Hokkaido Horse Racing Story

By the way, another task was completed.

"Speaking of which, when can I use these copper and silver amulets?"

He scratched his head in annoyance.

Now, he has accumulated a certain number of copper amulets, and even obtained two of the higher-level silver amulets.

However, the items in the mall are still the ones that can be bought with the green amulet.

As for exchanging the higher-level amulet for cash, Kitano rejected this option without even a second thought.

At least not until he was only able to gnaw on bean sprouts.

So, I can only save it for now.

"In this northern country, even splashing water turns to frost."

On the way back to the clinic, he hummed a tuneless enka.

The July sunshine in Hokkaido shone on his fingertips like butter slowly melting in a stone pot.

Kitano seemed to be delighted with everything he saw.

Probably, it’s because another life was saved.

Chapter 21 Morning Training

The day's work begins before it is fully light.

Ogawa Jō and Ogawa Katsu walked into the stable one after another.

He handed over the relatively easy training of the one-year-old horse to his son, while Ogawa Jō himself was responsible for the training of the racehorses.

It is said that the horses are kept in storage, but so far there is only the Mubai horse.

However, for Nishiken, the production ranch, it is not easy just to take good care of Medaipei during the season.

Before Ogawa Katsu could open the iron gate, Mudanma, who had woken up early, urged him impatiently.

"Okay, I'll let you out right now."

As soon as the iron chain was loosened, the reed horse could not wait to push the gate open with its mouth.

As it left the stable, it lowered its ears toward the group of foals walking ahead of it.

"You have quite a temper, Pegasus."

Xuhe Zhang's rough palm slid across the black horsehair.

Since returning yesterday, Mubai Tianma has achieved the outstanding record of kicking a partition, overturning two buckets, and tearing a shirt that Ogawa Sheng had just bought.

Although he had been naughty in the past, this was the first time that Ogawa Katsu had seen him have such a bad temper.

The reed-haired horse shook its tail, and its small eyes were always fixed on the herd of horses in front of it.

Only after Xuhe Sheng led the one-year-old horse away did Xuhe Zhang climb onto the horse.

He did not rush into training, but first rode his Mubai horse around the stable.

This seemingly meaningless action is actually an important warm-up before the training officially begins.

In addition to allowing the trained horse to slowly transition from a more relaxed resting state to a training state, it can also be used to confirm the specific condition of the horse under the saddle.

"You're really very competitive."

After the circle known as "riding exercise" was completed, Ogawa Jō couldn't help but pat Mudaiba's neck.

Compared to his usual training, Mudanma seemed particularly excited, even to the point of being a little anxious.

It's like he can't wait to start training.

"Then let's get started!"

He rode his eager reed horse towards the wildebeest farm.

Although it cannot be compared with the professional land of a large training center, Nishiken Ranch has indeed opened up an area that can be called a wildebeest farm.

Of course, in reality, it is just a circle of sand that has been made as flat as possible and is surrounded by railings. It is still quite different from a formal wildebeest field.

Most of the time, training at the wildebeest farm is used to discipline new horses and problem horses that are difficult to deal with.

But Medahiro is not such a person.

What Ogawa Jō wants to do is to use this training to relax Mudashi's muscles that have become a little tense after the competition.

Moreover, exercise in such a narrow circle is also beneficial to improving the horse's balance and flexibility of footsteps.

Although it wasn't too stiff, he still hoped that Mudashi's body could become more flexible.

Before the training began, Mubai Tianma first stopped in place, looking down at the ground beneath his feet as if he was inspecting it.

Then, he raised his head and let out a loud nasal sound.

No problem anymore.

Ogawa Jō knew that this was the signal conveyed by Medayama's nasal tone.

This step was repeated before each training session.

When it comes to training content that he is satisfied with, Mu Baima will be very dedicated and will put in his utmost energy even without anyone urging him.

But when it is dissatisfied, even if it barely achieves the training goal, you can clearly feel its perfunctory attitude.

In this case, the training effect is often not very ideal.

Fortunately, that is not the case today.

At the beginning of the training, Mubai Ma was extremely energetic, to the point that Xuhe Zhang had to frequently pull the reins to signal it to slow down.

In a smaller-than-usual wildebeest arena, excessive speed can be dangerous for both humans and horses.

"Time to stop, Pegasus."

After reaching the predetermined number of laps, he gave the order to complete the training.

However, Mudaiba showed no intention of stopping.

"Stop, Pegasus!"

Ogawa Jō's tone became a little stern.

The reed-haired horse then stopped reluctantly.

"It's not good to practice too much in one go!"

He patted the horse's back and said.

A thin layer of sweat had already appeared on Bai Baima's back.

As a post-match recovery training, you can stop at this level.

If you put too much effort into it, it will put more pressure on the horse's already tired hooves.

Before leaving the wildebeest arena, Mubai Ma suddenly kicked his hoof.

Even though he tightened his grip on the horse's back immediately, Xuhe Zhang was almost thrown to the ground.

When he looked over with a somewhat helpless look, Mudanma blinked his small black eyes as if nothing had happened.

"You're such a wilful fellow! If we were in the stables out there, the trainer would be utterly bereft of hair."

Xuhe Zhang shook his head, smiled and patted Luma's head.

However, this slightly angry thought is somewhat understandable.

"Leave it to you, Asheng."

He dismounted and handed the reins to Ogawa Katsuki with some fatigue.

"Leave it to me, Dad!"

Xu Hesheng nodded and fastened the leash to the horse's bit.

"Thank you for your hard work, Pegasus."

Mu Tianma nuzzled the back of his hand.

After returning to the stable, Mu Baima did not rush to drink water, but rolled on the ground first.

After his whole body was covered with hay, he slowly walked to the water bucket and lowered his head.

"Really? It's only a matter of turning around a little bit."

Ogawa Sheng sighed helplessly.

It took a while to finally knock the hay down, and during this time I had to use one hand from time to time to deal with the horse's lips fidgeting everywhere.

Wiping the wetness off his palms, he patted Mubaima's hooves.

Mudaishima immediately understood and started doing stretching exercises with the help of Ogawa Masaru.

After completing a few stretching movements, he bent down and gently massaged Mu Baima's leg muscles.

This is knowledge learned from Kobayashi's stable attendant, and it is said to be helpful in promoting blood circulation in the horse's hooves.

Although he was not sure about the specific effect, Ogawa Sheng still carefully massaged from the base of the thigh to the hoof.

By the time the massage of all four legs was completed, I was so tired that I could hardly straighten my back.

On the contrary, Mubai Baima was still wagging his tail very energetically.

"Rest well, Pegasus."

Having said this, Ogawa Sheng packed up his tools and walked out of the iron gate.

For a horse, legs are the continuation of life.

He would be delighted if there was even the slightest improvement.

Chapter 22 Watching Day

"Hey, Mr. Kitano is here!"

Holding up the somewhat empty beer can, the man said drunkenly.

"Good evening, Mr. Takashima."

Kitano nodded slightly at the drunk man and walked to the top of the bleachers.

They don't have a very close relationship, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to even call them strangers.

However, in the stands with very few seats, the faces of regulars are particularly easy to distinguish.

Especially a guy like Kitano who comes every game day.

After greeting several people in succession, he sat in an empty seat in the stands.

Although you can also watch the race from the owner's exclusive seats, even there, the only difference from the open-air stands is an extra fence that is better than nothing.

Occasionally, when the number of spectators increases, even those without proof of horse owner registration can easily sneak in.

The so-called owner's seat is actually such a casual thing.

More importantly, the view from there isn't much better than from the bleachers.

"I knew that Chuan Liu Bu Xi wouldn't be so easily defeated!"

"But if you ask me, I have to say Rock Bridge Rider. An is just too young."

After the warm-up of the previous few games, the atmosphere in the stands has become quite heated.

The horse racing fans talked about their opinions on the competition, with confident looks on their faces.

Some of them are about to wail.

The other part will start celebrating with joy.

This scene was repeated thousands of times in this small stand.

Soon, large amounts of horse racing tickets were scattered into the sky.

Various indistinguishable sounds intertwined together.

Standing up, Kitano walked down from the stands.