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!.
and just like that it was over. the boots that had been kicking themselves into his flesh were now hitting the pavement as they ran from him, disturbed in their task to incapacitate him to steal his keys and wallet. there was a ringing in his ears that was louder than any sound he'd ever heard before, the aftermath of a boot to his jaw and it dulled out every other sound around him at the moment.
through the spinning of the world around him he saw a flash of blonde hair, the muffled sound of someone trying to talk to him. "huh?" he just about managed to get out in response. he was still curled around his arm, the pain in his chest making it hard to breath, hard to move but he had to, he couldn't stay here. he started trying to stand, scrambling a little to get his feet under him but failing the second his head lifted higher than it had been, the world turned on it's side and he found himself falling onto his elbow, the movement forcing out whatever air had been in his lungs with a strangled like breath. he could taste blood in his mouth as he swallowed, grimacing at the metalic taste of it as he tried his hardest to focus on just one thing around him, one thing that might stop his world from tipping sideways.
well that was a decent explanation. it wasn't like the dog had been taken out into the woods to cause trouble, she'd just found it on her own. accidents happened, he just hoped that it wasn't going to cause to much trouble between the two stables, after all things were just starting to settle down again after the fire. "so it was a prison break." he said, glad that naomi laughed as well. it was stressful but it didn't need to be frightening, at least not now the horse was settled and cleo was safe at home again.
he heard naomi's phone buzz and figured that she'd let him know what the response was when she read it, there was no point asking about it. he nodded slightly as he rested his hand on rocky's rump and took another look at the horses legs. "he seems sound enough." but he understood the worry about in the morning. "i'll make sure to check on him when i'm there tomorrow." he had to go in and take care of his own horses, so there was no harm in looking in on one more. some thought it strange he boarded at one barn and worked at another, but it was just the way things had turned out when he'd come to town.
as he'd expected, naomi came in and checked the horse over with her own hands. he didn't blame her, there was a lot riding on this and it was someone else's horse. as it was they'd probably tell his owners that they'd looked him over and he was fine and they'd still want to check and they'd be right to. he'd be the same if it was one of his horses, not that he didn't trust people, it was just he trusts his own eyes more. "i think the only scratch we really need to tell them about is near his eye, and it's only because of where it is, not because it's bad." he said from his place at the door as he watched her run her hands over the animal.
"is it a story of espionage and adventure?" well it would have been for the dog. for the horse it was probably one of terror and scariness. once naomi had finished checking the horse and had walked out of the stall he crossed back to the horse to rub his neck lightly, hoping to keep him nice and settled so nothing else troubled him while he was here. plus he'd had a really hard day it seemed so what would a little extra affection hurt. "i'll sort it out in a moment." he agreed with feeding him, they had no idea how long it had been since he'd eaten and he didn't think he'd had the chance to eat much while he'd been with cleo. he frowned at naomi's question, and the shake of his head was quick. "never." he didn't know her very well outside of work but he'd never had any reason to question her either, she always seemed really honest to him.
it had been a heck of a night. there must have been something in the air because it seemed that people wanted to cause more trouble than they just wanted to have fun. it had been a night of asking people to leave nice, not letting them back in the club when they tried to sneak their way back in and telling them to bugger off and sleep it off. the only thing that made it a decent night was the people he worked with, the music he could just hear outside the doors and the drinks that were supplied by the waitresses to them through the night. mostly soft drinks but there were a few sneaky beers snuck in every now and again to make working on the door fun. it hadn't really helped because at last call for drinks and when the music had been turned off and the lights turned on, they'd had to physically eject someone who was trying to demand drinks from the bartenders after they'd said they couldn't serve him anymore. he'd tried to lay his hands on the girl so he'd been thrown out, not too kindly onto the cement outside the club with the door shut behind him.
it was about an hour later that he waved goodbye to his fellow bar workers and he started walking to where he'd parked his car. he'd been a little late to his shift so he'd needed to park a little further away but it didn't worry him. normally by now everyone who'd been skulking around the club had moved onto greener pastures or at least gone to find more alcohol and greasy food to soak up what they'd drunk. he could go for a cheeseburger or something himself but he had to go home and fall into bed so he could be up in four hours to go ride his horses and teach a few lessons at BA. it was his worst weekend for hours but it was decent pay tonight and he couldn't turn down the opportunity to work the night shift and make a decent chunk of money for it.
he turned the corner to where his car was and he started to feel around his pocket for his keys, which turned out to be a mistake. while he'd been distracted and turning the corner, all of a sudden a fist met his face and because he'd had no time to prepare or get ready to defend himself he found himself stumbling back, falling to the ground and while he'd had the sense to cover his face with his hands, it was two pairs of boots that found and made contact with his ribs, just about blinding him from the pain and knocking the wind out of him in the process. he couldn't do anything but try to use his arms to protect himself but the boots kicked where they could reach, face, the back of his head, his back and his chest all copped a battering. suddenly those boots were scurrying away from him and he blinked in the darkness, wondering if they'd just gotten bored or if something had scared them away, either way he was glad. he coughed and curled onto his side a little, his hand gripping his ribs as they pained him with the movment.
it hadn't taken him very long at all to sort the horse out. he'd run the hose over him for a bit and then he'd dried him off as carefully and gently as he could, taking his time to check along his body for any injuries that might not have shown up straight away. so far he could only see some superfical scratches along his body and legs where he'd been running into branches it seemed and none of them looked too deep or bad enough to need anything other than little antiseptic and some watching. he hadn't found anything that needed a vet to look at. there was one scratch near his eye that might cause some concern but he didn't think it was anything too serious but he'd wait for naomi's opinion.
he scratched the horses neck gently and tried to get him as calm as possible as he lead him to one of the empty stalls at the back at the barn, settling him into it as he covered him in a light rug to keep him from getting chilled. "care to tell me about your adventure?" he said softly as he rubbed his hand over the horses cheek gently. "at least tell me you didn't throw anyone." he with a small smile as he let out a breath and wondered if naomi had managed to get cleo home safe and if she'd heard anything back from lily about whether it was the horse he was thinking it was.
he heard footsteps heading their way and he lowered his hands from the horse and he moved to stand at the door of the stall, leaning his arm down on it so naomi would know what stall they were in and he looked back at the horse. "he's all settled." he said to his boss as she came into view in the corner of his eye. he'd let her give him the once over herself before he told her she was okay, as much as he was sure she trusted him, this could turn into something of a situation so he wouldn't blame her if she wanted to double check. he hoped it wouldn't become something between the barns again, relations had been starting to settle and he didn't want anything to ruin that.
you must have me confused with someone else! driver always picks the music! passenger is passer of snacks and declarer of route! so what if i did .. what are you going to do about it
he ran his hands expertly over the horse to feel for any injuries that he might not have been able to see. for any soft spots, any touch that made the horse flinch and any hot spots on his legs. fear could make a horse move fine for a while but there was always a point when it ended. he gathered the reins carefully once he'd finished examining the horse and had found the injuries that he'd told naomi so she could relay that to lily over at seven oaks. someone would be missing this guy judging by how well looked after he was, it seemed there was just that extra touch of love there.
he rubbed his neck gently as he nodded to naomi and he started walking the horse to the gate, as it was unlocked and opened by his boss. "i'll get him settled, i'll even bed him down in a stall just in case they can't come and get him tonight." he said as he looked over the horses back at naomi. he glanced behind her to where cleo was and he couldn't help but smile a bit at the dog. "don't be too hard on her." he looked at the eyes of the young pup and almost melted.
"i'll even let the vet know just in case we need them to come out to check him." he said with a quick nod as he started to lead the horse slowly up to the barn, letting him take the time he wanted so he could get used to his new surroundings without feeling pressured. eventually they worked their way up to the wash bay and he hooked him up to the cross ties before going to find a halter that wasn't being used right now. he swapped the halter for the bridle and tied him to the cross ties before he looked the bridle over. "rocky huh?" he said as he found the name scratched into the leather of the band. "lets get you cooled down." he said as he went to take the saddle off and saw just how much the horse had sweated.
he kept his eyes on the horse as he waited for naomi to come down to the pastures. he was crouched next to cleo, rubbing his hand over her head lightly to keep her attention focused on him and off the horse she was so intent on chasing. hopefully it was just an awful coincidence and the horse had run away from it's rider while they'd been on the ground. it didn't take long for her to walk down to them and he stood up, watching cleo tug the rope to try and get to naomi. he would have smiled had the situation not been one of a serious matter but for a stray horse to rock up was never a good thing. "i think he's from seven oaks. she came from that direction." he said as he looked down at cleo, who did not look like she'd just committed a serious crime and if he could have spoken dog he would have sworn that she was thrilled with herself about what she'd brought home for them. he held out the rope to her so she could take control of the pup and then he brushed his hands down on his jeans before he nodded. "he looks like he's calmed down a little." he said as he started walking slowly down to the bottom of the pasture.
"hey mate." he said gently as he reached the fence that bordered the property. luckily it wasn't a hard one to climb over so he slowly put his foot on the bottom rung, moving slow so he didn't spook the horse. "been on an adventure have you?" he said, watching the horses ears flick and the movement of his eyes. "there's a good lad." he said softly as he softly dropped over the fence and took a few steps toward the horse. when the dun didn't move he walked over to him carefully and gathered the reins into his hand, running his hand down the horses neck. "good boy." he said as he clucked his tongue softly and walked the horse back towards the fence he'd climbed over. "he's got some scratches on his legs, nothing deep. one just under his eye too." he said as he checked the horse over so naomi could give lily as much information. "let her know he's saddled too, they might have a rider out there."