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!.
The words didn't matter to him, but that grab only served to annoy him more. No sooner was the boy up and on his back did his tactics change. Hollering loudly, he put his head low and threw up his quarters in half-buck, going from a gentleman to close to a rodeo bronc in half a moment.
His mad canter turned into a jumping fest almost in place, shrieking and grunting like he'd never had a rider on his back. How dare this boy think he would do what he'd done and not learn a lesson? Pointer's ears were flat against his neck as he hopped and bounced around the lane, coming close a handful of times to fences but no matter what he did it seemed to him that the boy simply wasn't going to budge and that simply wouldn't do. No one man-handled him and got away with it.
"Huh. They really kept you cooped up then, didn't they?"
Pointer didn't react much more than to perk his ears towards the young man's voice and idly snort in the mean time. But the contentedness of the walk and his wish to just grab a quick nibble on the grass was cut very short. The sharp whistle was one thing, but that pulling on his halter? That was the straw that soured his otherwise fine and dandy moody. His head shot up with an indignant, shrill sounding neigh. How could the boy be so rude? Had he not done well so far? Whatever the matter was with grabbing a quick snack was going to be a lesson well taught in Pointer's mind. He took a few high legged strides forward then broke for it.
Surging forward, Pointer did not much care nor mind for the fact he was going to take this boy on a fun little trip across the yard now. He had no care for what was around or who might've been watching, he was not about to be man-handled by anyone, and this was a most grievous offence! Pointer moved at a solid canter verging very closely a gallop at times, his head turned only slightly by the dead weight of a boy being dragged behind him. It hurt, yes, of that there was no denial of the fact - the chain pinching and rubbing the wrong way, but he refused to stop moving because a lesson was to be well made of how not to treat him.
"Maybe you're not as terrible as they laid you out to be." Humans were never misunderstood, but animals were all the time, "Alright, let's see where we can go so you can show me your stuff." "Guess we're going outside then."
Pointer followed as calm and content as a gentleman on a stroll beside the young man, in no rush and certainly unphased. He looked about calmly as they went about their walk, glancing only briefly at horses in passing where they were visible, but didn't go out of his way to greet them or assess them. No, he was working - that was what the halter and lead meant, and that required his complete attention so as not to cause problems.
And outside? Pointer snorted, almost a sigh of relief, as the sun began to lightly warm his back and his hooves touched gravel and dirt rather than solid concrete. It was most delightful, even if a horse could not express it as such. He kept his head nice and low, paying the young man all of his attention until a patch of grass growing to the side of the path caught his eye. It would not hurt to take a passing nibble, right? Just a slight detour, nothing wrong with that, at least, not in his eyes. He could grab it as he went by - how long had it been since he'd seen the grass? He was curious. So he faltered, paused, cropping at the grass.
Pointer's ears swivelled at the sound of a new voice, more curious than anything as he nickered at the newcomer. He leaned a little more out of his box as far as the gate allowed him and eventually reached out just enough to sniff at him. He didn't know this person, but he let it be, his manners kicking in enough not to push the human around. Just watching and observing him.
A hand went on his halter, holding his head - at least the boy was not too rough about it, else it might've gone another way. He stayed put as the chain rattled through the rings of his halter, an ear only briefly flickering off to one side at a stray noise before they returned back to him.
"Alright. Let's see what you're really made of outside of the papers."
With the door opened in front of him, Pointer merely watched and took two steps out of the stall before looking to the bou again. Why was he standing there? He had the lead, he had his undivided attention. Whatever words were spoken were lost on him, it didn't make a whole lot of sense and without any cues, he stayed put waiting for instruction.
There was much change in such a short span of time that Pointer was a little bit put off. The changes upset him in varied ways, from the sounds to the smells, the lack of affection and the off-handed pats that meant so very little from those passing by. And nothing seemed to stay the same, with a different groom almost daily, the routine never quite the same and frankly, he was getting bored of it.
Even now standing in the cross ties as he was groomed by a stranger, he jigged and carried on, much too eager to get on the move much to the frustration of the groom dealing with him. Even when his hooves were cleaned, he danced and made a fuss about it all. He'd been in the stable box far too long, his feed just a tad too rich. He had yet to go to work beyond the half-assed lunging he'd been given every other day so far.
And once the groom was done, he was led away back to his clean stall, doing a slight side-ways trot before being ushered inside. But the groom left his halter on, why? He could not make sense of it, so he just walked in as much of a circle he could whilst the stall was square, making it a little awkward. There was nothing to do and it was driving him mad. Where was the liberty? The grass? The freedom to truly roll and feel the sun on his back? What he done to deserve staying cooped up like this? Whinnying loudly, he poked his head out of his box and looked around, not quite sure what to do with himself in such a confined space.
show name • Flashpoint stable name • Pointer age • Seven Years Old breed • Swedish Warmblood height • 16.3hh discipline • Show Jumping, Dressage, Cross-Country gender • Stallion
the appearance
identifying features• A handsome black stallion with a unique white face mark and a singular pale blue eye. Has minimal white marks on all legs.
the personality
likes • Spearmint Candy, Cuddle-Time, Heavy Metal Music, Pasture Time, Playing with Jacket Zippers dislikes • Standing Still, Women, Cats, Stable/Pasture Buddies, Being Man Handled strengths • Always Listening, Adaptive, People Pleaser weaknesses • Escape Artist, Go-Go and Little-Whoa, Kicker fears • Absolutely loses his shit around small creatures [birds, rabbits, children etc.] and can turn aggressive towards it [50/50 chance]. overall personality • Pointer is not a bad horse by any means. If anything, he's quite sweet and loving, but he is most definitely not a horse for everyone given his quirkiness. He will love on his owner and go above and beyond to please his rider, but may God have mercy if you decide to pick a fight with him. He has a strong memory and holds grudges to the death, so beware your failings or mistakes because he will remember and he will find his time to get back at you. Accidently poke his leg mucking a stall? You will find yourself hitting the wall. Yank him about? He will drag you a mile.
the history
owner • SAGE ASTER LAVIGNE father • Unknown mother • Unknown siblings • Unknown overall history • Pointer was born a large colt and lost his mother due to complications, however in a stray twist was able to be fostered onto another mare who had lost her own foal days before. From the outset, Pointer was always surprising people. Whilst he stuck to his foster mother, he detested other foals of his own age and was often seen chasing them ragged around the pasture. And when he first encountered a rabbit in his field, he squealed and hollered like he was dying, running the complete opposite direction only to return minutes later to try trample it.
He was left out at pasture on his own after weaning, after giving hell to retired geldings and colts his own age, and oddly enough grew up just fine in his own solitude. When he was brought in for training, it was definitely a learning curve. Whilst he learnt and adapted quickly to all the new things brought to him, he also proved that he could be difficult. A groom yanking him about got dragged and another who had slapped his neck a little too hard earnt a bite back in return. His attitude towards what he disliked often resulted in other stable staff avoiding him and ultimately led to his sale.
Age five, fresh out of training, he was picked up by a young lady who immediately regretted him. A placid pony he was not, and she was far too green for him, so when she flew over the hedge, he was sold again. He exchanged hands a few times before he landed in the hands of man who saw his potiential. The thrill of a challenge and a hand that understood him well enough saw Pointer excel. His forward motion, his willingness to work, the fact that he was springy-enough led to his beginning in three day eventing. Over the course of the next two years, between competition and training, Pointer matured out fantastically and slowly became a recogniseable force in the sport.
However his run with this owner ended, with Pointer losing his shit over his owner's young toddler. It was chaos, as he reared up and threw his rider into the arena railing and fell back on him. The accident left his rider paralyzed from the waist down, and Pointer with minor injuries. He was immediately sold, tagged as dangerous and hazardous to deal with by the owner's wife. He exchanged hands a few times before winding up down in the Hickstead Sale Yards, no longer in the same peak condition and waiting for someone to pick him up and put him to work, which has come around surprisingly quickly. Not even two weeks in the yards saw his purchase, and now Pointer has to resettle into a new routine... only time will tell how he handles the changes.
Additional Notes: - Should be noted that he does have some mild back issues that a Chiropractor can remedy with routine care, and if not addressed can become unruly. This issue is not life-threatening and he is sound with routine care. - Has a habit of circling when put in stalls/yards with nothing to entertain him. - He will attempt to fight horses in stalls next to him, so a solid divider should be between him and his stall buddy. He should also only ever be pastured solo, being with other horses just leads to fighting. Strangely however, when undersaddle or even whilst being led, he will ignore other horses.
the role player
alias • BlackJack, Jac... really, anything... age • Headin' for a mid-life crisis other characters • 65 and counting...
