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!.
Jonathan nodded, owning your own horse was a huge responsibility. Riding six days a week was a massive time commitment and he was lucky that the horse exercisers were just a phone call away if work got busy for him. "I can see that. Especially if she is planning on continuing her education. I barely can do it myself but I'm lucky to have the help that I do." Sunny was a quite simple and straightforward horse. The paint mare could even be used for lessons when he was away. "It's always an option though if she wants to." Leasing was the best option though - if the horse got injured the medical bills were split.
"Sunny is good thanks. She doesn't enjoy the heat. Because she has so many white patches she hates having her sunscreen put on." Her skin underneath her fur was pink on the parts that were white, meaning she was more prone to them. "She is looking forward to dragging my beginner butt around the Hunter ring. I do wonder what she thinks about me sometimes." He couldn't help but laugh. While he was still relatively new to riding, there were a lot of things Sunny put up with - but that's what made her so solid. "Alana? She doesn't ride but I think I can convince her to get on Sunny." If Lana was afraid of them he wasn't the type to force his significant other to do something they didn't want to.
The waitress finally came back and took their orders. Jonathan ordered the steak sandwich with salad as the side, allowing Andrew to order. "I had no idea! I mean of course I knew you had been with Aurora for what seems like forever. Yes, I do agree. Though it feels odd? Or do you enjoy it?"
"I mean, you practically spend the weekends with me anyway." It did seem a bit early, but wasn't like there were any timelines. Relationships varied in how they were depending on the pair and what they were comfortable with. "Don't ask me to repeat any the full biographies of the artists but it was van Gogh. He had an interesting life I hear." Cutting off your ear wasn't something everyone did. It made him cringe at the thought. "Really? You did? Did you understand any of the rules?"
He glanced out of the window as they drove along towards the Art Walk. 'So we should set aside some time to mingle at the studio then? It's nice to hear there are a mix of people though, I'm excited to see what they have." During the past year, he had learned more and more about Art - trying to understand something she enjoyed. "Whose exhibit are you most excited to see?"
As they pulled into the parking spot, Jon carefully moved both of the gifts onto the dash and unbuckled his seat belt. "Well you could open your gifts first? Then we can lock them in the car and no one has to carry them around." He suggested, turning to face her. It would make things easier though he didn't mind either way. "Maybe we could grab something to drink first and then get lost in the crowds?"
Jonathan finished his lesson with Sunny, patting the chestnut paint mare on the neck as the Hunter coach brought the lesson to a close. The man thanked them and began cooling the mare out. With show season coming around the corner, he was wanting to do a competition or two come the Summer. Running the clothing store and dating Alana took a lot of his time, though he was still able to ride on top of all of that.
It wasn't long before the mare was cool to the touch. He halted her by the entrance to the arena and dropped his stirrups, dismounting gently and landing on the ground. Quickly after, he rolled up his stirrups on either side and led the mare towards the exit, heading straight for an empty cross-tie. He backed the mare in and took off her bridle, making sure she had a moment to shake her head before sliding the halter over her head and clipping the ties to either side of the halter. Jonathan hung the bridle on an empty hook and got started on untacking and brushing the mare. As the arena was quite warm, the mare had sweat marks under where the saddle and girth had been.
After a thorough grooming session, it was time to put Sunny back outside in the mare's pasture. Once he walked back to the barn, he picked up his saddle and headed to the tack room. There was another rider in his way though, he softly cleared his throat. "Excuse me, I just need to put my tack away." He didn't think that anyone else was at the barn though, almost running into the woman. "Are you new around here or have you been at Seven Oaks long?" He tended to ride at odd times due to running the clothing store so he didn't recognize many of his fellow riders.
"That would be me, I'm Jonathan." He hadn't had the chance to check out the jeweler store as he wasn't one to wear any - but it was always his goal to shop local when he could. Since he was a small business owner himself, he knew the struggles.
Jonathan reached his hand out and returned the handshake. "I'm looking for a gift. I've been dating my girlfriend for a year now. She is an artist and teaches art, so I was thinking something along those lines." He knew Alana was someone who wore jewelry quite often - so he wanted to add to her collection.
"I was thinking of a necklace and earing set? Or even a bracelet?" Jonathan didn't think that a ring would be appropriate this early on in their relationship. As he was a bit more old fashioned but the only ring he wanted to give any woman was an engagement ring. "I'm also open to any suggestions you may have." He would take all the help he could get, as this wasn't his area of expertise. It was why he made an appointment with Gideon to begin with, hoping that he could get some sort of help.
"Shocker, right? I mean...clearly I'm just copying you." Jonathan joked. It was nice dating someone who didn't want to be with him just because of his fame. There was no pressure of him preforming well on the ice anymore and it was a welcome change.
"You want to get into coaching? Do they have a team around here?" Jonathan had thought about it when he first retired, but that meant taking courses and staying in the States. "Have you done DIY projects like that before?" He had done a few small projects around the apartment but nothing too major.
"As long as you remembered saying I do and that the woman you live with is the one you said yes to, then that's all that matters." He joked again, a smile appearing on his face. Jon knew Andrew wasn't one to get trashed on his wedding day - as it was a day he wanted to remember. He also finished his water and the staff member filled it for him. "Does she have her own horse yet? I've heard it's better though to ride more than one though when you don't." Jonathan had only ridden one horse consistently before he bought Sunny.
"It's been quite awhile. Pretty sure my last long term relationship was before I got drafted. And you? Before you were with Aurora?"
"I really can't believe it's been a year already, I feel like it's flown by...in a good way." He glanced at Alana who looked stunning as always. Jonathan gently kept a hand on the flower bouquet, not wanting to squish the flowers and also not wanting to have them fall on the floor of the car.
Jonathan smiled, glad that communication was something they were good at. "Perfect, I should really think about giving you a key here soon. I had to go back and get your second gift." He was excited to see Alana's face when she opened the two presents he got for her.
"Of course! Thanks to you I'm starting to get more and more into art. Do you know any of the artists that will be there? Are some of them local?" He didn't want to be an art expert, but at least know a bit of the terminology so that he could chat with Alana about it when they went to the gallery as a date.
Jonathan couldn't believe that he had been dating Alana for almost a year now. He wanted to go get her something special and had heard about a jewelry store in town. Jonathan knew that he wanted to get something special for her to mark the occasion.
He made an appointment with the artisans to make something custom for her. It was hard to decide what he wanted to get her, so he thought it best to talk to an expert about it.
After closing the store for the afternoon, he locked up the front door and switched off the open sign, signalling to the others that he was finished for the day. Jon put on his light wool coat and walked to to the jewellery store, which wasn't far.
Once he arrived, he opened the front door to the store, immediately feeling overwhelmed by the amount of jewellery that was in the cases. He walked up to one of the employees who was behind the counter and smiled. "Hello there, I have an appointment with Gideon?"
Jonathan couldn't believe that he had been dating Alana already for a year. It had seemed to fly by, especially their first trip together to Italy. He felt comfortable around her very quickly after he had told her his past career. It was something he was terrified about telling someone, scared to know what someone he had feelings for him thought about it.
He had left the clothing store in the hands of one of his employee's for the afternoon. After he got dressed, deciding to dress up for the occasion, he got a text message from Alana - notifying him that she was at the back of the store.
It didn't take him long to bundle up, adding a scarf and a wool jacket. After he pulled on his black dress shoes, grabbed the bouquet of flowers and the little gift bag that was on by the back door and left. He waved at Alana and locked the back door behind him. It wasn't long before he got himself in the car and sat down. "Happy anniversary, my love." He smiled, placing the flowers and the gift bag on his lap. "I hope you weren't waiting long. I do have two gifts for you though."
Jonathan knew not every person was accepting of it. He was lucky his own parents were so supportive of him, knowing a few of his old teammates weren’t in the same boat. “Yeah, I guess since she is from North America, I figured she would know who I was right away.” It had taken him a while to realize that no one in England knew who he was. “I guess it’s different since Aurora knew you played hockey since she met you.”
He glanced at the menu, not realizing he hadn’t made a decision on a drink or food yet. It was still a little weird for him that he could now technically drink as much alcohol as he wanted but, he wanted to keep healthy. Jon decided on an Old Fashioned and mozzarella sticks to start before setting his menu off to the side. “So just a few more years of being a stay-at-home dad then. Teaching him how to read early is always good though, I must admit I don’t go to the library often.” He wasn’t much of a reader, but it was good for young kids to learn.
“The most important thing though is that you two had a great time. What time did you two get home anyway?” If he remembered right, he and Alana left pretty late. It was nice having a night out with his girlfriend, who never said no to dressing up. “Well, I hope it was a cheat day then.” Jon laughed, realizing that he hadn’t picked a main course either. He would probably go with the steak sandwich with the side salad.
Jonathan knew that wedding planning was difficult, so he wasn’t surprised when Andrew mentioned that their honeymoon was going to wait. “That sounds nice though. Any ideas on where you’d like to go first?” There were too many options for travel throughout Europe as it was easy to get there from England.
“Glad to hear that. I’ve seen her compete a couple times and she looks like she enjoys being at the barn too, which must help.” Jon was sure that the four of them spent more time at the barn than he did, though he rode at Seven Oaks. “I know you two won’t push her too much out of her comfort zone.”
Jon raised his eyebrow. He never really thought about getting married, though now he was dating it was something that should be more on his radar. “I mean, I think everyone wants to get married eventually. Even if it is secretly.” He shrugged his shoulders. “It would be nice to settle down with someone, but I don’t know if I’m ready yet or not.”
You are very lucky because that doesn’t always happen. I do try and plan ahead but sometimes you just can’t.
Well then, I better get myself in my birthday suit too but maybe a bit more appropriate for the public eye I’m sure if you go on Pinterest, we can find a couple's costume. Maybe superheroes of some sort?
What time are you off today? Do you think we could grab a coffee and go to the corn maze?
“It’s a bit quick I know but we’ve been dating since before Christmas.” Jon shrugged his shoulders. He hadn’t dated anyone in a long time - by choice. It was a difficult adjustment for him and he wanted to be in the right place before pulling someone special into his life. “I do like her. She seems to understand me.” Jon smiled. He was always scared telling someone he wanted to be in a relationship with about his previous profession - not that it was illegal - it was just different. “I think I really liked her when she was so accepting of being a retired pro hockey player.”
It wasn’t something that just anyone understood. Sure, most hockey players had women throwing themselves at them for their money or fame but that wasn’t something Jon wanted. He found it disgusting and as Captain he needed to show an example to his younger teammates. “Doesn’t it? I thought my days of school were over.” He really didn’t mind as it meant the store was busy. “How long until Alexi goes to school?”
“It was a great day for a wedding! You two did a great job planning everything.” Jon didn’t know what to expect when he attended but he knew Aurora was someone who wanted something simple. “Being ready is the most important part I think. I know you two were waiting a long time but I hope it was worth it.” Jon had only been really involved in his brother’s wedding and he was treating it as a commitment when his time came. “Any honeymoon plans in the works?”
Jonathan decided on what he wanted to eat and drink - setting the menu off to the side. “I don’t know Maeve well but she seems like a good kid. It’s nice of you to take her in though.” He had seen Maeve once or twice at a competition and she seemed quiet. “That’s a good way of dealing with it though. Does she seem to enjoy school?”