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!.
Mik shrugged. "I only know about the sales yard because I've heard of it, both of my boys arrived here with me, so I've never been there myself. Naomi's eldest, Cara, got a horse and pony from there though, so she'll be able to answer any questions you have." Yeah, the young woman would probably kill him if he gave her number to someone she didn't know, but he was sure she's get over it, or he'd be looking for a new job - may the odds be ever in your favour! He chuckled at the mention of all the Ryans. "The barns around here are family owned and run: Naomi Clarke and Nathan Thorne have Blue Acres, the Whites, Seven Oaks and John and Marie Ryan have Ryan Sports Hall." Though Naomi pretty much controlled the goings on here, as Nathan's attention was in the hospital. He listened as she spoke again. "The vet we have on speed dial is Demeter Katsaros, who is really good at her job, with both small and large animals, though with this being a horsey area, there are a number of large animal vets, and everyone has the one the prefer. I know Dem as well as everyone else around here, she's friendly and doesn't mind sharing her life stories if you have the time to listen."
Thinking of his horses, both past and present, he looked over to the pasture his boys were in and frowned as he could see his dappled buckskin leaning against the gate as he was stretching his neck over it, shaking his head when he realised that Glory had thrown his jolly ball out of the pasture, and it was slightly out of reach, and smiled when he saw someone walking past the pastures who picked up the ball and gave it back to the gelding. "My horses have been trained for the job they needed to do." He replied with a shrug. "I evented, I show jumped and I played polo. So I had a string of horses for the competitions, and another for polo." How to say you were spoilt without saying you were spoilt.
His brow arched as she looped her arm through his and he laughed at her next words. "Nope, no gag orders." He laughed again ahs shook his head. "I've done my travelling, and I'm quite happy here. Plus, my girlfriend would probably have something to say about me being a tour guide for someone else." Okay, he did want to go travelling some more, as there were a few places he wanted to take Amber to.
Mik pulled a face and shrugged, he'd moved on from the attack, plus he should have been expecting something like it happening, but he refused to dwell in the past.
He smiled as he listened to Emma talk about her horse. From her attire, he'd already pinned her as a cowgirl, so wasn't surprised that she was a rodeo rider. "If you want a horse to work with, the saleyards would be your best choice. If you want one ready for the show ring, the Ryan's would be your best bet." He fell silent as she spoke again. "Your grandparents' place sounds like the place the vet's mum is at." Demeter had often said that her mum was the manager of the place, but he was sure she owned it too. "I'd love to have that kind of memory with any of my horses." All of his horses had been bought fully trained for the job they would be used for; showing, polo...
He laughed. "I'll take that as a compliment." He grinned. "You might have other opinions after seeing my teaching skills." Not that he'd had any complaints. He pulled a face when she asked the question he dreaded. "Originally, Ireland, though I've been in England since I hit my teenage years; for boarding school and then university." And while in uni, he rode for the British show jumping team, but he left that unsaid as it could start unravelling threads he'd tucked away nicely.
Mik smiled at her sympathetic words, but remained quiet, letting her talk, nodding at the information provided. It made him think of the string of horses he had left at home in Ireland, wondering if his parents had sold them off already, or if they were still being worked and waiting for his return to the manor. He so hoped that they had all been sold, and found new homes.
I also work as a waiter at the nightclub, I was jumped on my way to my car after my shift. I don't remember anything of the attack, just waking up in the hospital." He shrugged, a firm believer in honesty being the best policy, and it's not like it wasn't public knowledge. "As for this place, I was lucky enough that Naomi accepted my application when I moved here." He was also lucky that his boss wasn't a gossip and while she knew exactly who he was, she was happy enough to let him be as average as he wanted to appear. Sounds like your horse is going to teach your cousin well." Hand-me-down horses were often the best teachers. "Well, you won't be short on places to find a horse around Hickstead. There's the sale yard, the Ryan's have a Sporthorse yard, and even Naomi has a few youngsters that need new humans."
His brow arched as she circled him, wondering what she was up to. He stood a little straighter as she moved closer to him and laughed gently at her words. "You're in luck then. I have." He replied with a grin. "And I'm sure that tornado Emma will do great while galloping over a cross country course. If you are interested, you could sign up for one of the lesson horses here, until you find your own, and join my classes." Nothing wrong with a little self-promotion, right?
Mik borrowed another lesson horse for heading out to the cross country course, as he knew that neither Glory or Fire would stand with being near the course and not going over any of the fences. He rubbed the large mare's neck as he mounted up and squeezed her forward, heading out to the same part of the course that he had asked Angél to meet him.
He had given Emma the same instructions too, asking her to have her horse warmed up and ready to go when she arrived for the lesson, so that they could get right into it, rather than spending the first fifteen minutes warming up. "Easy girl." He soothed as Pixie spooked as a bird flew out of a bush and he allowed the mare to step forward so that she could make sure the bush wasn't about to come to life and attack her.
The flicker of the mare's ear was enough to tell him that someone was approaching and he turned the mare around. "Are you both ready to go?" He asked the teenager, when she was close enough that he didn't have to shout.
Dice roll
Odd number - lesson goes poorly Even number - lesson goes well
Mik regretted saying anything about the way he went through clothes as fast as he did, but it was too late now, so there was nothing he could do other than shrug it off.
He laughed as she referred to herself as a tornado. "You seem to be more a breath of fresh air than destructive." He offered with a grin.
He turned to look at the barn, trying to picture it as though it had as many stalls as it did but all in one line, frowning in thought and shook his head. "Other than it being good for the odd fussy horse, I feel a barn like that would take us so much room that we wouldn't have the space for anything else, like our pastures, arena and cross country course." He'd have to have a word with Cara and see if she could draw him an image of what the property would look like if the barn did look like that. "To answer your question; I'm all of the above. I work as a stable hand, I have two horses boarding here and I teach cross country. I'm slowly getting back into riding after a small incident a while back that left me with broken ribs." And a few other injuries that he wasn't going to list. "I had one of the young ladies who lives here, keeping my boys in work for me while I wasn't able to ride. The people who work here all do their jobs to the best of their abilities. Naomi's a great boss, and she's not afraid to tell us to pull our heads in if we need it." Or to send them home if she felt they weren't healthy enough to be at work. "Not everyone who rides here has their own horse, as we have a number of horses here that people can lease, and/or have lessons on. If you find yourself busy and unable to ride, we also have people here who can exercise your horse for you."
Mik grinned when it seemed that Emma found his encounter amusing, which was a good thing, because it meant that she wasn't scared away from the place, yet. He bowed his head at her very generous offer. "That's very kind of you, but I'll just ask Naomi's PA if I can get a couple of new ones." He gave a wolfish grin. "I tend to go through a few of them." Not that he wasn't careful with his clothes, more that he wasn't fast enough for some of the more... playful horses in the barn, and while he didn't think that their boss would care too much if his shirts didn't look brand new, he always liked to look his best while he was on the job.
He laughed as she took his humour for what it was. "I think this is going to be the start of a beautiful friendship." He quipped with another laugh. He felt that the whole place was amazing, but he might be a little biased. "The barn was designed to meet the needs of the people that use it, no matter their age or social standing." While the loft in the old barn was comfy, the new one had been designed to give the feel of being at home - even down to the freshly baked goods.
His eyes moved over the pastures, making sure that none of the horses looked like they had legs on odd angles, and laughed as he watched the ponies chasing each other around their field. He laughed and rolled his eyes at her sum-up of what she had seen in the barn. "We could have had them on one side only, but could you imagine how long the barn would have to be?" He grinned. "Okay, other than the fact that there are stalls on both sides, do you have any questions?"
“Honestly, I would love a tour. That’d be pretty great. I’d really like to get a feel for the place. I’d also love to know what happened to the back of your shirt… did you fall that hard or something?” Mik grinned, he didn't mind being a tour guide, and then laughed at the question, finally reaching a hand over his shoulder to touch the ripped area - yeah, he was going to need a new shirt. "Charm over there." He gestured to the silver dapple Friesian Sporthorse who was looking at them with her ears pricked forward, obviously over her sulk about being stuck inside. "Decided she wanted to play a game of tag, and I wasn't aware that she was it before she tagged me." He grinned. "She's a nice horse, normally. She spent the first three years of her life running around a huge paddock with other youngsters and she hates being cooped up inside when she knows all her friends are out."
He led the way down the barn aisle. "I think you can work out that we have stalls on either side of us. Formal to cheeky in zero point five seconds, normal Mik style. "Down this small hall, we have the tack room on one side and the feed room on the other. On the other side of the aisle are the stairs that lead up to the loft. We also have the regular ladder that most people associate with a hayloft, but our loft is set up like a lounge, club room, as well as a place to store hay." He continued the tour, pointing out the door to Sofia's office, which led to Naomi's office. The wash and grooming stalls, the entrance to the indoor arena then down through the male end of the barn and outside. "Out here we have the outdoor arena, the pastures and the quarantine barn."
Mik shrugged, he often wondered the same thing. He'd spent more nights than he could count in the stall with his horse if they weren't well, or if the horse had had a bout colic and he still wanted to keep an eye on them. He would never see his horses as anything other than a creature with feelings and emotions like his own.
He shrugged again, not wanting to get into the fact that it was a visit too many to the emergency room that alerted his parents to how his tutor was keeping their son in line. "I planned out what I was going to say to them first. We had a good debate on the pros and cons, turned out that there were more pros, so I got to go." There you go, the sugar-coated version. He laughed and nodded. "Yes, I learned to dance by dancing with another guy. As the only females on site, were old enough to be our grandmothers, it wasn't as gross as the thought dancing with one of the teachers. And some of the guys would have been paired off anyway, as we didn't have that many female faculty members."
He smiled at the thought of his girlfriend. "She's good. Busy with life stuff, and she's not horsey." And he really didn't care, even though he was going to get her up on one of his horses at some point...he just had to work out the how. He laughed and bowed. "I took it as a compliment, love." He assured her with a grin. "I'm here to brighten anyone's day."
He laughed and shrugged, he was up before dawn and then often didn't get to bed till the wee hours of the morning, so when he went to bed, he often crashed. "In my defense, I wish to plead the fifth." Thought he didn't know many equestrians who slept-in. There was always so much to do when it came to horses.
Mik smiled at the look she gave him, the thought of staying home was becoming more and more appealing. However, they needed this night out. "You butt looks huge, I'm very impressed." His brows flew up in panic as he looked over his shoulder and turned in a circle, trying to look at the size of his butt, ignoring that there was a full-length mirror right there.
"well if you want me to look decent, you know it takes time." He chuckled. "Maybe I should have reservations for midnight?" He quipped with a cheeky grin and then coughed. "Uh, I what I mean to say is that you look gorgeous when you wake up in the morning, and we've got all night." He blew out a breath as he pretended to wipe sweat off his brow after his good cover-up. "You look amazing, love, you always do." He liked having her tucked against his side as they were walking, and he would do what he could to keep her there. "Guess we're going quite far then," He chuckled. "Not too far." And definitely not where they worked.
"I can't lie, I'm starving." He grinned as he circled the car and slid into his seat, wincing a little when he moved too quickly, but brushed it off with another smile as he started the engine. "Then we should get going." And putting the vehicle into gear, he pulled out of his parking space.
It didn't take too long to drive to the restaurant and he smoothly swung his vehicle into one of the available parking spaces, exited and walked around to open the door for her, always the gentleman he'd been brought up to be. "May I escort you inside?" He asked, with a dashing smile, as he offered her his hand
"If you keep looking at me like that, we won't make it out the door," Mik chuckled and wiggled his eyebrows. "Staying home has it's advantages." He chuckled again. "You look very handsome by the way," He preened with a grin as he brushed down his shirt. "What? This old thing? You don't think the pants make my butt look big?"
"Okay, I'm ready,"seven hours later He teasingly arched his eyebrows, making a show to be checking the time on his watch and then kissed her on the cheek to show he was just kidding around. "Do you have your keys? Or shall I take mine?" He flashed a grin. "I've got mine, all you need is you." Plus, he had no plans of needing a reason for breaking into the place, after he'd gone to so much trouble of already having the locks changed. He placed his hand over hers when she slipped her arm through his, knowing that his parents would approve of his actions. "Where did you say we were going? Or are you still refusing to give up the game?" He grinned and shrugged. "I thought I'd keep it pretty easy, we'd go somewhere that we know the food is good and the people that work there like us, so less chance of anyone spitting in our food." Yes, hinting they were going to the nightclub was dirty, but this was fun. He bowed as he opened the car door for her. "Mi'lady."
“Sorry, I tend to get a bit off topic. But, yes, I’d love your assistance, if you’re up to it. I’m new in town but I heard quite a bit about Blue Acres here and thought I’d check it out - see if all the hype was really true.” Mik smile with a nod. "I might be a little biased, but I believe the hype really is true. We strive for the best." He tried to ignore the fact that his uniform wasn't looking as polished as it normally was. "This is the barn. It's pretty empty at the moment, because Naomi likes the horses to be outside as much as possible when the weather allows. The ones inside are either ready for lessons, on stall rest or have been kept inside for the farrier." He looked toward Charm's stall, narrowing his eyes when he saw the silver dapple mare looking over her door, ears pricked forward, as though butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. "Is there anything in particular you would like to know? I can give you a tour if you would like? He knew that Naomi was in her office, so if Emma wanted to talk to her, the owner was at least in - and he made a mental not to ask Sofia to order him a couple of new BA polos.
“Yes, you absolutely can. Mik, right?" Mik nodded with a smile, a twinkle in his eye as her mouth continued moving. "That’s a cool name, sounds like some really cool, dark, mysterious, sunglass-wearing, motorcycle-driving badass, ya know what I mean?" He was going to need to remember that an tell Amber when he got home, and he wondered what she would think of Mikhail. "Not someone who talks to horses, although, I talk to horses myself. But, my name’s Emma, not something cool like Lola or Scarlett, just Emma. I’ve been told it’s a simple name but I think it’s sweet but I’m okay either way, it’s not like my name defines who I am, but… yeah, I’m Emma, it’s nice to meet you.” He grinned as he wiped his hand on his riding pants and then shook the proffered hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Emma. You have a lovely name, enough so that there's a book with that very name for the title." Personally, he'd never read the book, it wasn't the kind of book that all-boys schools assign for reading, but he knew of it. "How can I be of assistance?" He asked, bringing her back to her reply to his original question.
Mik went from stall to stall, making sure that the breakfast buckets had been removed when the stalls were done earlier, and checking the haynets for the horses who were stuck indoors.
"You still in a foul mood?" He asked the young silver dapple Sport Horse who was standing in the back of her stall with her ears drawn back. "Naomi only kept you in cause you lost a shoe, don't be such a brat." He slid the bolt across, watching the mare the whole time, as she looked like a coiled spring. "I've got a fresh net for you." He said as he held the net up for the mare to see and slowly entered the stall. Still watching the mare, he headed over to swap the empty net with the fresh one.
"I'll ask your mam if you can go outside." He said as he turned to exit the stall. As soon as he'd turned his back on the horse, he knew he'd made a mistake as he heard the movement of the horse. "Charm!" He felt the mare's teeth graze his shoulder as she grabbed hold of his maroon and gold shirt, and as he twisted away, cringed at the sound of the fabric tearing, though that was enough to startle the mare and she shot back to the back of the stall, her ears once again flat, her head held high in a challenge. "Pity you aren't as charming as your name." He muttered.
He turned as another horse closer to the door gave a friendly nicker of greeting and he smiled when he saw an unfamiliar woman standing there. "Welcome to Blue Acres." He figured that he may as well sound as professional as possible, and if he positioned himself just right, she wouldn't be able to see how badly his shirt was torn... well, that would depend on how long she had been there. "I'm Mik. Can I help you with anything?"
I'm Mik Thanos. I've done a little of everything on horses, I've played Polo, I've competed at puissance, I've been a member of the British Show Jumping team, but my passion is in eventing, mostly the thrill of racing a top speeds over a cross country course, and trusting that the horse I'm riding will listen to me.
class objectives
The idea of the class is to teach you how confidently approach the fences, as unlike show jumping, or even puissance, these fences don't fall apart when your horse hits them. We'll also look at the safest way to approach and clear the tougher jumps and understand how to walk a course and learn what might spook your horse.
Mik was bone tired, but he knew that they both needed this night, even if he would rather just curl up on the sofa with her, order a pizza and spend the night watching a movie. However, he also knew that they couldn't become hermits while not working, and this was one way where he knew that Amber wasn't working, she could actually have a night, off her feet, where she wasn't serving someone else.
He winced as he pulled the compression tape a little too hard as he removed it to replace it with fresh stuff. He knew that he could use a premade belt thing, but he was happier with the tape, as he could play with the pressure and length of it depending on how he was feeling on the day. He puffed out a breath, making suer he wasn't holding it before the tape went on, and then pulled a grey collared t-shirt over his head and tucked it into the black jeans that he didn't wear as often as he would like, and headed into the bedroom.
He leaned against the doorframe as he happily watched Amber get ready, until the discomfort set in and he walked toward her, grabbing the black jacket from the closet door as his eyes gave her a once over. "I'm ready whenever you are." He said with a grin as he pushed his wallet into his back pocket and fastened the watch to his wrist.
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