Hokkaido Horse Racing Story

After entering the stable, the Queen of Resistance was burying her head in the food bowl, chewing the grass slowly.

Regarding the few people who appeared before him, he just twitched his ears slightly, and then there was no other movement.

Entering the stable, Shimura squatted down to examine the affected hoof.

"The length of the hoof heel needs to be shortened a bit. Also, the pressure on the Achilles tendon might be a bit too much. How about trying to lower the angle of the hoof a little bit?"

Shimura said as he measured an angle in front of the resistance queen's hoof.

"Also, you could try replacing the front horseshoes with wide aluminum ones. Adding a silicone cushioning pad to the rear horseshoes would significantly reduce the recoil from the ground."

Kitano accepted all the suggestions from Shimura, the hoof trimmer.

Even so, there will be several additional fixed expenses.

"Her skeleton looks quite impressive, and her muscles are far beyond those of a two-year-old mare."

On the other side, Tanaka was also observing the resistance queen's horse body, preparing to use it as a reference to arrange the debut battle.

"She's also very stable. Even someone who can't ride a horse at all would be able to sit comfortably on her back."

He thought as he wrote something in his notebook.

"But besides his limp, his overly stable personality is also a bit worrying."

After hesitating for a while, I finally labeled the Queen of Resistors as [leaning towards dullness].

"It's the type that might need some external stimulation to exert strength."

Finally, at the end of the page, I wrote this concluding statement.

"Mr. Kitano, do you have any preference regarding this boy's main battle rider?"

Under normal circumstances, for a racehorse like this with a good body and a relatively loose body, Tanaka would consider letting the stable's top rider Shigefumi Hattori take over.

Hattori's whip skills are quite sophisticated and can have a good supervisory effect on this type of racehorse.

But before making a decision, you must first ask the horse owner's opinion.

Finding suitable riders for horse owners is also part of a trainer's responsibilities.

"How about Ochiai Rider?"

After a brief consideration, Kitano said a name.

For him, the options available are actually very limited.

So far, the only rider I have come into contact with is Genta Ochiai.

This rider, who was of similar age and had a serious personality, left a good impression on Kitano.

In addition, there was nothing wrong with Ochiai's riding in the first two games, so he soon found his candidate.

"Genta? I'll try to communicate with him."

Although a little surprised, Tanaka quickly agreed.

Chapter 34: Massive Heatstroke Incident

"Mejiro Sakuya. That's how it's spelled, right?"

A staff member of the Hokkaido Racing Association looked up and asked.

"Yes, it's Mejiro Sakuya."

Kitano gave an affirmative answer.

"Then there will be no further problems on our side."

After checking the naming application form again, the staff member nodded at Kitano.

"Thank you for your hard work, Master Kitano."

In the past few days, Kitano had been to and from the Jockey Club several times due to ownership changes and horse registration issues involving two racehorses under his name.

At this point, the two-year-old deer-hair mare, formerly known as Resistance Queen, is only one step away from becoming an official racehorse.

"correct--"

"If it's convenient, could you please tell me the meaning of the horse's name, Mr. Kitano?"

The staff called Kitano again.

"After all, it's the JRA's rule."

He shrugged somewhat helplessly.

"What's the meaning——"

When Kitano came to register Medairo for the first time, he was unprepared and was troubled by this problem for a long time.

After all, Pegasus was a completely impromptu name he came up with.

However, just as a Saint Seiya will not be defeated by the same trick a second time, Kitano had already made preparations before registering this time.

"Mejiro is a personal name, and Sakuya comes from the mythical Konohana Sakuya-hime, meaning to wish the horse a long and healthy life."

"Is that so? It's a name with a good meaning."

The staff nodded repeatedly and added the explanation of the meaning in the blank space below the name column.

"But I thought it was the time-stopping maid from Touhou PROJECT."

Scratching his somewhat sparse head, he smiled apologetically.

Uncle, you are almost sixty years old, right?

However, most of the people who know this character are probably no longer young.

"Then how about adding this allusion? A horse race with time stopped, that sounds pretty cool."

Occasionally, Kitano would have a Chuunibyou outbreak.

"That's right! That makes it perfect and cool."

The staff uncle also gave his affirmation with great pleasure.

The two quickly reached a consensus on this point.

After completing the registration, Kitano left the Jockey Club.

In the parking lot, the phone in my pocket rang rapidly.

"I'm Kitano."

Walking slowly, Kitano answered the phone.

"Dr. Kitano, please come to our ranch as soon as possible. The address is Sasaki Dairy Ranch, 3-chome 00, Shinko-cho. This is an emergency!"

A man's hoarse voice came from the other end of the phone, and even through the screen, one could clearly feel the anxiety in his tone.

"I'll be there soon."

His pace turned into a jog, and he started the car before the heat had completely dissipated.

On the way, Kitano kept his phone open.

"The cows on our ranch have suffered a large-scale heatstroke incident, and several have fainted!"

"Is it in the barn or in the grazing area?"

He asked calmly, steering wheel in hand.

"There are a total of twenty-six of them in the grazing area, and three of them... no! Four of them have completely fainted!"

The man's tone became increasingly tense.

"First, move the ones with the most severe symptoms to the shade of a tree or any well-ventilated place. If that's not possible, build a shed on the spot."

"Then, put a layer of hay under them, it doesn't need to be too thick."

This step is to cut off the continuous influence of the heat source.

"Got it, Mr. Kitano!"

The man shouted in a voice that hurt his eardrums, and then gave a few instructions to someone on the other end of the phone.

"Do you need to cool them down?"

He asked again in a similarly loud voice.

"Just use room temperature water!"

Kitano also unconsciously raised the volume, but quickly adjusted it back down.

As a doctor, you must always remain calm while working.

"Focus on splashing water around their ears, neck, abdomen and inside of their limbs."

Ice water can easily cause blood vessels to constrict, which is not conducive to heat dissipation.

"Before I arrive, prepare the oral rehydration solution at a ratio of nine grams of salt and thirty grams of baking soda per liter of water."

I glanced at the rear compartment and saw that there wasn't much glucose left.

However, it should be enough this time.

"How much?"

The man on the other end of the phone demanded.

"The more the merrier!"

When they arrived at the ranch, Kitano jumped out of the car without waiting for it to stop completely.

"Get my medical kit and the box of glucose in the back of the car."

He gave instructions to the ranch staff who gathered around him.

Then, he walked quickly towards the grazing ground where the incident occurred.

The distance was not far, but Kitano was already sweating profusely.

Since April, the weather has been unusually hot.

As large livestock, dairy cows produce a huge amount of heat and have limited ability to dissipate heat through their skin and breathing. In such weather, heatstroke is actually not uncommon.

"Mr. Kitano, you are finally here!"

The ranch representative, Mr. Sasaki, who had just been on the phone with Kitano, rushed over and shook his hand as if he had seen a savior.

"Where's the rehydration solution I asked you to prepare?"

Kitano looked around and saw several staff members using water pipes to spray water on the cows to cool them down.

But there was no sign of the replacement solution he requested.

"It's over there!"

Sasaki quickly waved towards the edge of the grazing area.

Seeing this, the two staff members quickly worked together to push a wobbly farm cart over.

"There should be more than 200 kilograms here. If it's not enough, I'll ask them to get more."

After saying that, Sasaki waved to the employees in front of him.

"That's enough."

Kitano quickly spoke up to stop their actions.

Even if multiple intravenous fluid administration is required, four or five kilograms per cow is already quite sufficient.

"Find me a hose and a larger funnel."

After giving the order, Kitano turned and walked towards the cows that suffered the most from heatstroke, holding his heavy medical kit in his hand.

"The situation on this end is already very serious."

Kitano walked to one of the cows and heard the sound of rapid breathing.

If you touch the base of a cow's ear with the back of your hand, you can feel a noticeable heat.

Moreover, the cow had fallen into cardiac arrest.

"We can only use adrenaline first."