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!.
Emma was excited for another dressage lesson. She had read on Aurora's board that she would be riding with Angel today. It was Vienna's turn for a dressage lesson and she was ready to go. She decided to go with her nice Sage green set, wrapping the polo wraps on the mare's legs before she got herself ready for the lesson.
The blonde braided her hair before putting her helmet on her head, clipping the chin strap. She grabbed the bridle and her gloves before heading over to the cross ties. Once the bridle was put on, Emma slid her gloves on her hands and led the mare towards the outdoor arena. Ahead of her she could see Angel and Ripple, glad she wasn't too late to her lesson. She allowed Angel to use the mounting block first, before she adjusted her saddle and got on Vienna. "Hi Aurora and Angel. I'm also doing good, excited to see how this lesson goes." Vienna truly thrived in the eventing ring - so dressage was something the mare needed to work on.
"Is this your first lesson at Blue Acres, Angel?" She fixed her feet in the stirrups before she nudged the mare forward at the walk.
Emma had finished her lesson with Miss Aurora - glad the grey gelding was starting to understand what his rider was asking of him. The two were working towards moving up to more advanced lessons. She chatted with the older woman until the next student arrived, leaving the arena as the next student entered - the pair walking back to the entrance of the barn.
She saw a truck and trailer pull away - wondering who the new arrival would be. Usually, she tried to pay attention to see if someone knew who was moving in but she had been far too busy with soccer starting up again. Emma saw a buckskin horse with its owner enter the barn, making her dismount and lead the grey gelding behind her. "Hi! Did you need some help? I only caught the tail end of your question. If Miss Clarke knows about your arrival, the name of your horse should be on the correct stall door." The barn staff were always informed of when new boarders were coming - making sure a stall was ready when they cleaned stalls the morning of.
"I'm Emma by the way, and this here is Dakota. And you two are?" Emma halted the grey in the barn aisle, making sure there was space between the two horses before giving the gelding a pat on the neck while they waited.
The young blonde was in charge of brushing Eddie after Cassie had finished riding him. Emma always helped out at the barn when she could - knowing that the coaches often rode their own horses before they taught lessons. Cassandra thanked Emma as she walked off to go teach lessons for the afternoon. She began the grooming process, realizing that the paint stallion was finally starting to lose his winter coat. Orange and white hairs flew around as Emma curried away, headphones in her ears as she worked her way around the older horse.
She had quite a bit of time before she had to get Vienna for a scheduled trail ride with Izzy, so she took her sweet time. Awhile later the paint stallion was gleaming again and Emma organized the brushes again before putting them away. The blonde teen got Eddie dressed to go outside - putting his cotton sheet and rain sheet on before clipping the lead rope to the ring and leading him towards the private pen area dedicated for the stallions. Hoofbeats clip clopped against the concrete until they exited the barn, Emma putting her headphones back in their case as the two walked along.
An unfamiliar voice called out to them before they made it too far. She halted Eddie and turned to face where the voice was coming from. "And what's his problem? I did assume by the note that he's a stallion. Any horse owner would know they need to be by themselves outside." She had heard about the arrival of the new horse, but was still unsure of who he belonged to. "Is he yours or something?"
Emma shook her head. She knew better than to treat her horses like that. “Huh, that baffles me. They aren’t machines and I know it sounds cheesy but, they have thoughts and feelings too.” The teen did as much as she could at competitions, sometimes leaning on her family or other Blue Acres riders to help. She also offered her help to those competitors at Blue Acres who needed it.
“I’m glad you got your way in the end though. I’d have to agree with you, I enjoy going to school. Having a tutor sounds boring. What made her change her mind?” There seemed to be a method for convincing adults to agree with children, but now that she was in her later teens it almost felt like she was an adult. “Wait, you had to dance with boys? How gross was that?” Emma laughed, she really enjoyed Gym class - except when it came to dancing. She wasn’t quite coordinated enough to dance and it was awkward dancing with the boys in her class.
Emma nodded, she knew Mik would be smart about being sober on the job. “How is Miss Amber anyway? I haven’t seen her around here in awhile.” She had only come across the older blonde woman a few times, but she was always there visiting with Mik or his horses. “That was supposed to be a compliment. Someone needs to be funny around here. Especially with all the stuffy people that ride here.” She loved Blue Acres, but like any situation there were always people who tended to be grumpy. Emma threw Indi’s halter in the pile and began the walk back to the barn.
“Do you really think anyone who lives in the Clarke-Thorne household sleeps in? I find sleep hard to come by sometimes.” It all depended on how much thinking she had done - it took her a long time to wind down enough to fall asleep.
"Thanks for giving me the opportunity, but I think we will stick with the gender norms. I'm usually pretty independent but who knows what the twins have planned." Emma held back an eye roll - she should have known Jameson would be the class clown, even away from the classroom.
She glanced over at Jaana - glad to hear she wasn't the only one who hadn't done a haunted hayride. Emma had participated in a few Winter/Christmas themed sleigh rides, but this was different. "I have to admit I don't know the twins well. Do you two? I ran into Piper on a trail ride once or twice this Summer." Emma had learned about Helping Hooves stables there as well. She made a mental note to ask the twins if they wanted to join her on another one before the snow began to fall. "Ah, yeah I grabbed a snack. I'll have to go back for food as well after. Everything smells amazing!" Emma was far too hungry and the smell of food was enticing to her. She had just come from the barn and didn't have time to eat before she had to get ready.
As the trailer lurched forward, it was far to late for her to turn back. She figured as the haunted hay ride didn't come with a rating, it wouldn't be anything too creepy or gory. There was a bit of a commotion - she saw Jameson almost fall on top of her. The blonde teen shuffled over just in time, avoiding any awkward situation. "What about the ghosts? I'm sure they have those up ahead." She shuffled herself around, getting comfortable before the hay ride continued.
Emma was used to people talking her ear off at the barn. She was a happy multitasker - almost done reading the article that had first gained her attention. "Yeah, I mean I wouldn't say I'm the best. There is always something to learn. What about you?" Emma knew better than to be cocky - even the best professional riders took lessons and were constantly learning new tips and tricks.
"That's fun! I've never been overseas yet. How is it like living on the army base?" The young teen had often wondered what it was like living on one - she was someone who had always lived in a city or town. Emma finished reading the article and gently placed it back on the shelf. "Frankfurt is a bit boring to be honest. Lots of posh business people but Munich is great. That's where I was born." She could only remember one Frankfurt trip with her mother, but she was still quite young. "I do enjoy it here. There are a lot of things to do around here if you know where to look." Emma honestly spent most of her time at the barn - having three horses kept her busy enough on top of school.
The teen nodded - she would have known if the other teen rode at Blue Acres. "Who else have you met that rides there? I've gotten to know a lot of them over the years." People had come and gone from the barn, but there were a few familiar faces that had been there for years. "Oh fun. What kind of riding do you and Twilight do? I have three horses. Dakota, Vienna and Kai." It was fun juggling the three horses, especially during the Summer when she didn't have school.
Emma was excited to compete with Vienna. The chestnut mare had settled in nicely since being with the young blonde. The teen started getting the mare ready, realizing that she had a huge cheer team behind her this time.
Vienna closed her eyes as her human got busy brushing the mare, only opening her eyes when Emma started talking to her. She started tacking up, putting the blue and grey gear on before getting herself ready. Emma put on her tall boots and helmet - finishing with her body protector before bridling the mare. She quickly checked the girth before starting the walk over to the warm up ring. It seemed to be busy with people getting ready for the arena eventing class. The teen kept her space, warming up Vienna with Naomi, Mik and Cara watching. Twenty minutes later, they were ready to jump some warmup fences.
Once her coach was sure they were ready, Emma rode Vienna over to the the show ring. Their names were called and the blonde began on the course. It felt like the two were flying - Vienna making good use of her scope as the course went along. The pair had a bit of trouble with the shark tooth and the roundtop, but al the jumps had been cleared by the pair. After the final fence, Emma brought the chestnut back to the trot and walk - doing a circle at the end before heading out for a fun trail ride to cool out.
Emma shook her head - being good was something she had always been, even right after her trauma with her parents. "Yeah, yeah. You'd think that because I'm the youngest sibling that it wouldn't be the case, right?" It seemed to be a stereotype about the youngest sibling. Being an only child for the first bit of her life, made having siblings a huge adjustment.
"That's cool. It's a challenge from what I can tell. How do you manage to memorize your lines anyway?" She could guess that it was similar to memorizing things for a test, though again it was something different. There was a certain tone needed for different dialogue depending on the scene. "Did he get in trouble or something? Oxford isn't easy to get into from what I've heard." Cara had told her all about the special Universities. There were tests that students needed to pass to get in.
She waved off his comment - her siblings were a bit too old to be around the secondary school. "No, I'm the only one. My siblings are too old to be at secondary school." There was quite a big age gap between the three children, but they all got along well enough. Emma nodded - she would have to see if she could drag one of her friends to come with her. "So you haven't auditioned yet? Do those start soon?" She wouldn't keep her hopes up - in case Nash didn't get a part.
"I've been back three times now. I left when I was quite young so there isn't much of home I remember." She opted to play dumb, not really wanting to go into bonding over trauma - it was usually saved for those who were true friends. "Wow you really are man to yourself. There must be something special about you?" She had heard about some parents playing favorites when it came to their children.
Emma nodded, it was hard for her to decide which teacher is her favorite. "I don't know either, maybe Mr. Stonehouse? He seems nice enough."
Emma shook her head. Doing that to her horses was something the teen would consider being close to torture. "And you wonder why people like that complain about not having a bond with their horse." Her first foster family taught her that when she first started riding. Being able to take care of her horses herself was something she took pride in.
She felt a frown form on her face, only starting to realize now what Mik's family was like when he was younger. "Yuck, I feel bad. I didn't realize what your family was like. Is that why you left home early? Or did they make you go to boarding school?" It made her wonder why her first foster family left her.
After clipping the next halter on to Indi's head, knowing that the older grey mare would behave herself on the way out. She led the mare down the barn aisle and towards the mare's field. "Wait, what kind of dances did you have to do? Sometimes I wish our school had one." They really only had dance during gym class - and that meant the male gym class had to join them.
Emma's mouth formed an O shape, slightly shocked. "And what would Miss Amber say about that? I do hope you said no." Emma laughed as she continued walking down the path. "Well, fool wouldn't be the word I'd use to describe you. Though you are the jester around here." Helping at the barn usually meant working with Mik - and he often had some goofy story to tell, always making her smile or laugh at least once.
"No problem, not sure where else I would be during my time off."
It was something that would look good on her resume and it would help her get her coaching certificate as well. "I'll have to check that out. Now that the Football season is over, I have more time on my hands." The teen tended to keep herself busy, juggling both sports during the Spring and Summer seasons. "After school a few days a week and then on the weekends would work for me." There wouldn't be any mandatory family time until closer to Christmas.
"Oh nice, so you ride with Aurora and Stephanie then?" There were only so many coaches at Blue Acres that taught show jumping and dressage - those were the two coaches she rode with. "I have a few lessons a week. At least three dressage lessons a week." It depended on when her coaches had room for her and what worked in her own school schedule. "Do you tend to trailer in on weekends then?" Emma tried to rack her brain to see if she could remember Piper from the barn. She tended to have two lessons first thing in the morning.
Emma nodded her head. It wasn't easy convincing a coach to drive to another barn. "Have you interviewed a coach that would just teach at Helping Hooves?"
Emma flipped to the next page, half listening to the conversation from the newcomer and half reading about Lotta and her pony. It was interesting to read about how she had trained her pony to do the pony hunter classes - competing in the States seemed to be a different world from what she had read about it so far. “Yeah, I just read that too. I had a pony myself, but I wasn’t a good rider then.” Her foster family was more of the backyard riding for fun type - now that she lived at Blue Acres - she was introduced to competing.
She continued reading as Brooklyn explained why she had moved, from her accent she could tell that the other teen was from America. “Well, that’s a far move. Were you excited about the move before you left?” Emma had a sad and tragic reason for leaving Germany as a child, though she couldn’t remember it clearly. “No, I was born in Germany but I’ve lived in Hickstead for a few years now.” The blonde really didn’t want to get into how her father had killed her mother, leaving her in foster care.
The teen flipped the page again, smiling at the sight of the pony and its rider - reminding her of her days with Lola. “Yes, I do ride. I’m at Blue Acres though. Do you have your own horse or do you lease one?” Emma didn’t really feel like bragging about how she lived on the property, it wasn’t really her style.
Emma walked over to the tray and picked up a mug of hot chocolate, holding it carefully in her hands. The mug was still wafting steam from the top, so she gently blew on it. "Thank you, Cara. Just what we needed on a festive day like today." She was also itching to go to the barn - though she head planned her riding days around it. There was enough for her to do there even though it was their day off - her tack was in desperate need of a deep clean.
"Is that really a rule now? What happens if I need to ride one horse before school?" Between playing football and riding, her schedule come the Spring was busy. Emma took a sip of her hot cocoa, letting out a soft sigh afterwards. After her restless night of sleep, having a surge of sugar was something she needed.
The blonde teenager nodded and set her hot cocoa mug on a table nearby, making sure a coaster was underneath. She got down on the floor and began sorting the lights and untangled the first strands. Emma didn't want to look, she was old enough to know a mistletoe kiss was coming.
Emma wasn't surprised she was dressed up as a pirate and sitting on the back of a wagon hitched to a horse. She approached the group, her boots clicking against the concrete. It was a weird sound for her to hear as high heels wasn't something she sported often.
There were a few people she recognized - the twins and Jameson only really. She watched as the others studied the group, almost as if it was some sort of competition. Emma was sure someone thought she looked like Barbie but she wouldn't ever consider herself a plastic.
"Hello everyone, I'm Emma for those who don't know me." She addressed the group and then very quickly after they were separated into hay ride groups. Emma walked over to the group twos, glad she at least knew Jameson from the barn - and their group lessons with Miss Aurora. "Oh, you think I'm going to protect you? I thought you were the strong one."
The blonde teenager elbowed him back. She reminded herself that it was all fake and that it was meant to be a fun event. "Good thanks, the food was enjoyable. Anyone done a haunted hayride before?"
"You aren't the only one to give me that look. I'm lucky my sister makes sure I take something to eat while I'm on the go." If it was a riding lesson or a hack, she could easily stop at the house for a snack or a quick meal before she got her horses ready. "Isn't acting enough of a workout?" She knew she wasn't into theater, but she knew how much physical and mental work it was from watching the school plays.
Her eyebrow raised at the mention of his brother. "The name sounds familiar. What year is he in?" Maybe he went to the same school as them. "Nice, what play are you guys doing this year? I might have to come buy tickets." She knew for their English class, they sometimes required them to write a report on the school play. "You'll get there. It's not an easy language, though honestly neither is English." Most people who wanted to learn German from her wanted to know swear words, though it wasn't something she wanted to teach - so she avoided it. "You may need to know more than that before you fly over." The blonde let out a laugh. It was a good place to start though.
"Right now yes. I have a sister and a brother." Growing up however, she was an only child, which required quite a bit of adjustment. "Are you the youngest then?" There were younger children in their home too, though they weren't her siblings. "Thanks, I look forward to it." Emma gave a smile and a nod - always glad to have a few more people to cheer her on. "He teaches drama, right? I think I'd rather have a teacher who pries or makes you stay later. Is he your favorite teacher?"