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 chuckled. "Or... you could just tell them that you'd really like to help out a bit more?" He suggested with a shrug. "You already do half the work, by taking care of your own horses."
He pulled a face and shrugged. "I'm guessing you'll learn different ways to instruct people, demonstrate that you know what you're doing around and with horses..." He shrugged again, wondering if it was a path he should have followed when he decided that he didn't want to do the Olympics again, but it would have been harder to hide, if he was leaving a paper-trail of courses, and the BHS would have been something his parents would have been tracking.
"Sounds like Fire and Vienna would have fun racing each other over the course." He said with a wolfish grin. "When I get the all-okay to do proper work again, we should hit the course together." And he was more than champing at the bit to get out there again and start proper training, though he was already pushing the limits with his daily runs.
He pulled a face as he thought about Cara. He could remember the first day she was walked into the barn, trailing behind the asshat who had so much control over her, leading the dapple grey Français de Selle. "To be honest with you, I've just found it's easier to let her do her own thing. Yes, she piles her workload way higher than she should, but it's what she's used to." He blew out a breath as they walked back to the feed room. "Accept her help, and offer your own when you think she needs it." He stored the trolley with the others and dusted his hands off. "If you want to keep helping, now we take the horses who have already finished out to the pastures and then start on the stalls."
Mik couldn't help but grin at her enthusiasm, he wasn't going to deter her from working with the horses. "Once you've cleared it with Naomi and Nate first." He said. "As much as I enjoy the help, I'm not going to say anything until you have their okay first."
He shook his head with a smile. "I don't regret it for a moment." He told her. "However, the road to the Olympics isn't easy, and life at the Olympic Village when you're a child is well... dull. As well as all the training, I had course work that had to be completed, daily. And while the rest of the team were off partying with the other adults, I was in my room, reading, or watching training clips." The news made the idea of going to the Games to be one huge party, but in reality, it was work. He nodded to her question. "Of course! You could even see if your school works with local BHS Pathways."
He grinned and nodded, seeing a lot of every other young equestrian he'd ever met in Emma, and that wasn't exactly a bad thing. "Just remember to focus on your love of horses, more than your love of winning." He said sagely. As that was often the point where young people lost their love of the animal and cared more about the ribbons, and they would sell their horses as soon as they stopped winning.
He pouted on behalf of his horses, thinking that he might need to have a talk with them about maybe calming down a little. "Vienna's a redhead, enough said." He said with a grin. He laughed and shrugged as he handed out the last of the buckets. "When you work it out, let me know!" He'd found that if he gave Cara simple jobs; hand-walking a horse who was on stall rest, cooling a horse out, it got the young woman to slow down while also giving her a job. "There's nothing wrong in asking her for help."
Mik liked seeing her smile, and it seemed that they were coming easier and easier as they spoke. "Well, I'll make note of that then," He grinned. "Make sure you do." He wigged his eyebrows. "I could even make notes for you!" His grin widened and he closed his eyes and shook his head at his own humour, that little - and oh-so-annoying voice - in his head told him to maybe tone it down a little.
"I would encourage any point, there's no specific time." He pursed his lips and nodded. "Should I be taking notes?" The humour just slipped out without him having to think about it. "I think we can find plenty of fun easily enough," He chuckled easily. "You know me. I'm all about having fun!" Some would think a little too much fun, even when his thoughts were on very serious things.
The 'blame game' needed to stop, but he wasn't sure how to convince Amber that she had nothing to blame herself for. They weren't even a couple when her ex had set his sights on him, so Mik had a feeling that it was just the fact that they worked together and then Mik had made a nuisance of himself and really landed in the crossfire. "I know you do." He smiled. "Alright, I'll let you do whatever you need to do." He grinned, trying his best to look like he knew what he was planning. "Not that I like it any better." He shrugged. "We should at least get a breather from him." He offered, then either the police would pick him up, or he'd return for more money... may the odds be ever in their favour!! He gave her another kiss before releasing her hands with a sigh. "I'd better get to work. Are you going to join me for a run at lunchtime?"
Mik grinned. "While we have more than enough help around here, I won't turn away extra help." He help up a finger before she could get too excited. "However, you working in here can't impede your schoolwork or lessons." He added.
He pursed his lips as he glanced at Emma. "Yeah, I know that kids your age are getting ready for the Olympics, I was one of them. My entire life was all about horses, it wasn't as much fun as it may seem on TV." He didn't regret any of it, but there were some things he would change if he could redo it all. The lead up to the Games had been like living in a tunnel, and the medal ceremony was the end of that tunnel. He remembered all the training, his team mates, his trainers, everything else had been a blur. He had been a child who was way out of his depth, on a horse who could have killed him, if he'd wanted to. "You could look into becoming a better rider, and then coach people to be better riders. Winning rosettes is not the be-all, end-all of horse riding." Contrary to popular belief.
He smiled. "I think they would allow you to do anything that will help you grow as a horsewoman." He said. "And, if that means driving you to competitions every weekend, I'm sure they would both move heaven and earth to make it happen." He wished his parents had been like that when he was growing up, rather than him feeling like he was a trophy they could bring out and brag about to their friends.
He gave her a soft smile. "I thank you for your offer. My boys, as wild as they seem, they take pretty good care of me when I'm not at the top of my game." Fire, in his exuberance when Mik had returned to work, had knocked him over, but the gelding was careful of his human after that. He nodded to her question. "Cara offered to keep my boys at the top of their game while she was doing the same with Naomi's. It's not easy to talk her out of something when she has all the logical answers as to why it makes sense."
Mik did a mental happy dance when he saw her smile. "And here I was thinking I was the only one allowed to slap you upside anything," He chuckled. "The difference, is that I like it when you slap me."
"Yeah, you know that whole... grab me by the shirt in the middle of the afternoon because you just can't be without me type of thing." He pursed his lips, brow lifting. "Does it have to be the middle of the afternoon, or can I do that at any point?" Of course, not while they were at the club, as it wasn't that type of club - something he had to remind quite a few of the patrons while he was waiting tables. "I hope for your sake, you can." He chuckled. "I'm wondering if it would be more fun if I don't..? He teased.
"Okay, maybe that's the way to go." He nodded. Sure, there were still many ways it could go wrong, as no plan was fool-proof, but he was sure it would work to their advantage enough that it would get the douche-bag out of their hair.
"Don't say this for my benefit," He shook his head, as this had been something he'd been considering for a while, the main thing that stopped him was the fact that his parents would swoop down on Hickstead. He grinned at her eyeroll. "As if you haven't been dragged into my issues," He held up a finger. "I kind of threw myself into your issues." He gave a wolfish grin. "I guess you can at least control the way the news comes out rather than a surprise.. but I still don't like it. I've turned your entire life upside down." He chuckled as he grabbed Amber's hand and pulled her to her feet, kissing her. "I couldn't think of a better way to be living my life." He kissed her again. "I got you!"
Mik gave the girl a reassuring smile and shook his head. "It's not a problem." He told her. "Stuff like that happens all the time, we'll clean it when we do the sweep up when all the feeds are done." Either a bucket slipping from their hands, or a handle breaking, there were loads of reasons that food ended up on the floor.
He grinned as he took the nets from her, placing most of them in the mares' trolley and adding a couple to the ones already in the stallions' trolley. He frowned as he thought about her question. "You're still young, life shouldn't only be about your next competition. Yes, shows are great, but so is riding and having fun with your horses." He flashed her a grin. "Don't try and compete them all on the same day. I've done it before, and it takes all the fun out of competitions, as all you're doing it moving from one horse to another and making sure your on the right horse in the correct ring, when you're supposed to be there." He chuckled, as there had been too many times that he'd ended up in the right ring, on the wrong horse.
He blew out a quick breath, and wished he hadn't as his ribs protested. "While I've been given the nod for riding, I'm not allowed to do jumping, or anything tougher than pleasure riding." He shrugged and laughed. "I have someone I trust keeping them both at the top of their game though." He pursed his lips as he studied Emma for a moment and wondered if Naomi would kill him if he asked the girl if she wanted to exercise his horses... or at least Fire. Glory was too much of a liability, and he wouldn't risk someone's safety.
Mik loved his job at Blue Acres, not only did he get to work with horses, it also worked perfectly with his need to be up and moving early in the morning - much to Amber's disgust.
He looked up from the buckets he was filling on the trolley that was going down to the stallions and he smiled toward Emma. He knew that Cara was in the indoor arena, finishing off a schooling session with Rex, and he had seen Casey as well. "Slow down, kiddo." He said as he looked over at Emma again. "It's easier to put the buckets in the trolley, and then fill them. Then you're not trying to carry heavy buckets any more than you have to." He flashed her a smile. "Once you've finished with them, can you please grab me a dozen nets from the hay cupboard?" He knew that Cara would have filled the nets already, and would need to ask the young woman if he needed to throw down another couple of bales to keep the cupboard well stocked. "Got any plans for your horses?"
"exactly right, but maybe I'm hoping they'll send you home to me if they see you looking so out of sorts." Mik gave a laugh and shook his head. "While that's great in theory, Naomi's more likely to slap me on the upside of my head and tell me to straighten up my clothes." Not that his boss would every assault any of her staff, but she was a mother to two teenagers.
"How about some spontaneity?" He pursed his lips, pretending to consider the idea. "Spontaneity?" He said as though he was testing the word and then shrugged with a grin. "Yeah, I think I can work with that." He probably needed a little more spontaneity in how ordered his life had become lately.
"What's dusting? Is that like when they dye money? Like in films? Couldn't we call the police and say it's stolen if you did that?" He chuckled and nodded, movies were pretty spot-on when it came to showing how things were done. "Well, technically it's in a spray can." He said with a boyish grin. "The spray is invisible to to the eye, and picked up under UV-light. I put it on all my horse gear, and my tack trunk has a sticker on it warning people that I have used the dots. Yes, I'd let the police know that it's been stolen and let them deal with the recovery." The more he tried to explain it, the more out there, and unbelievable, it sounded. "I'll bring the kit home with me today and you can have a look at what I'm hashing up while trying to explain."
"But then I've forced your hand. It shouldn't be that way. You wouldn't have been considering it if this hadn't happened. You shouldn't have this force you to change your life. It's not right." He gave a roguish grin. "Contrary to popular belief, it's been something I've been thinking about for a while." He finally released her hand as he stood up and walked over to the fridge to pour himself a glass of milk so that he could down his painkillers. "I think all of... this..." He gestured around him vaguely as he returned to the table and sat again. "Has given me the push I need." After all, all it would take is one person to recognise him as the gangly sixteen year old boy from the British team at Rio, and then everyone would know anyway. "Think of it this way, if I come clean, then it should save me from the rumours of why I've been hiding who I really am." Though sometimes the rumour-mill was fun to listen to. "The main thing that stops me though, is that you will probably get dragged into my family issues."
"Of course I'd tell you... if you about to be seen with me." Mik chuckled, though shot her a withering look. "So, note to self, I'll look good heading to the nightclub, but could be wearing all my clothes inside-out, and back to front, when heading to the barn" He said with a nod. He'd done that often enough before the concussion, so it was nothing new. "Yeah, I think that could be a possibility." He grinned. "I'll take that. Before or after the movie?"
"don't you think it's worth knowing?" He shrugged. "That's the things with plans though, isn't it? We don't always know if it is going to work." He blew out a breath, trying his darndest to remember the entire conversation from the night before, though parts of it slipped through his fingers like stardust. "I'm sure that we can dust enough of the money that he'll have some on him when he gets caught, and I can have someone shadowing him once you've given him the bag." He frowned and shrugged as he look a drink and pulled a face as the caffeine churned in his stomach. "That's your call, but I don't want it to be anything to do with what's happened with me." He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "I'll feel worse if you do this just because of me, that's not how it should go.""I want to do this, because of what's happening to us." He told her. "It's probably about time I grew up, and stopped hiding from my parents like a rebellious teenager." Before he'd bee attacked, he'd been thinking about approaching Naomi and asking if he could apply for the position as an eventing instructor.
"You might want to check your shirt then," Mik's brow's flew up, as he was sure he'd made sure his clothes were the right way round and not inside out when he put them on and he quickly pulled up the collar, only to pout when he worked out that she had been messing with him. "I'm now worried that if I had put my top on wrong, you wouldn't say anything." He teased. "Oh, yeah I thought it might be yours... sorry." He grinned. "Don't be, it looks great on you! It would look better on the floor, but I need to head to work soon, so maybe later?" Yes, he went there.
"I don't follow.. How will you get it back? He's not going to just return it - if anything once you pay him, he'll keep coming back for more." He pushed his plate away and shrugged. "Haven't quite worked all that out yet, but I think my plan might work." He knew that there were a lot of ways that his plan could go wrong, but it could work. "You still shouldn't be paying for my mistakes. I'll always be looking over my shoulder for something, Mik." He reached over the table and took her hand, rubbing his thumb across the back of it. "I think we both have that curse. I'll watch your six if you watch mine. I still think that I need to tell people who I really am. At least the people I work with."
Mik bit back the grin when he saw that he's got Amber to smile again, the morning was starting off well. "I think you're confused," He pursed his lips together and nodded. "I get told that quite a bit these days." He said with a chuckle. "As long as I don't put my clothes on inside out, I think I'm doing well."
"What?" He chuckled as he gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You're wearing the t-shirt that I was sure I had lost at work." He said with a shrug. "It looks much better on you." Well... it would look much better on the floor, but now wasn't the time for that.
He took a slice of toast and spread it with butter before slicing it into quarters and then sliced it again as he waited. "We've been through this before though... I can't afford to pay you back, and once he's got that kind of money, he'll only come back for more..." He nodded. "If this works though, I'll get my money back, and he won't be bothering us again for a while." He pushed the plate away and pulled his mug closer. "It's money out of my trust fund, so technically it's coming from my parents, not me." He studied her for a moment. "If nothing else, I want you to be free to live your life. You shouldn't have to live it, always looking over your shoulder." And, even if that meant she wasn't here with him.
"I can't help it if you just lull me to sleep...and pick boring films." Mik gave a mock look of shock. "I pick boring films?" He gasped. "I'm sure that you do most of the movie picking." He teased back.
"Okay, yeah that would be good." He grinned. Running with company was always fun, and if he had a person to run with, he'd be less likely to push himself. He was doing his best to get his fitness levels back to where they were, but knew that pushing those limits would do the opposite.
He grinned as she came into the kitchen, brow raising at the t-shirt she was wearing. He'd be wondering what he had done with that one, thinking he'd misplaced it at work. "No thanks, I don't think I can stomach anything more right now. Can I help?" He smiled and nodded to the toaster as the toast popped up. "Can you grab that and take it to the table?" He poured the black liquid into the mugs and carried them to the table, quietly pleased that she had turned down the eggs, as then he'd have to make some for himself and he was struggling to keep things down, thus the bread and coffee rather than his normal full English breakfast before work.
He placed the mugs on the table and sat down in his seat. "Going back to our conversation last night. I still think offering him a pay off is the best way to end his reign." Well, the option of grabbing the douche and hiding him in the dungeon was still on the table too, but he'd leave that suggestion for now.
"You need to rest," Mik pulled a face. "That's my fault, I'm sorry." He raised his brows and shook his head, his endless thoughts weren't totally her fault, he knew that he could have taken care of the douche at the beginning of all this, but he hadn't. "Maybe tonight we'll have pizza, movie and early night?" He chuckled as his stomach growled at the mention of pizza. "I'll even let you pick the movie, even if you won't stay awake for the entirety of it." He teased lightly.
"Naomi shouldn't allow you to do any heavy lifting." He pouted, though not surprised that she was still looking out for him. "I'll probably get some chores done," He pulled a face, chores sounded boring. "You could come by the barn around lunchtime, we could go for a run?" He suggested, as he was slowly building his stamina back up again, and it was always more fun to go running with someone else. "It's probably the only way, we'll just need to get this right to make sure we win." He nodded as he stretched his arms above his head, getting rid of the kinks in his back, an eyebrow arching as there was an audible pop in his shoulder, though he shrugged it off. "I don't know if I can eat right now, maybe just some toast. Coffee would be good though." He grinned. "Coffee and toast it is." He said, stealing another kiss before bouncing off the bed and heading to the bathroom with his clothes for the day.
Once dressed, he made his way to the kitchen and turned the coffee machine on and grabbed the loaf of fresh bread from the pantry. "You sure I can't entice you in some scrambled eggs?" He asked as he took out plates, knives and the spreads.
When he'd first started on the competition circuit, Mik had learned the art of cat-napping and while he knew that it would hit him hard when the lack of proper sleep caught up to him, he was refreshed enough to be able to handle the day ahead of him... as long as no one used really long words, or expected him to hold intelligent conversations.
"I slept a little. Did you?" He shrugged, as best he could while lying on his side. "On an off." He said honestly. "There was a lot going on in my head, so I let them fight it out. The battle was epic." He smiled as he turned his head to kiss her palm. "What are we going to do, Mik?" He pursed his lips. "How about we get up, I cook us breakfast and we work out a game plan, then I'll head to the barn and you can come back to bed?" Coming back to bed after breakfast sounded like an excellent idea, however, he needed to turn up at the barn every day. "I wonder if Naomi will allow me to do any heavy lifting today.
He stretched as he pushed the covers back and sat up, leaning down to give Amber a kiss. "I still think the idea of setting him up would be the best way." After all, that was the way they dealt with rats, catching them in a really big trap. "What do you want for breakfast?"
Mik smiled and kissed the back of her head as it turned out that he had made the right decision and she pulled him closer rather than moving herself away, and he was so pleased that they were able to cuddle again, rather than having the worry of him hurting himself keeping that gap between them.
Sleep had been a bit of a hit and miss, as Mik's mind refused to rest as he tried to work out how he was going sort of the issues with his jobs, without implicating Amber in any way, and trying to work out if he should out himself. He had a feeling that by the time this whole thing was over, Tristan would probably let that cat out of the bag as his swansong. The more he thought about it, the more he was liking the thought of people knowing who he actually was, he could even ask Naomi if he could instruct young riders. He didn't want to give up his current job at the barn, but he'd love to be able to mentor young riders.
His eyes flickered as he felt her weight shift, and he silently watched through his lashes as it seemed that Amber was trying her hardest not to wake him. "Did you manage any sleep?" He asked softly as he gave her a kiss on the cheek.
