distracted by Whitney now in her pajamas. As green eye flitted over his the subtle curves of her body, the man couldn't help but to wonder how much better they would look on the floor. Still, Nate controlled himself - dashing away the thought. For now, at least. He grinned, putting the spatula in the bowl now and left his station at the kitchen, closing the distances as he slid across the floor in his socks before snatching Whitney by the hips in a dramatic way. For two seconds, Nate had images of twirling about like how they did in movies, and then realized, he wasn't coordinated enough to pull that off, so instead, he settled for a kiss.
"Hope I didn't wake you up," Nate commented now, once pulling away to get a good look at her face, still grinning like a stupid boy, "I was planning on surprising you with breakfast in bed...only...you ruined the surprise."
My thoughts are scattered and gritty underneath my feet
"Ah yes. Now I have two faces to the names," Nate replied, offering out his hand for a shake. A chuckle escaped Nate at the owner's comments, "No no, you're not a crazy horse lady. I have a few of those, and just from these thirty seconds, I can tell you're not one of them." At least, not so far. Truth be told, between the air that Amanda McKenzie gave off and the way she was dressed, she was very different from some of the high rollers he had at Blue Acre and Ryan Sports Hall. Green eyes glanced over the bay gelding, "Well, I do like puppy horses. Makes my job a lot easier. I have a vet tech too, Lachlan, she's out in the truck right now. You might get to meet her today, not sure. We're covering some others while we're here."
The man moved towards the gelding now, offering his hand to Waylon for a sniff before moving his hand to his cheek to touch him, "There now, I'm not going to hurt you," he murmured to the horse as his hands worked their way over his body now. Nate kept his hands moving slow, as they glided over clipped fur, "I'm just going to feel him over, make sure he doesn't reach to my touch in any way. Never know what goes on when they're sitting in quartentine. Might bump themselves or the fence or some of the horses attempting to greet them. We can move onto tempature and measurements afterwards." He glanced over his shoulder now and smiled at Amanda, "Your shot records were all in order. I might recommend one or two shots based off of season here, but this should be an easy appointment for the both of you."
He was half way through Waylon's body now as he asked, "What made you want to come here anyways? Most people I know go over to Seven Oaks or Blue Arce. Not that there's anything wrong Helping Hooves here. You're just a unique case to me."
My thoughts are scattered and gritty underneath my feet
A laugh escaped Nate as he undid the latch to let himself and Aristocrat into the arena now, the stallion, true to his name sake, walked in and waited like a gentleman. Perhaps the drugs helped a little bit though, "Nah, your check book is safe for the time being," Nate replied, "Although, it looks like Boss is far from needing my services." Kayleigh Haydn and her Canadian warmblood weren't his clients, but the man always made sure to be friendly to everyone at the barns and get to know them and their horses nonetheless. After all, if an emergency were to happen and Dr. Kastaros, Dr. James, or Dr. Glover were unavailable, Nate was a good and fast alternate to call with his smaller client list.
"Ah, I must have just missed Stephanie. I hope your lesson was good," the man replied now, locking the gate once more before starting his walk. Aristocrat walked along besides him now, head hanging down low as he moved alongside Nate at just the right pace. He dragged a bit, but Nate knew it wouldn't be long before he would be step and step with his tiny human strides, "I'm doing good. Between routine shots and vet visits, and pre-checks for the horse shows coming up - I've been pretty busy. Whitney's always happy to see me late, she's a bit of a night owl, I just have to make sure I don't interrupt her time with her bats." He came to a stop as the English warmblood did, investigating a jump pole on the ground, "I suppose you must be busy at the store due to the show season picking back up soon?"
My thoughts are scattered and gritty underneath my feet
It wasn't often that it was Nathan 'Nate' Drummond who was the one with free time whereas his fiancé was not, but every once in a while, the universe threw them a curveball. They were suppose to go for a beach ride with his two horses, but something came up at the University the last second, so Nate found himself riding solo. Unfortunately, given that he only had one butt to give, one of his horses had to be left behind at their property as well. Truth be told, his one gelding didn't seem bothered by the aspect as he watched Dusty get loaded into the trailer, something that Nate was grateful for. The last thing he needed was Whitney to come home to a panicked, hollering horse.
He drove to the beach now, clocking someone else's truck and trailer, "Guess I won't be alone after all," he muttered to himself, that is, if they found he found the other horse and rider. Nate didn't mind either way though - some riders just wanted to be left alone. He got out, and soon unloaded the American Paint Horse. The man did a quick and dirty groom of the gelding now before tacking up, "Think we'll stick out like sore Americans, Dusty Bunny?" Nate asked the paint with a grin now, and watched as those tan ears twitched about, "Yeah, we will." Double checking the cinch one more time, he put his foot in the stirrup and swung up into the western saddle, and got himself situated
Despite the chilly weather, Dusty hardly seemed bother by the change of scenery or the sea salt in the air. They had been in England long enough to where both of his geldings had gotten used to trading Montana and the rest of the American West for the gloomy beach skies of England. Even when state side, he had made sure to trailer them out to lakes just to get used to different feels and scenery, "Which way's which again?" He muttered to himself, as Dusty's head cocked to the left, "Right, let's go." The moved forward, barely plodding along when they caught sight of a big grey stallion with a tiny woman of a rider just up ahead - a bird startling the pair.
Funny, the two of them looked awfully familiar. A comical looking pair like that ought to be hard to remember. Beneath him, a huge sigh escaped gelding now - hardly sounding impressed with what was up ahead, or perhaps, he was already happy to be out and about. Either way, Nate shrugged off Dusty's sound before calling out, "Hey! We're coming up on your left...maybe!" While his horse was a decent size for an American Paint Horse - needed to be to support Nate's body - he wasn't sure about keeping up with the gate of what looked to be an 18 hh horse. Green eyes caught sight of the rider now, and everything clicked, "Oh! Cara, right? It's Nate. Er. Dr. Drummond. I'm one of the vets who swings by Blue Arces from time to time." Now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure if she would even recognize him, "You need a buddy?"
My thoughts are scattered and gritty underneath my feet
Nathan 'Nate' Drummond and his vet tech, Lachlan, were at Blue Arces for the day, dealing with a number of dental appointments. The last client on the list was one Harlow Alenko and her senior horse, Aristocrat, which meant that he was going to have a number of questions thrown his way. The man didn't mind the young girl all too often, but every one in a while, she managed to hit him with something that needled in through the ribcage. Thankfully, despite her English warmblood's growing age, they were still a pair that mainly relied upon routine check ups verses constant visits. Although, he could see why Hickstead Veterinary had been happy to pass her off to him during their boon of clients.
The appointment thankfully went well, Aristocrat as good as ever and handled everything like a pro, although he needed to get a dosage of relaxant, "Alright boy, ready for a nice walk in the area to wake up?" He asked the English warmblood, his head still drooping just a little. A snort of laughter escaped him before the man glanced over at the pint size equestrian, "Harlow - Lachlan's going to take care of check out and writing up your bill. I'll walk him a lap or two out in the arena just to make sure he's good to go waking up before I hand him off to you. Lachlan will also take care of your questions." Before either woman could get anything in, he and Aristocrat were off.
It was a nice August day, shockingly, one of the few off days in August due to an overcast. The outdoor arena was ahead of them now, and he could see Stephanie King leaving now. He nodded his hellos as he and the English Warmblood walked by now. Green eyes looked at the pair, and he was quick to recognize them as Kayleigh Haydn and Boss, "I'm just cooling Boss out, but feel free to join us." Ushering Aristocrat into the arena now, he made certain to secure the gate behind him before he started to walk shoulder to shoulder with the large stallion, "Hey Kayleigh! How are you and Boss doing? Thanks for letting me and Aristocrat here crash the arena while he wakes up from his injections. We'll be out of your hair soon enough."
My thoughts are scattered and gritty underneath my feet
"Aright, what's next on the list?" Nathan 'Nate' Drummond asked the woman besides him, his fingers tapping away on the steering wheel of his truck. Besides him, Lachlan the vet tech laughed, "New client at Helping Hooves." Well, that certainly caught his attention. Green eyes glanced over at her now, arching an eyebrow, "Since when does Helping Hooves have clients outside of the Ledor-Kita's?" He watched the young woman shrug before she put in her headphones - signaling it was the end of their conversation. Nate couldn't help but to roll his eyes - only she could get away with that when it came to him. Throwing on his own music on the stereo now, the pair headed on their way.
He had been helping out the Ledor-Kita family for a while now, but it had always been them, given they owned all the horses and rescues on the property, or so he thought. Maybe they were expanding? Tea Shop only provided so much money to support the rescues. Not that Nate minded picking up a new client, just meant more in his own bank account and a future raise for Lachlan besides him. Half an hour later, they were pulling up to the white and green business barn. It was always fun to admire the differences between the four barns in the area - each having their own spin. Parking the truck, he got out and walked around to grab his back, Lachlan was looking over their paperwork, "Amanda McKenzie and Waylon," she read off now, "Cross ties on the schooling side. I'll join you shortly. I need to talk to Sabrina about something."
Nate nodded, given way to their unspoken dialog, before he headed to the schooling side of the barn now. A few of the curious horses poked their heads out, "Hilda. Tigger. Hope you two are doing well," he said with a grin as he walked passed. It appeared to be a quiet day today, nobody was in the outdoor arena, and it appeared to be the same with the indoor. Up ahead, he heard soft talk from a woman, and it wasn't long before Nate found the owner. There was an older woman there along with a deep blood bay horse, quarter horse by the looks of it given that Lachlan hadn't shared the breed with him, "You must be Amanda," Nate said with a smile, "And I take it this here is Mr. Waylon? I'm Dr. Drummond, but feel free to call me Nate in person. Is this just a check in and getting to know each other exam?"
My thoughts are scattered and gritty underneath my feet
Nearly one month into the new year and it had already been a chaotic month for Nathan 'Nate' Drummond, mainly due to work because, why not? Although hardly anything really surprised the man any more when it came to his business - he had about seen it all between the United States and the United Kingdom. Horses often got into a lot of trouble on their own, and the cold air made the young ones stupid and the old ones arthritic. Plus, he could always count on their owners to panic as well. Every month, Nate told his fiancé, Whitney Otero, it would be different. And every month proved him around. He knew she didn't mind nor hold him to it. Lachlan, his assistant, told him not to worry. And yet, he did.
Nate had a fear of loosing her. Maybe because he just appeared to have a bad habit of losing the women he loved. But hey, third time's a charm right? So the man told himself, still, Nate didn't want to get complacent. Perhaps that was why he found himself down in the kitchen at the crack of dawn, nevermind he was an early riser. The horses had been fed, along with the dogs and cat, the latter animals now watching him intently as he made a complete chaotic mess of the kitchen. Protein powder and oat littered the counter, a counter of milk laid on its side (sealed up thankfully), eggs still remained out of the fridge, and somehow, just somehow batter was on the backsplash.
And he was half way through making the fluffy pancakes for Whitney when he stopped, staring at the griddle, "Fuck!" Green eyes looked over at the Cat now, who sat on the counter, watching him work, "Whitney likes waffles, doesn't she?" The Cat merely gave him that blank yet all knowing stare, and the man knew in those mirroring green eyes staring at him, that the conclusion was right. He cut the heat now, and went back to work, "Alexa! Play 80's Jams!" As the beat to 'Take Me Home' started bopping through the speaks, Nate got to work. One of the cabinets held the waffle iron, which he wrestled out and proceeded to make the kitchen worse - dancing now between the waffle iron and the kitchen aid making homemade whipped cream.
My thoughts are scattered and gritty underneath my feet
Uh, they probably want Christmas...I need to figure out what doesn't conflict with their church time but doesn't require us to stay up stupidly late...I'm impressed your parents are fine with day after.
