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 jokingly rolled her eyes. "Don't get me started on Shakespeare, I swear Cara has all of his works memorized." That and her English teacher was drilling them into her - it was hard enough for her to understand the current English language, let alone learning old English. "That makes sense. I have to realize that I'm still in school. Though there are people who just show up for their lessons, right?" She knew those people as some of them took lessons with her. It was something she never understood, though one day she would.
"You had a nanny? How was that?" Emma thought it would feel odd - she always had at least one parent home with her growing up. "Wow, sounds fancy. I think I'd rather have that than the Secondary school." The smaller class sizes was the thing that mostly appealed to her. "So, no distractions then right?" She tried her best not to get caught up in all the drama - though it was unavoidable. Something about girls all liking the same boy. She was sure it would soo break out into a fight. "Thank you for the suggestions, I'll talk to Cara once we are done here."
She didn't want to know how weird people got, but she also knew what alcohol could do. "I don't envy you at all working there. Horses are much better to work with, I agree with you there. Though there must be some funny stories working with drunk people?" It was something she kept away from - there were students that were already into partying. Emma nodded and turned around, following Mik back into the barn. "You really aren't that old. When I was younger I believed you. But alright, I'll take Toroto then." She took the halter from Mik and headed over to the paint mare's stall.
With Summer break in full swing, Emma found it odd to have so much free time. Her horses deserved the day off after an intense competition the past weekend - as always they came home with something to learn.
She forced herself out of the house, taking with her the newest edition of Pony Magazine in her bag. Naomi and Quinn were busy with the twins and Cara had taken Ky to the park - leaving Emma on her own. After packing a few snacks and a big bottle of water, she headed towards the bus stop. The blonde teenager got on the bus, which arrived shortly after she got there. Putting her headphones in her ears, she listened to music while the bus drove along to the beach.
At the right time, she pulled the string - signaling to the driver that she wanted the bus to stop. She swung her bag over her shoulders and stepped off the bus once it stopped. Emma sighed, pulling the magazine out of her bag and began reading it - heading down the boardwalk as she glanced at the pictures. She seemed to be deep in thought when she heard a voice over her music. Emma pulled the headphone closest to the voice out of her ear. "Yes? It's the newest edition. I saw who was on the cover and had to buy it." There was finally a German rider on the cover - she usually didn't read them. "And I'm Emma. Wow! Finally someone else new around here. Did your parents make you move here or something?" Hickstead would sound super boring to anyone from the States - there wasn't much going on usually.
"Where did you find that line? It sounds like something Cara would say." She felt like the two of them spent a little too much time together as they were starting to sound alike. "Wait, do the others really not look after their horses themselves?" It was something her first foster family instilled in her. She was also still too shy to ask for help - but school always came first.
Emma shook her head. From what she had heard so far, Mik had a life she could only dream of. "I thought maybe you'd cheat on homework. Seems like a Mik thing to do." She joked, knowing how much of a hard worker he was. "All jokes aside, was it that small of a school that everyone knew each other?" Hickstead seemed to have bigger classes - though more and more people were moving there. "No cute girls though?"
She raised her eyebrow, there were so many ladies she went to school with that would kill to have a Spa day - though Cara was different. "I'll take Ky to the park then maybe so she can have an afternoon to ride." It was something she could do during her homework session too. "I mean, it makes the medicine taste better. I hear people do that with protein powder?" She turned to watch Vienna as the mare turned to run with the others.
"You like being a stable hand more than working at the bar? I thought the bar would take the cake!" As she wasn't old enough, she hadn't visited Mik at the Lounge yet, though she had heard rumors of them having an under 18 evening from time to time. "Lead the way, I'm ready for the next batch of horses." She could probably handle two of the school horses at once - if they were well behaved.
"Isn't that a guy thing? I definitely know if I eat way too much food, I'll get sick." She was also now used to having access to so much food, she wouldn't ever be hungry. Cara did most of the cooking and everything she ate was gourmet now - she got a stomach ache just thinking about it. "Nope, honestly some days I'm too busy to eat. Blame my athletic lifestyle." She shrugged her shoulders, food was something she needed to fuel her body and nothing more.
Emma let out a laugh, clearly her foster sister was starting to rub off on her. "Sorry, I do live with someone as smart as Stephen Hawking. She is rubbing off on me. You do understand what I mean though right?" She was becoming more and more confident with her English. "Are you in the school play this year? Or do you do it on the side?" She tried to be interested in all the subjects, but Gym class with Miss Cassandra was by far her favorite. "I'm not teaching you bad German. Ich heisse Nash would be my name is Nash. It's always a good place to start." She didn't understand why people wanted to know the bad words in each language - it was much more interesting to learn other words.
"See your parents love all of you. I'm the youngest. Do you feel they give you enough attention though?" She had been on different ends of the spectrum with her various foster placements - though living with the Thorne-Clarke crew was by far the best. "The game times are usually on the school website." It was obvious to tell between the home and away games, so she didn't need to explain that to Nash. "Oh fun, what do you think of him? I don't have him for any classes."
"Nice to meet you too. Ah, so it's a bribery then? I feel like I have to bribe Kai here to go on the cross country course. He'd much rather do dressage." The bay gelding was great, but he still needed some experience. He was the youngest out of her three mounts, but he was a quick learner. "What discipline does Bogey enjoy best?" It was a question she usually asked when she met a new rider on the trails - everyone was so different even in a small town like Hickstead.
Kai plodded along like an old school horse, being on the trails was his favorite place to be. "Very funny, I'm very lucky that I live at Blue Acres. And one of mine may have to retire soon." Dakota was starting to slow down, though he was very thankful for him. He was due to join the school horse program come the Winter. "Oh nice! Wait, I've heard of it. Helping Hooves right? Do you ever take show horses and let them do therapy?" She wondered what happened to the school horses once they couldn't be ridden anymore.
Emma watched as Nash was glancing over at the bakery case. She wasn't sure what it was about, maybe he was hungry? Thanks to her family, she could never forget to eat. With both of her sports she was always hungry - though she knew she was lucky with the family situation she was in. "Are you hungry?" Emma was going to offer to buy him a snack, though she didn't know how he would feel about it.
"I mean, there are happy moments though. I'm learning to let the emotions appear as they want." Emma shrugged her shoulders, she tried not to cry in public but bottling her emotions wasn't helpful either. It was a tough act to balance. "I guess I've watched too many shows where people get therapy." Actually, Cara was full of idioms like that so she was used to hearing it. "You do know there is a difference between smarts though right?" Yes, school was important but you learned a lot by having experiences as well. "Definitely not an easy language to speak but neither is English. Though I imagine acting in plays isn't easy either?"
She wrote down some ideas for her essay as they came to her, still listening to Nash as he continued on. "Well that's a good start. Most people only know the bad words." Emma laughed, it was something anyone wanted to learn when they heard someone spoke more than one language. "All of my siblings are older, though there are younger family members as well." Their family was a bit complicated, though she was the youngest sibling out of the three of them. "Is it nice not being the youngest?"
Emma shook her head, she couldn't imagine her room being a mess. She tried her best to keep her room clean so that Cara wouldn't feel she needed to clean her room for her. "I like knowing where my things are." Losing her homework wasn't something she wanted to do if she could help it. "That and it's when the competitions start for Eventing so I find it hard to juggle both sports." Her practices tended to be during the week and then she usually had a game on the weekends, which left just enough time to ride her horses. "The game schedule is online on the school website, so whenever works for you." Usually, it was her family that ended up being her cheer squad during games. "Fun! What character are you playing?"
Emma raised her eyebrow and laughed. 'I'm not royalty you know. Looking after my own horses is part of the experience. Though come exam season, I may have to take you up on that." She knew most people at Blue Acres looked after their horses before and after riding, though there were always going to be those entitled riders that wanted the opposite. "It's all part of being a horse owner, but you know that better than anyone. I understand having a groom at a competition but not at home." She was lucky to have the help she needed if she decided to take two horses to a competition.
"I'd call both cheating. It's not really your own work if you get someone else to do it. Have you ever been caught though?" Granted, every teacher was different. Cheating or plagiarizing was something serious or so she understood from her teachers. She often asked Cara or her fellow students for help when she needed it. "Oh so you miss the girls you went to school with? I can't imagine how smelly the all boys school was." Her classmates in physical education could be gross, though that was typical of of students in her age group.
Emma thought for a moment, hearing from other adults all they wanted to do was nothing - though she knew Cara better than that. "See most adults would consider that as work. I maybe thought sending her to a Spa would be nice, but working with the ponies sounds more like something she'd like." Working too hard was something that seemed to run in the family, even though they weren't all biologically related to each other. "Are you saying I'm too focused on my lessons and not riding for fun?" She grinned, knowing it was true.
"That sounds gross. I guess the best you can do is take it with a smoothie. It should mask the chalky taste." Her days of bubble gum and grape flavored medicine was also over, though the adult cold medicines usually had some sort of flavor to them as well. She watched as the mares playfully ran off towards the closest bale of hay. "It's actually enjoyable. I see why you like it so much. Or do you like your other job better?"
"One would hope. Though I know more than most people that the World can be a cruel place." Which is why when she had free time to read that wasn't something required by her teachers to read - she often chose something happy. Anything to distract her from her nightly nightmares. She set down her pen and nodded. "Though I feel like it wouldn't be life without some challenges though, right?" It was her weird way of thinking positively. She was lucky that the ghost of her past was locked up for life and that she had a wonderful foster family who took her in when she needed it most. "Wow that's impressive. Is he taking a break from it now?"
Emma laughed softly, finding his joke funny. Cara often told her that her intelligence was a blessing and a curse. "Not the dumb sibling, if that's what you mean. The creative ones, maybe?" Though the Arts of any kind weren't her strong suit either but that was the first thing she came up with. "Thanks. I started learning in school and I've learned a lot since moving here. I grew up speaking German." She was thankful that Cara also spoke her native language - being able to practice and keep it up. "Yikes, all boys? I don't want to know how messy your house is." Part of her wanted more siblings, but Cara and Casey made her feel at home.
"Maybe? I'm pretty young myself if your brothers are older than you." Other than being in class, she often went home right after - not wanting to spend much time at the school unless she was necessary. "It's pretty fun. Keeps my mind busy though I only play football in the Spring and Summer." Which made it more difficult to decide on which horse shows to do, though it was really only until June - which is when School started their holidays. "Do you do any Sports?" She looked over at her book and continued to read the Shakespeare passage.
"That's nice. Do you usually watch the men's teams though?" She hadn't seen him around, though the women's team didn't get many fans out to watch - if her entire family had time - they often came out and watched her. "So, you do plays then?"
Emma stood off to the side, admiring the decorations around her. Christmas was her favorite time of year, it was the last memory she had of her mother. She glanced over at Cara as she spoke, smiling as she thanked them. There was a part of her that didn't believe that she was going to the kitchen, but everyone deserved their time alone. "Darn, I'm not old enough. Even on the weekends?" She knew she needed to sleep, but it seemed she had followed suit of her siblings with not being able to.
"Yes can we help somehow Cara?" She usually tried to help out in the kitchen when she could, even if it was just carrying food into the kitchen for everyone to enjoy. It made her feel useful. Emma smiled at her foster father's comment. "Oh, yes. I've been up earlier than I wanted to be the last few days, so I thought I'd sleep in." The truth was she wanted to get up early to help with barn chores and potentially ride a horse before the family noticed. She looked over at Seb, Vi and Kyoto with a smile, glad that everyone was getting along. "Just think, they can start riding together!" It was what Emma was looking forward to the most - having more family members to ride with.
Emma nodded, decorating the tree was the most exciting part of the season. "Yes! Let's decorate. I'll start untangling the strands of lights." She walked over to the box of lights and opened it.
It was something she had contemplated doing, though she had enough screen time with doing her homework and assignments. She knew Naomi and Nathan well enough now to know that talking to them about doing the BHS courses was the right way to go. "Really? I may have to do that once Football starts up for the Spring, though I try riding at least one horse before school starts." Having her horses ready for her is something she only wanted to save for emergencies - with her habit of now waking up way too early, she often had enough time to get her horses ready herself.
"Sounds like exactly what I need...that does sound like cheating though." She smiled at her attempt at a joke. Emma was lucky enough to have Cara if she really needed help with her homework. Though she tried only to ask when she truly was stuck. "That sounds like a great plan. Are you glad your school days are over? Or do you miss it sometimes?" There were days that she wished she was an adult already - school took up most of her days where she'd rather be riding.
Emma shrugged her shoulders. She actually didn't know what Cara would do if she didn't have the children to look after. "Does anyone actually know what she would do without the children for a few hours? I just thought going on a nice trail ride would be relaxing for her." She felt that way too - though being at the barn was relaxing enough for her. "Who are you talking about? Me? Yeah, I've had a lot on my mind lately." Emma hadn't talked to anyone about her having trouble sleeping - though she knew her foster parents weren't dumb.
"That's true, I'll just stick to one horse at a time. Don't need to get into trouble." She continued to lead the mare towards the assigned pasture. "Is it nice being able to work again? And ugh, if the medication is anything like cold medicine, I feel bad for you. Does it taste good at least?" She opened the gate and led the mare inside, making sure she was far enough inside.
"What's wrong with Winnie the Pooh anyway? I think I've had my fair share of sadness and sorrow." She shrugged her shoulders. Books and reading took her to a different world - one where her father didn't kill her mother and where she hadn't been abandoned by her first foster family. "Oh good, I haven't read them all either. Except the ones that I have to read because of school." She didn't want to admit to reading outside of school, in case it wasn't considered cool. "Ah, you have a smart sibling too? Is Stephen still in school?" Emma was forever grateful she had Cara as a sister - even though she wasn't biologically related.
Emma laughed softly, agreeing with Nash. "I feel that way sometimes when someone speaks English period." She was much better about understanding it compared to when she first arrived. "Can you not sleep either? I do wish the ghosts haunted us during the day. I'd do anything for a solid nights sleep." She sighed, not wanting to admit anything more. It required more of a friendship than they had. "Two brothers? How many do you have anyway? Yeah, I'm excited. It's something I really look forward to after a long Winter. I hope my three horses enjoy it too." She was worried it would be her last season with Dakota, though she hadn't had a discussion with her family yet about what their plans were with him.
"I'm on the school team and I play midfield. Do you watch professional teams or have you come to watch a school game?" She took a sip of her lemonade before setting it back down.
"Oh? Who do you take lessons with at Blue Acres?" Emma was curious. As she lived on the property, she did like to be friendly towards all the boarders - even those that trailered in for lessons. "That must keep you busy. What barn do you live at?" She knew it wasn't Seven Oaks, as thanks to the barn fire at Blue Acres - her horses were briefly boarded there.
"Plotting your murder? Does he not like being on the trails? I was thinking about putting a fleece cooler on him but I definitely didn't think it would be this cold." Emma felt odd riding in her Dressage gear on top of it all, though she wanted a change. Kai was also the one of her three horses who thrived in the Dressage ring.
She ducked as a tree branch approached them. The smaller bay warmblood also lowered his head and plodded along. "Oh, sorry. I didn't introduce myself. I'm Emma and this guy is Kai. I have two other horses back at Blue Acres as well." Though she was slowly starting to outgrow her oldest horse - Dakota. The dapple grey gelding had practically brought her up and welcomed her to the world of Eventing.
Emma nodded, it was the right thing to do. "Oh good, I'm not very good at those. They always want them to be done for whatever reason." It annoyed her to no end, though it was a great way to provide the class and teachers with visuals - though it was also an easy way for the teacher to get students to work together on a project. "True, it's not like I have a groom for my three and just hop on when I feel like it." On the days she had to ride all three, she wished she did. Though it was part of learning how to take care of horses.
"I'll go see if I can make an appointment with her to talk about it. I'm sure she has a pamphlet on it with a phone number or some sort of contact information. I'd be happy for the extra credit." Not that she was doing too terribly in school, but she wasn't a straight A student by any means. "How were you able to juggle riding and school anyway?" She was curious and was always looking for ways to improve, knowing that she was quite busy.
She smiled softly, it was something she often felt - especially since moving in with Naomi and Nate. "That's true, I could suggest Cara go on a trail ride and I look after Kyo. It would be a kind of self care for her." Having anyone be burned out wasn't a great thing, though she hadn't talked to anyone about her father reappearing in her dreams - which was the reason she was awake early enough to help with the barn chores. "Would that be a good idea?"
Emma turned and nodded, going to the start of the barn aisle and picked up the halter and lead rope that was hanging by the stall. She haltered May, one of Miss Stephanie's horses and clipped the lead rope to the ring and began leading her towards the mare pasture. "Are you going to take two horses? Or will the doctor not allow it?"
"Uhm, no? I was kind of hoping it would be a happy one." The teen had far too much optimism for someone who as a baby watched her father kill her mother. Though she didn't remember, it came back to her in pieces through her nightmares. "Have you read all of them?"
Emma laughed softly, knowing she definitely didn't fit in with the cool kids. She would much rather spend her free time after school with her horses, or on the football field. The blonde hadn't been invited to any parties yet either, except ones with the rest of the team. "It would be cool, though something about learning how they spoke back then is pretty cool. I hear there are modern movie adaptations, though?" Sure she was currently struggling through it, but there was an unknown beauty to the language. Her foster sister, Cara had done a great job helping her out when she needed it.
"Same, pretty tired though. I've been having a hard time falling asleep." She shrugged her shoulders. It was something she was used to by now, her incarcerated father haunting her dreams. "Oh, do you not know what show season is? I ride horses competitively like many other people in town. It tends to start in the Spring, so I'm trying to get ahead before my weekends are spent either showing horses or playing football." She explained, as she set the pen down on the notebook in front of her.
"That sounds like an easier solution. I've heard of a few students at school writing a presentation for their parents, even about getting them to buy them their first horse!" It was something the young blonde never had to do. Her first set of foster parents bought her Lola, and since moving in with Naomi and Nathan - the horses appeared after the three of them having a discussion. "Don't discredit yourself, you turn them out, feed them, clean their stalls and bring them back in. I just groom and ride them." And for that - she was thankful.
Emma walked along, following beside Mik. "Oh, that would be fun. I feel like it would be something I'd enjoy. Which teacher should I talk to about it?" Miss Cassandra would be her best bet, but she didn't know how well the older woman knew about the BHS programs. "Yes! Please let me know when the doctor gives you the green light. Even if it's a light ride to start off with." Any of her horses would be happy to have a fun ride with Mik was able to. "When do you see the doctor again?"
She turned and entered the feed room, glad that the horses were now happily munching away on their grain and hay for the morning. "Thank you. Even though I've known her for years now, I feel like I'm a burden with her." Emma shrugged her shoulders, Cara did a lot for her. From helping her with her horses to basically tutoring her in English, it meant a lot to her. "I feel like I should do something for her as a thank you, though everything I can think of isn't enough."
Emma checked her phone to see the time - seeing that she did have time to help more. "Of course, I can help. Is there a list of who has to go outside first?"