Post by Nathan Hayes on May 11, 2012 17:06:37 GMT -5
NICKNAME
Nate, but he typically goes by Nathan
AGE/BIRTHDAY
24 years old, born 8/10/1987
ZODIAC
Leo
PLACE OF BIRTH
Great Bear
ETHNICITY/NATIONALITY
Caucasian
HEIGHT/WEIGHT
5'10, 150lb
SEXUALITY
total, 100%, Kinsey 6 gay
FAMILY
Michael Hayes (52), father: Manager of the Paragon Farm racing complex.
Cara Hayes-Peterson (29), sister: Manager of the Paragon Farm breeding complex.
Richard Peterson (29), brother-in-law: Politician of some sort--that's about all Nathan cares to know.
Oliver and Olivia Peterson (4), twin nephew and niece
RELATIONSHIPS
James Levy (27), boyfriend: Paragon Farm staff vet
Blair Goff (23), best friend/ex-boyfriend: assistant trainer at Hunter's Ridge Farm down the road
Danielle (Dani) Harper (19), working student
EDUCATION
High School. By the time he graduated, he was competing internationally in Showjumping, so college wasn't really necessary.
RELIGION
Agnostic
LANGUAGES SPOKEN
English and a little French.
ECONOMIC STATUS
Wealthy from old money in the Thoroughbred industry, however the farm is a profitable enterprise itself.
CRIMINAL RECORD
None, besides a few misdemeanors as a minor that are now off his record.
OCCUPATION
Owner and Head Trainer of Paragon Farm; professional Showjumper
PETS
Nathan's only personal pet is Penny, a Border Collie mix, but he technically owns all of the Paragon Farm horses.
TATTOOS/PIERCINGS
none
LIFETIME ASPIRATION
The Jockey
TRAITS
Lucky, Daredevil, Social Butterfly, Absent-Minded, Equestrian
FAVORITE FOOD
steak
FAVORITE COLOR
turquoise
FAVORITE MUSIC
pop
HOBBIES
Riding, riding, and more riding. One of his favorite things to do is taking his competition horses out on the trail for some "horse time." He is even occasionally convinced by James to go camping (in a tent!) every once in awhile. Usually, though, if he's not on a horse's back, he's at the barn or watching a competition.
STRENGTHS
Very motivated with a great work ethic. Other than being borderline obsessive compulsive about his horses' care, he is generally a very easygoing person who can get along with just about anyone. He also has the uncanny ability to stick to a saddle like a rodeo star, which is probably thanks to years of galloping crazy Thoroughbreds.
WEAKNESSES
Thoroughbreds. Not what you meant? Okay.
He can get a little overbearing, as he rarely knows how to stop talking and has an opinion about everything. He is also kind of an airhead and often forgets what he's doing in the middle of doing it. He doesn't often compete in dressage or eventing, but he's still managed to make a name for himself as the rider who always forgets his test. Even in Show Jumping, he has to go over his course a thousand times before he enters the ring.
FUN FACT
While his dreams of being a jockey have been dashed, Nathan still goes to exercise the racehorses when his Jumpers don't give him enough of an adrenaline rush. He recently got a concussion after being thrown by a particularly nasty filly, but he was back on his jumpers as soon as the doctor cleared him.
PET PEEVES
Helmetless riders (though he's sometimes a hypocrite) and ignorant people.
FAVORITE HANGOUTS
The stall of his favorite mare; the Great Bear trails; Hunter's Ridge Farm.
Nathan's young life was fairly uneventful. He was lucky enough to be born on a thriving Thoroughbred farm to loving (and wealthy) parents and he was shoved up on old broodmares as soon as he had the motor skill to keep his head up on his own. As he got older his days before and after school were spent much like a working student--he helped hotwalk, tack, muck stalls, and start babies and /occasionally/ his dad would let him come up to the clocker's stand during morning gallops and he would teach him a little here and there about the nuances of training a winning Thoroughbred.
Around the time he turned 14, Nathan graduated from the clocker's stand to the track itself, joining the exercise riders in the morning gallops. His dad always put him on the older, calmer horses until he had the size and muscle mass to control an unruly Thoroughbred athlete, but otherwise his safety wasn't really much of anyone's concern beyond whether he was wearing his helmet and vest, same as all the other riders. This probably factored in to his adrenaline junkie tendencies later in life.
In a small mountain town, there's not exactly much to do, so going to the equestrian center to watch competitions was a common after-school activity for his horse-y friends. Normally Nathan would watch the races as his dad's horses were often running, but he was invited to watch the International Show Jumping competition one day and being the social butterfly he is, he took the opportunity to make some new friends. He ended up falling in love with the sport. As a fairly lanky boy who had just hit puberty and had his dreams of being a jockey crushed, the speed and danger was very appealing. He immediately started lessoning at Hunter's Ridge, a Hunter/Jumper farm down the road from his dad's facility, and took to it quickly. He took a working student position at HRF through High School, then moved away promptly after graduation to pursue his Show Jumping career internationally with his scrappy little ex-racer, Allie.
Around his 20th birthday, Nathan's parents got into a nasty car accident and Nathan was forced to end his season early to come home and help Cara manage the farm--she was great with the broodmares, but knew nothing about race training. His dad barely pulled through the accident but his mom didn't. As he was looking at not only dealing with the death of his wife but a long and uncertain rehabilitation, Michael turned the farm over to Nathan. One of the only good things that came out of this short period of time was James; when Nathan met him, he was working as an outrider at the track to put himself through vet school. They hit it off immediately and Nathan (in a young and stupid move that turned out surprisingly well for him, as most of his stupid moves do) hired him on as staff vet as soon as he finished school.
Once his dad recovered enough to hobble around the farm with a cane, stubborn old man that he is, Nathan hired him some help and focused his attention on building his own sporthorse complex under the same name as the race farm. The facility itself was completed quickly, but Nathan is still in the process of acquiring sporthorses for an impressive competition string and breeding program.