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 Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:18 pm
INTRO....
In the rolling hills of Wyoming nestled in 100 acres of green grass, was a large brick manor with a whitewashed 43 stall stable resting beside it. For 42 years Arkridge has brought up and trained some of the best riders of the U.S. The manor and stables are owned by Stephanie and Gregory Arkridge; their three grandchildren give lessons and manage the stable activity. Marisol, the oldest of the two, excels in Dressage and hunter jumper, while Brian, her brother, balances finances and a part time job as a farrier, the littlest Rachel is just like her older sister, the next top rider. Arkridge will continue to run as long as there are horses.........
The House
The Stalls
The Barn
Outdoor Riding Ring
Indoor Riding Ring
Pastures
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:30 pm
Arkridge Riding Academy is a pretentious barn that allows students from the age of 3 to 50 to be able to learn new material and to better inhance their riding abilities. Arkridge offers nothing but the best, including the dorms that the students reside in. Every Student has the oppurtunity to either take lessons on or lease one of the barn's well tempered school horses. Or board a horse of their own.
Arkridge Horses........
Wonder
Age- 20
Gender- Gelding
Breed-Arabian
Personality- Wonder is a sweet push button horse who loves children of all ages. A lot of the people started riding on Wonder, in their first lesson.
Appearance:
Ginger
Age- 22
Gender- mare
Breed-paint
Personality- Ginger is a lovely mare that gets along with all riders, she has a bit of a temper with younger horses but will never buck or kick a rider off. Along with Wonder, some of America's top riders started riding Ginger.
Appearance:
Kariim
Age - 10
Gender- Gelding
Breed- Arabian
Personality- Kariim is used for the advanced riders, he is known for spooking and refusing leg aids sometimes. Students with a firm hand can ace an equitation class. with him.He is still a sweet horse that is in love with Grandpa Arkridge.
Appearance:
Argo's Pride a.k.a Argie
Age- 4
Gender- Stallion
Breed- Lusitano
Personality- Argo is a spunky young stallion that doesn't seem to want to follow the rules. He is extremely hard headed and sometimes likes to immitate a rodeo bronco. Marisol rescued him from being put down, after he hurt his previous rider.He is ridden only by Marisol
Appearance:
Joker's Magic a.k.a Magic
Age- 9
Gender- Gelding
Breed- Anglo-Arabian
Personality- Magic is a big goof ball. He loves to follow Marisol around the stables like a giant dog. Magic is a sucessful 3rd level dressage horse, and he and Marisol rosed to the top togetherin the Grand Prix. He is Marisol's best friend, and personal horse. No one rides him but her.
Appearance:
Asia
Age- 5
Gender- Mare
Breed- Hanovarian
Personality- Asia jumps anything in sight. She's a hyper mare, and with some patience can probably take you to the top. She is an excellent jumping horse. Asia is half sister to Mingo.
Appearance-
Ace Of Spades a.k.a big girl
Age- 4
Gender- Mare
Breed- Saddlebred
Personality- Ace is a wonderful halter horse. She is a bit hard under saddle but she has great halter potential.
Appearance-
Mingo Dancer
Age- 12
Gender- Gelding
Breed- Hanovarian
Personality- Mingo is the old man of the barn, he's estremely loyal and obedient, and next to Magic, flawless in dressage. He's an excellent mover, with long fluid stride and collectiveness. He's Rachel's horse, and best pal. He's also Asia's halfbrother.
Appearance-
Cisco
Age- 11
Gender- Gelding
Breed- Thoroughbred
Personality- He's a high flying hot blooded jumping horse. He does competitive show jumping, and endurance runs. Marisol bought him for her jumping enthusiastic students. He's doesn't do too well being slow, he tends to rush, if you don't hold him back.
Appearance-
Mochacino a.k.a Cino
Age- 9
Gender- Gelding
Breed- Thoroughbred
Personality- Cino is the most laid back horse. He is tall and leggy, the picture of the hot-blooded 17.1 hh thoroughbred, but he has the mind of a draft horse, very calm and easy going. He loves the hunter arena because it isn't rushed like jumpers and eventing. Plus his excellent form and long fluid strides get lots of notice. Though he isn't a warmblood he has a huge stride and a good mind to handle the technical questions. His specialties are a hunter/equitation horse through and through. He enjoys trail riding to take a break, but he seems to have just as much of a work ethic as Maggie. He thrives on a heavy workload and is best when the pressure is on.
Appearance-
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:35 pm
To Join........
All you need to do to enlist in Arkridge is to do the following....
1. Send your character profile to me in a pm entitled " Hot Dog" (please as much info on your character as possible)
2. No cursing, or fighting take it to the pm's.
3. Characters can have a maximum of two horses.
4. No magical flying unicorn horses, this is a realistic rp.
5. Have Fun!
6. No one is allowed to have Stallion, due to the fact that not everyone has stallions, they usually have geldings and mares
Characters name-
Age-
Personality-
Nationality-
Appearence-
Pet Peeves-
Description-(pic)
Horse Name-
Age-
Breed-
Personality-
Appearance- (pic)
Specialties- e.g dressage, jumping.......
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Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2009 2:48 pm
((EDIT:: I thought I would post my profile here as well))
Characters name- Maggie Coles
Age- 17
Personality- Very fiesty and extremely competitive. Maggie understands that the winners circle is no place for people who are just playing around. She takes her riding very seriously and is determined to be the best. She can seem unfriendly and even a little bit mean to others, but she works very hard and truely loves her horse Cino. She is outwardly very confident and almost arrogant, but secretly she is her own biggest critic. She tortures herself over every little mistake and expects perfection from herself and nothing less. She also believes in attention to every detail. Not only does she expect to ride the best, she always looks beautifully turned out, even if its just a hack ride. She doesn't trust Cino's care to anyone else so she takes care of all of his needs. She spends hours on the ground brushing and soaking legs and wrapping legs and braiding and cleaning tack. Everyone thinks that she thinks she is better than everyone else, and she does encourage that by telling people so, but she really just loves doing it.
Nationality- Native American and English. Her parents marriage was a sore spot for both families but they were happy and very wealthy family. After her parents death in an auto accident, Maggie was reluctantly taken in by her mother's family (the Lakota side) and she feels very alone and out of place. The only time she feels at home is when she is riding. This year Maggie really feels that the Maclay belongs to Cino and her.
Appearence- Maggie's coloring is all from her father, blonde hair, fair skin and blue eyes, but her features are all her mother's, high cheekbones, dominant nose, long face and pouty mouth. She works just as hard on her own conditioning as she does on her horse's. When she isn't riding or studying she is working out. Her frame is lean and fit.
Pet Peeves- Poor equitation and horsemanship
Description-(pic) 
Horse
Show Name- Mochacino
Barn Name- Cino ((pronounced- Ch-ee-no ))
Age- 9
Height- 17.1 hh
Breed- Thoroughbred
Personality- Cino is the most laid back horse. He is tall and leggy, the picture of the hot-blooded thoroughbred, but he has the mind of a draft horse, very calm and easy going. He loves the hunter arena because it isn't rushed like jumpers and eventing. Plus his excellent form and long fluid strides get lots of notice. Though he isn't a warmblood he has a huge stride and a good mind to handle the technical questions.
Appearance- (pic) 
Specialties- e.g dressage, jumping....... He is a hunter/equitation horse through and through. He enjoys trail riding to take a break, but he seems to have just as much of a work ethic as Maggie. He thrives on a heavy workload and is best when the pressure is on.
((I just submitted my profiles, but I'm going to begin posting. Let me know if you need any more information for my character and her horse wink ))
Maggie strode confidently down the aisleway. The heels of her custom Vogel boots snapped off of the aisleway. She looked like a model out of a catalogue, or a rider ready to warm-up at Devon or Penn Nationals. Her Tailored Sportsman Breeches looked as though they had never seen dirt, her Joules Polo shirt showed her sporty side, and her GPA helmet looked brand new (though it was now over a year old). She stopped in the tack room and collected her things, her tack was just as impressive as her clothing. Hermes saddle and bridle, custom saddle blanket and genuine sheepskin pad, leather-lined splint and brushing boots and all of her grooming items seemed absent of horse hair.
She took her equipment to the crosstie area she would be using and set everything in place for how she would need it. Her movements were methodical and confident. She didn't look up as people passed by her in the barn. She walked past them as though they were scenery. She took her lead rope and went to collect Cino from his paddock. Despite the lush pasture to graze on or the acres of fields to play in, Cino was napping under a maple tree in the corner of the field. He was a lazy boy, Maggie always laughed to herself when she would read some statistic about horses only sleeping four hours a day, it seemed that Cino was always napping. On occasion she would catch him playing and running through the field, but most times it was grazing or sleeping.
She walked to the gate and called for him, Cino lazily blinked his eyes and raised his head. He easily started ambling towards the gate. About half way he shook his mane and started trotting and let out a little nicker. Maggie laughed and greeted him with lots of pets. She clipped his lead rope onto his leather turn-out halter and started inside. For the first time since she had arrived at the barn she was smiling. She chatted easily to her horse as they walked together. It was just the same in the cross ties. Although his thorough grooming and tacking she chatted about her day, what they would be working on today and their up-coming shows. Once he was ready she lead him to the outdoor arena and mounted up.
Her every movement showed the practice that she had put in. After a long warm-up, Maggie began working on thier lead changes. Cino had a great flying change and was automatic over fences, but Maggie wanted to be sure that their flying changes on the straight away looked flawless. She still felt that she tended to ride them too much and made them look forced. Once she was satisfied with thier progress she started over a few fences. On days when she really focused on a flat skill (like today) she would just to two simple courses and only repeat if they made a mistake. Other days she might not stress the flat so much and work more on jumping. The two practices courses that she did were easy and Cino did well. Twice she felt that he had gotten a little too close to his fences and once he ticked a rail. As they cooled down Maggie disected her own performance, she was anticipating a little too much and she jumped ahead once. She felt slightly upset but all and all it was a great ride.
After untack and hosing Cino down she began her after-ride routine. Linaments, sweats, wraps, hoof oil, detangler, tail bag and massage. When they were done it was time for Cino to go in his stall for the night. She then began her assault on her tack, soaping and oiling it until it gleamed. Washing her bit and stirrups. She switched into tennis shoes and cleaned her boots as well. After everything was put away she grabbed her bag and went to the locker room to change into her gym clothes. As she emerged in her new outfit she looked fresh and polished despite the hours of sweat she already had in. She stopped by Cino's stall on the way and broke up a carrot in his bucket.
She slipped her long legs into her BMW and idled down the long driveway on her way to spend a few hours on the eliptical. The whole time she had been there she had spoken to no one, except Cino. But she didn't mind, the way she saw it was that no one else would really understand anyway. They all had their little band of friends and seemed to enjoy sitting around gossiping more than riding. Not many put in the hours that she did. So she was not troubled, she felt that this way she would stay more focused anyway. But as she saw a car pulling in with a group of girls laughing and joking, she did feel a tiny bit alone. But she thought of the show in Ligonier this coming weekend and a big smile came on her face, because they were ready.
((Forgive the lengthiness, I am house-bound and dying to get back into the saddle, this is my escape lol crying ))
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Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2009 7:36 pm
Marisol watched Maggie drive off through the window of her office. She sighed and continued flipping through the stacks of show registrations and vet bills. " I need a coffee and quick" she mumbled to now one in particular. She stood up from her chair and walked out of the office. "The barn seems to be running in tip top shape" she said. Marisol looked back at the moumntain of paper work on her desk. " I'll do it later, I need a break" . She hurried down the hall and stoppped at a big brown geldings stall. "Hey big boy, how's Magic today" she cooed. The Arab lifted his head, bits of his breakfast in his mane, and nickered. " Do you want to watch Argie make a fool of himself?" Marisol asked him as she slipped on his halter. Marisol didn't have to use a leadrope with Magic, he followed her like a dog. As she walked toward the pasture, Magic automatically began grazing near the lunge pen. " Magic you cow" Marisol said playfully. Magic found any opportunity to eat, reminding Marisol of a pregnant cow. She headed to the pasture, where a tall white stallion trotted happily along the fence. " Argie!" Marisol called, she gave a whistle. The stallion jerked his head her direction, and without warning took off into a gallop toward her. He stopped abruptly at the gate. " Wow Argie that was nice, if you were a barrel racer. " Marisol said sarcastically. She always had to use a stud chain with Argie, compared to Argie Marisol barely reached his withers and the big bully had tendencies to flip out. As Marisol led Argie to the round pen to work with him, her sister Rachel came out of the stables with a slurpie in hand. " Hey Mari!!" she called.
Marisol turned Argie loose in the round pen, and automatically he began bucking and prancing. " Did you manage to speak with Maggie Rachel?" Marisol asked as she picked up the lunge whip. " No she left before I can speak with her, why?" Rachel asked as she slurped her drink. Marisol asked Argie to trot, and after he protested a bit, he began to trot collectively. " I want her to ride Kariim at the show this weekend" she said, her eyes on the stallion. Rachel watched Agrie closely, " Do you think I can try to get back on him again?" she said suddenly.
Marisol halted Argie, and gave her an incredulous look. " Not after the last time. He nearly killed you. " Marisol said. Argie is coming along but the crazy horse still has lots of work to do.
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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 7:05 am
The sun had not yet risen when Maggie pulled into the driveway. The sky was lit up by the rays of the rising sun and the birds were active and chirping. The past two years Maggie had worked very hard on conditioning and fitness, and she worked Cino twice a day. The morning ride was a hack through the trails, more relaxed than anything, but with some conditioning work as well. Then the afternoon was when they schooled in the arena, or took a lesson. The barn hands were bustling about as Maggie breezed past.
Cino was standing up snoozing in his stall, he roused as he heard her approaching. She stepped inside and spent a few moments petting and loving on him before she went to the tack room to gather up her things. In the crossties, Maggie began her long process of grooming and tacking and Cino stood quietly enjoying every moment. If Cino could tell you, he would extoll his long list of good qualities and make a convincing case that not only did he deserve all of this pampering, it was quite necessary. Which is all well, because Maggie would tell you the same thing.
Soon they were heading out, a loose rein drooped as they walked at an easy pace through a meadow and toward the trail through the woods. It was one of thier usual routes. They walked for a long time before they came to the first hill. Maggie shortened her reins, got up in two point and urged Cino to trot. As he crested the hill he showed no signs of exertion. They had been working hard all year and he was super fit. The rest of the ride was much the same, some trotting and a few canters for condition, but mostly walking. Maggie felt so at peace and calm out on the trail that she knew it was as good for her as it was for Cino.
On the long walk back Maggie heard a rustling in the bushes and looked over to see a raccoon stumble out a safe distance away. She watched him for a moment and it was quickly clear that the poor creature had rabies. She hurried back to the stable at the trot, making note of exactly where she had seen the creature- knowing that rabid animals do not tend to travel very far. As soon as she arrived she looked for Marisol, but not being able to find her she told a stable hand about the raccoon and told him to call the game warden immediately.
She hand walked Cino around the arena for a while since they had trotted back before she untacked him, though she did loosen his girth. Cino was always a character in the bath stall, he loved to drink water out of the hose and was quite insistant when he wanted his drink. When Maggie was finally done with all of his grooming she wrapped his legs and put him back in his stall. Normally she would have put his turnout boots on and put him in the pasture, but she was nervous about putting him out with the raccoon on the loose. She knew that the animal was a half of a mile in the opposite direction, but she didn't take chances when it came to Cino.
After she had finished with her tack and boots, she changed into her everyday clothes. Of course her everyday clothes were all designer and her heels cost more than most people's saddles. She stopped at Marisol's office to leave a note about the raccoon and ask if she could schedule a lesson before her show this weekend. She pet Cino before she left and headed for her tutor. She had withdrawn from high school after her parents had died to be able to concentrate on her showing but she still had to finish her high school curiculum. She glanced into her rearview mirror to catch one last look at the stable as she drove away, already she was anxious for her next ride.
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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 6:28 pm
Maggie had an extra skip in her skip this evening as she strode through the barn. She was excited for the show tomorrow. She hoped that she would get in a lesson with Marisol tonight but either way she had alot of getting ready to do. The show on Sunday was not a huge deal, but it would be their first outdoor show of the season. Plus the show was also having a hunter derby class and Maggie was anxious to compete. The idea of cantering across a grass arena and jumping banks, ditches and outdoor water jumps was so thrilling for Maggie. It was one of the reasons she had been so rigerous with Cino's conditioning.
Maggie checked with a stable hand and no one seemed to know if the game warden had taken care of the raccoon. Maggie snapped at them, she had wanted Cino to get some turnout today since they had a show the next day. Cino, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind being stalled all day. After a few pets and loving murmurs Maggie went off to the tack room to start getting her things together.
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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 8:59 pm
Maggie had been thinking about what they should do tonight all day long. She wanted to make sure both of their confidence levels were high and they had fun. Everything went great and her procedure afterwards was only slightly modified. Instead of a good rinse off, Maggie shampooed Cino and really worked on his mane and tail. Afterwards he went in his stall to have dinner while she worked on his tack making sure the leather gleemed and the stirrups shone. Then she went back and brought Cino out of his stall and began her braiding. Cino did get a little antsy during the braiding sometimes, Maggie couldnt blame him. 2 hours of standing while she braided his mane and tail and wrapped and blanketed him for overnight. She double checked her tack trunk and equipment before she left.
She stopped at Cino's stall to spend some quality time with him. He was already laying down so she went in and sat by his head. His eyes glazed over with sleepiness as she continued to chat with him, stroking his face occassionally. She soon left the stall and headed for the locker room to change for the gym. She was just doing her short workout tonight, she had to get up early the next morning, it was a show day!
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Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 7:57 am
Marisol slipped the saddle off Magic's back. She left early that morning to investigate the racoon situation. as she put up her saddle in the tack room, she noticed that Maggie's car was still in the driveway. She hurried off to the locker rooms, and found her there changing into some gym clothes. " Were do you think you're going missy? We have a lesson tonight. And I want to see if you can handle riding Kariim for me in the show this weekend. I'd do it, but I'm helping some of the younger riders in the morning classes and I have a class of my own at 3p.m with Magic" she said a smile on her face. Maggie was one of her top students and she was sure Maggie can handle Kariim. Not alot of people could, so she wanted to see for herself that Maggie could. " So instead of getting a work out at the gym, you're going to to practice your hunter class with one of the new horses that came today. He hasn't been worked in awhile so I'm sure he's going to be a handful on the jumping course. He's no push button so, that'll give your legs a good workout. " Marisol said as she turned to leave. " Oh and the game warden went with me this morning to see about the racoon situation. I'm glad you told me something about it, the critter had rabies" Marisol added and walked out.
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Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 8:12 am
Marisol headed out to the aisle and stopped at the stall of the new horse Cisco. " Micheal can you tack him and Kariim up" she addressed a stable hand as he passed with a big bag of wood shavings. " Yes ma'am" he answered. Marisol headed to the indoor arena and once inside turned on the lights, the jumps were aready set up from a previous lesson. " Mari?" came a voice from behind. Marisol turned to see Rachel leading her big chestnut Hanovarian into the ring. " I was just about to practice my course for tommorow. What are you doing here?" she asked as she mounted. " I finally got in touch with Maggie and she's going to ride Cisco and see if she can ride Kariim" Marisol said as she walked up to her younger sister. She scratched the big geldings nose, and gave him a pat on the neck. "Are you practicing the dressage test?" Marisol asked. Her sister nodded happily. Much like her sister, Rachel loved dressage, and her Hanovarian Mingo was a present after winning a big dressage show on her sixteenth birthday. " Can you judge me sis?" Rachel asked as she nudged Mingo forward. " Yeah but just for a bit. I'm waiting on Maggie"
Marisol watched her sister for a bit. Her sister was a talented rider, more than certainly would end up in the Olympics. "Hey Rachel sit deeper in the saddle in the collected trot, it's looking kinda disorganized" Marisol shouted. Rachel took her sisters advice and sat deeper in the saddle, Mingo collected beautifully.
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:30 pm
Maggie was usually pretty stoic, even with Marisol whom she liked and respected alot. But when Marisol popped in and told her to suit back up a huge smile spread across her face. She grabbed a clean pair of breeches out of her tack locker along with her newly shined boots and changed as quickly as possible. Even still, when she emerged, not a hair was out of place. She walked swiftly to the arena, anxious to see this new horse and go through a lesson. She felt like she was at the top of her game, she was anxious to show her instructor.
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:39 pm
Marisol watched her sister make a final round around the ring and sighed. " Where is she?" she grumbled.
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 5:25 pm
Maggie strode into the arena. She knew Marisol did not like to wait, she couldnt blame her, she hated being kept waiting too.
"I'm here. Sorry about that. So tell me about this new horse!"
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 6:41 pm
( I think you're great Princess Kaitlyn!!!)
" Thats fine Maggie. The horse you're riding is named Cisco. He's a great jumper, but he hasn't been ridden in a while, so I'm sure he'll be frisky. I left the courses in everyone's locker so I'm sure you''d remember the patern right?" Marisol asked as Micheal came in the arena with cisco and kariim in tow. " Okay so while I warm up Kariim up for you. I want to see you perform the pattern with a harder horse. He tends to ignore leg aids so once you find the perfect distance from the jump use lots of lower leg okay Maggie" she asked as she handed Maggie Cisco's reins. The large gelding shuffled anxiously. Another stable hand brought Kariim to Marisol. She swiftly mounted the jittery Arab. He tossed his head and reared a bit, but once he realized Marisol meant buisness he calmed down. She trotted him to the middle of the ring and halted. " Alright Maggie lets begin"
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 7:45 pm
Maggie mounted Cisco. She always treated new horses the same way. She asked them to move out as easily as possible, then she used a little more and a little more leg until she figured out just what kind of pressure he needed. Marisol had said that this horse needed alot of leg so she wasn't too shy about asking him to move out. She warmed him up a little, taking him through walk, trot and canter. He had a rounder stride than Cino, but it didn't take long before she because accustomed to it. Soon he felt ready and responsive.
The she turned and put him through the pattern. Maggie really loved Marisol's course design, it was so technical but also challenging in a fun way to the educated rider. Cisco was definitely different and it took a little bit of adjusting. He was forward but he had more knee action so his stride was shorter. She adjusted her riding style and did as Marisol had instructed and used more leg and he extended his stride and the course began to flow nicely.
As she was riding she watched Marisol and tried to watch her technique and incorporate her style into Maggie's own riding plan.
"Well what did you think?"
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