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!.
Ben had been feeling low for a while now, and nothing he did was making it any better. Ever since they had lost the baby, and then he'd found out that he wasn't able to have kids at all he had felt awful. He'd struggled to work through his emotions, for the first time anger had played a heavy part, on the forefront of his mind and ruling his other emotions - and then from that it had flip flopped to numbness. He had argued with Blair over being out that night and not coming home, but for once he'd needed space to think. It was his default to go internal to work out his shit, he had always been that way; turning in on himself to think and work things out. He knew it meant shutting people out and he didn't mean to, but this was the first time Blair had really seen it, and obviously he hadn't handled it well either... and then it had become a full blown argument and he knew he hadn't gotten it across right then either.
He'd wanted her to have a chance to think too, because this had a huge impact on both their lives. They would never be able to have their own baby, it would never happen. He wanted her to have really thought about it properly, not just said it was okay and then be mad or upset with him later - or to resent him later on for not being able to give her something she wanted. What they both wanted. He'd needed time to grieve too - for himself. He had always wanted a family, always wanted to be a dad, and even cancer had taken that from him, and it sucked and it hurt. He'd just needed some time, and he'd been getting there - until his brother had tried to shove him and Blair together and things had exploded. He hadn't been ready and then she'd said things that had really cut deep for him, and he had felt in that moment that he didn't know the person he was looking at, that she would think and believe such awful things. It had set him back once again and he had resorted to wallowing and self pity among other things.
A couple of days ago, he'd contacted a therapist. He was working hard to get through things but he didn't know if he could do it on his own anymore and he needed someone outside of it all to talk to about this. Riding wasn't helping him, though Albatross had to be as fit as ever with all the extra miles Ben was dong in an effort to ride away the pain, even Russe had made good progress with how much work Ben had done with the mare, putting aside his mood made it great focus for a few hours until it returned. He untacked Albatross and gave the horse a pat, managing a slight smile as the gelding nudged him gently in return. At least someone still loved him. "I know, fella, I know." He sighed as he put the tack on the door and let the animal distract him by blowing on his hands.
"But then i would have missed out on the chance to make you shit yourself." Ben rolled his eyes and batted his hand away from the flick, keeping a careful hand steady on the wheel. "Jake," He reprimanded, a little more seriously this time - he was on the motorway now and it wasn't the time to distract the driver. ”At least I had a cushy carpet and cushions to land on, I vividly remember mum telling us she dropped you in the bath by accident once.” Ben snorted at that, he didn't remember that but he was sure it had likely happened at some point, "That would certainly explain a few things," Ben grinned, flicking the indicator to take a left turn. "everyone prefers carly to me, she's much prettier.,Yeah, that we can agree on” He half grinned at that and gave a nod of agreement with his sister, she certainly did look better than his butt-head of a brother. It felt good to have the third part of their sibling trio complete - he had missed Riley, despite how it had been growing up with the competitive two, things had improved as they'd gotten older, and he still loved them regardless. Most of the time.
"violence! mother dearest would not approve." Ben scoffed and shot him a quick glance, "Yeah, and you'd know all about that," Having remembered just how many times he'd taken a shove, a push or the odd bat from Jake's chubby childish hands over the years. As he glanced over and saw him leaning forward through the gap he sighed. "Dude will you quit being an ass-" He punctuated the word with a less gentle elbow to Jake's chest, pushing him back to his seat. "And sit back properly before you go through the windscreen?"”Now now boys. . let’s not cause an accident, we’re almost home.” He gave a slight nod, his expression pinching a little as a car in front slammed it's brakes on and he had to slam on his own. He knew Jake was being giddy and somewhat childish but there was a time and a place - the motorway was not it.
”Hell no. .I’ve been up since 4am, I need it... she drinks coffee .. i have a thousand children. coffee doesn't work on me anymore. soda works much better." He sighed and gave up trying to battle it out for the cup, as he always gave in. Instead, he kept his face straight as he let Jake have it - let him find out it was bloody coffee and not soda, it served him right. "You can stop having kids you know, there's such a thing as protection," He raised a brow. "if anything's going to take me off of this earth, it's going to be carly. i don't think a car would dare take that honour away from her." He gave a slight chuckle, "No but I can give it a good shot. It'll hurt at least."
"yes mum." Ben glanced into the back seat now his brother was strapped down and less likely to come through the windscreen. Though it was tempting to hit the brakes just to teach him a lesson for being an idiot and hiding in the backseat. "happy?" Ben pressed his lips together. "I would have been happier leaving you at home. It seemed I didn't get that choice." ”yeah I definitely don’t need to hear about them.” Ben whole heartedly agreed but unfortunately could not afford to stick his hands over his ears - his knees were not close enough to the steering wheel to take over driving.
He glanced over to Riley as she answered, then quickly looked back to the road. ”I love blair! I just meant I prefer carly over Jake when he’s being a dope.” Ben rolled his eyes, "Anyone is better than Jake when he's being a dope, that's hardly a compliment." He joked, a smile playing on his lips. "have you met that horse? it's whole personality is jerk. everyone prefers carly to me, she's much prettier." Ben snorted and rolled his eyes. "There's more too it than that, but that's a good start." He laughed, it was too easy to rib his young brother, he really set himself up for it.
"hey, you were dropped too. i have vidid memories of ben dumping you off the couch when you were a baby." He shook his head and turned again, the countryside flashing past them as they left the motorway behind. ”ah I’ve missed you idiots.” He let the smile develop into a grin and he reached a hand to squeeze his sister's arm lightly before returning it to the wheel as they turned onto a smaller road. "We've missed you too." And it was the truth. He may have struggled with them both growing up, but that had passed as they'd gotten older and the idiots had turned from bullies into friends.
Ben frowned as he suddenly found fingers in his straw and his brother's obnoxious face straining to reach it. "now now benny, mother always said to share." He slapped again - not too hard but harder than the first go - at the face. "Oi, you should have got your own. In fact, you would have if you'd been invited like a normal person." He wrestled slightly for the cup, taking care not to lose his concentration on the road. "Go wrestle the passenger for their drink instead!"
”Jake! We could have crashed, idiot.” Ben agreed with that whole heartedly. ”yeah well right now I much prefer carly. . .such a buffoon.” Ben laughed raised an eyebrow slightly at his sister. "What happened to Blair?" He joked, considering her earlier comment of who was her favourite. "this is news to you? he never drives more than ten miles an hour anyway!" Ben rolled his eyes, "You were definitely dropped on your head as a baby." He muttered, carefully pulling away at the roundabout now that his heart had settled and his idiot brother had settled himself properly. "Seatbelt," He warned to the moron in the back.
"oh no, that horse is just an asshole." He tutted, pulling onto the main road and accelerating away. "No, it's you.""you think she'd have let me come if she knew what i was planning? she'd have tied me to the radiator to stop me." Ben quirked an eyebrow and sighed. "I don't think we need to hear about your sexual exploits." "i'll tell blair that ben agrees with you about carly being better." Ben rolled his eyes again, summoning his usual patience to handle his brother and frowning at the hand groping for his drink. "Uh nuh. I don't think so." He slapped at the hand and went to pick the coke up for himself, mouth reaching for the straw.
”tell me about it. .the tap water in some places was disgusting.” He wasn't surprised, Ben was always cautious about drinking tap water in other countries - England was one of the few that was 100% safe, though he thought some hotels he'd stayed in over the years had been questionable. ”ah you’re a life saver! Ben grinned and gave her a quick salute. "That's me," He joked, though Ben was anything but a life saver, unfortunately most people spent their time saving his life. ”true, then we’ll have warm rain with the odd ray of sunshine” Sad but true, sometimes Ben dreamed of warmer climates for his life, certainly would help him and his not the best immune system when Winter hit. He liked England though, he wasn't keen enough to move. ”I have no idea what you’re talking about... at least you both only have on favourite sister.” Ben laughed at that and glanced to the right as he hit the roundabout, waiting for a gap in the traffic.
He didn't get a chance to reply. A familiar dark haired head abruptly popped through between the back seats. "i think we both much prefer blair." Ben had just started to move but the surprise sent his foot slamming onto the brake. "Holy fuck, Jake!!" He shouted at his moron of a younger brother, foot still stomped on the brake as he turned his head to glare at him. "surprise." Ben looked down at the slosh of liquid that had hit his previously clean trousers. "You're a twat," He sighed, though what else could he expect from his overly excited brother. "you need to wash this shit, it smells worse than jupiter does on a good day." He rolled his eyes and carefully pulled forward into traffic. "Things like that is why the horse doesn't like you and I swear to God if you have carly hiding under there you better damn well get her out now or you're both walking home." One heart attack was enough for the week let alone the day.
"Benny!" He rolled his eyes at the old nickname, but there was no lingering resentment for it now he was older - he hated it as a kid, but then her tone had changed as they grew older. Now, it was an endearment, not a tease. "I haven't grown a third eye if that's what you're worried about" He snorted, her sharp sense of humour made him chuckle. "Just checking - you never know what they put in the water." He warned, though it was more to check that she looked well, as inconspicuously as possible. He'd only seen her in fleeting visits the last couple of years but she'd seemed to be doing well, he just wanted to make sure.
"same as usual. . cold and boring with overpriced snacks....can we please stop for coffee? I feel like i've been awake forever" Ben laughed and raised his eyebrows, then reached into the back seat where he'd secured the drinks he'd picked up from Starbucks - there hadn't been room in the cup holders up front so he'd left them in their cardboard holders and driven carefully. He grabbed one and handed it over. "Ta da!" He announced, handing hers over and then grabbing the other - which was actually a coke. He didn't need another coffee. "always a downer when you come home to weather like this. ." He couldn't help but agree with that, "Just one more month to get through and we'll have made it!" Ben couldn't wait for the sun and warmth to make a reappearance. "so how's my favourite brother? catch me up on the goss." Ben rolled his eyes as he started the car and joined the queue to get out of the airport. "I know you call the other one your favourite too," He gave her a look, then pulled out onto the roundabout. "What do you want to hear about first? The Blue Acre barn being burned down? Or the fact Leo threw himself a party so people could meet him?"
Ben drummed the steering wheel with his knuckles as he waited. He was early - as was his usual MO when he had to be somewhere for a set time - but in his defense, sometimes they caught you out and landed early. It was rare but it happened on occasion. He sipped his coffee and watched as a gaggle of weary faced travellers exited the building. Ben looked up, searching the faces for his sister, but she wasn't in this group of new arrivals. He looked back down to his phone, he checked the time - any minute now - and then went back to scrolling through the news. He didn't have Facebook or the like, he didn't have the time for social media, but the news was depressing, and he soon put his phone back in the cup holder with a sigh.
The doors opened again and he looked up by reflex, scanning the faces again and then pausing on one that looked pretty familiar. A wide grin practically split his face as he opened the door and hopped out of his car, hurrying around the front of the car, he enveloped his sister in a giant hug. "Riley!" He squeezed her, lifting her slightly from her feet before he put her back down and stepped back to look at her. His gaze searched her face in that too close way he inspected everyone he loved. "How was the flight?" He asked, stepped forward to grab her bag and heft it into the boot - pressing a button so it popped open before he got there.
GENDER: dude AGE: twenty-five D.O.B: 19th March SEXUALITY: straight STATUS: dating PLAY-BY: xavier samuel HEIGHT: 5ft10 HAIR: brown EYES: hazel
"YOU HAVE ALWAYS WORN YOU FLAWS"
TATTOOS: none SCARS: a couple on his right side from surgery DRINK: not really SMOKE: nope DRIVE: yep GLASSES: reading glasses HOME: woodbain flats, number two BORN AND RAISED: hickstead, england
"UPON YOU SLEEVE, AND I HAVE ALWAYS BURIED"
quiet, hard-working, honest, sincere, sweet natured, kind hearted - has a heart of gold, always has good intentions, very patient, is difficult to get mad, observant, intelligent, keeps to himself a lot, withdrawn sometimes, shy around new people, over thinks things, very not impulsive, considerate and thoughtful, empathetic in the sense that he can empathise/sympathise with people but doesn't think it's some kind of sixth sense or 'magic' as some people think he means when he says empathy.
LIKES: quiet places , soda , beaches , early morning rides , getting up with dawn , sunrises , libraries , reading , his friends , his family - most of the time , blair , his brother's kids , his two horses , getting things right , helping people , keeping to himself , having time to himself in the day , long canters , jumping , showing , swimming and high diving , writing , maths DISLIKES: animal cruelty , people who don't listen , ignorance , abusers and users , people without common sense , when it gets icy , getting pushes around , meat , loud and obnoxious people , soap tv shows , bad actors , being ignored because he's quiet. STRENGTHS: incredible rider , understanding , observant , intelligent , well read , very patient WEAKNESSES: un-confident with people , withdrawn a lot of the time , keeps to himself , his horses , his girl , his family , his brother's kids , keeps things bottled up too much. FEARS: losing any of his family , getting leukaemia again. SECRETS: feels like he doesn't belong sometimes
"THEM DEEP BENEATH THE GROUND, DIG THEM"
STATUS IN SOCIETY: upper class OCCUPATION: professional showjumper/part time Starbucks barista EXPERTISE: horse-riding and training WEALTH: reasonably well off, not lacking for anything PROUDEST MOMENT: his first win at an event - he was on a bit of a difficult pony called mercury and he had yet to have a clear round. ben finally started to get him going well and they won their fourth one day event with miles to spare. MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT: being ill - seems a strange one but when he was ill he got to a point where he struggled to sit up or even feed himself and everything had to be done for him. it was the worst part of his life, having to be babied again when he was a fifteen year old lad.
benjamin was never lacking for anything as a child, his parents were both well known riders, who had made to the top and had money to spend. his mother retired from the eventing world to train young horses and re-sell them instead, but his father continued to compete, even as ben and his siblings grew older and joined in. ben always felt the odd one out of his family. his parents were strict, abrupt, blunt, driven - they knew what they wanted and they got it. likewise, siblings took after them, adding into the mix a cockiness and confidence that seemed to have skipped ben. he was quiet, often withdrawn and kept to himself as much as he could. he worked hard at school and kept his head down, never getting into trouble and had few friends. when he grew older he didn't drink or smoke, never tried weed or had drunken one night stands. it just wasn't his thing.
his main passion was always horses, and he loved the difficult one's - the ones nobody else wanted to work with anymore. his first pony, mercury, was a devil pony but ben worked hard with him and they developed a strong bond. he had ben off more times than the kid could count but he always got back on and carried on. though his parents disapproved of his choice in horses, the one thing they were proud of was his passion - perhaps they only thing they were proud of. as he grew older, time came to pick his first horse. he hated the fact that he couldn't keep his previous horses, being forced to move along as soon as he flew up the grades and needed something larger with more potential. he dug his heels in as long as possible but there was nothing he could do to stop his parents selling mercury on, and then jester (his first horse, likewise a naughty thing), finally being nudged into picking his first grand prix horse.
ben will never forget picking albatross. the poor creature was shoved into one of the back stables of a barn of youngsters, ignored and a little unkept, ben sought him out almost naturally. the other horses were gorgeous of course and well bred, but he didn't want them. it took one glance at the huge, bulky, slightly out of proportioned coloured horse for ben to point his finger and say 'this horse'. his parents tried to force his hand, but ben refused, bringing out that stubborn gene that all ryan's seemed to have. it was the best decision he ever made - that horse really took him places, and they created such a strong bond ben could never imagine being without him. he turned into an incredibly brave, well behaved, sweet horse who's only weak point was thunderstorms (which also happened to be bens weak spot after being locked into a shed by his siblings during one).
it wasn't all good though. when ben was thirteen he began to feel unwell. it didn't feel like much of a deal at first, just tiredness to start with, then he started to lose his appetite, and then he started getting weak and sick...he had cancer. it was the worst moment of his life, finding that out. he lost condition, he had no energy...it got to the point over the next two years when he thought he was going to die. he had to have people help him even sit up or help him drink. finally, just as he turned seventeen...it started to get better. he had no idea how, maybe it was a miracle but finally he was pulling through. it took him a long time to get even close back to how he used to be.
he was in for a further shock when he reached twenty-one. he found out that we wasn't a match for his brother when his brother got into an accident and he wanted to donate blood. it's not uncommon, but ben thought it unusual that he was so opposite. he pressed his parents hard enough that in the end during a full blown argument that the truth came out - ben was adopted. his parents had been trying for years and nothing had ever happened, and so they'd adopted ben as a baby - and a year later, jake had come along naturally. he lost it for a while, having always felt like the odd one out in the family it finally made sense, and he worried that now they knew, him and his siblings would be even more separate. they proved him wrong though, and if anything, he's never been as close to his siblings since.
PETS
Russe - 7 years - 15hh - Mustang x Lusitano - in the process of being broken
Stolen Moment - Albatross - 15 years - 17.1hh - Warmblood x Paint - showjumper
credit for this application goes to xxx.alix.xxx of caution 2.0