Hokkaido Horse Racing Story

The little lamb's eyes were wide open, and it was wagging its tail and pouting its upper lip repeatedly.

Seeing this, the man in the suit quickly stood up and breathed a sigh of relief.

"So it shouldn't be a big problem, right?"

The man in the suit asked uncertainly, turning his eyes away from the spread of excrement with some disgust.

"Not necessarily. If the milk lumps are large or accumulate and adhere to the gastrointestinal tract, they may cause obstruction if they continue, threatening the lamb's life."

Kitano shook his head, and this action made the man in the suit look a little nervous.

"Can this be resolved quickly?"

He asked in an earnest tone.

"We still have to find out the cause of the disease first."

Kitano's expression also became somewhat helpless.

As a professional manager, the man in the suit may have considerable skills in operating and managing the ranch.

However, when it comes to understanding livestock themselves, it is a bit difficult to put into words.

All we could get from the commissioned call was information about widespread leg weakness and loss of appetite among lambs.

“Are the feeding records for ewes in the middle and late stages of pregnancy still available?”

After walking and stopping between the pens and the grazing grounds and observing for a while, Kitano tilted his head and asked.

The pen environment is dry and clean, with no obvious sharp foreign objects, and the area of ​​grazing land is also reasonable.

In addition to parasitic and viral infections, the possibility of living environment-induced diseases and lack of exercise have also been ruled out.

Then try to find the cause from the mother's perspective and food.

"Yes! All records are saved on the computer, even the feeding time and feed batches are remembered clearly."

The man in the suit nodded repeatedly and took Kitano to his office.

"There's nothing wrong with the nutritional content of the feed, but they're feeding too little green grass."

Just as the man in the suit said, the feeding records on the computer were very detailed, and Kitano quickly found out the problem.

"In the short period after a ewe gives birth, it's fine to feed her less concentrate and green feed. But after she recovers, if she's still breastfeeding, you should gradually adjust back to normal feeding."

"Give the lambs two milliliters of vitamin B complex an intramuscular injection. Observe their body temperatures over the next two days."

After that, Kitano reminded him with some concern: "Also, record the status of your excrement. If the symptoms of leg weakness persist in a few days, feel free to contact me."

Even if the possibility of E. coli infection has been preliminarily ruled out through observation of clinical symptoms, follow-up work must also be done properly.

"Does this also need to be recorded?"

The man in the suit frowned slightly, thought for a moment, then called an employee over and whispered a few instructions.

An embarrassed expression shifted to the employee's face.

"Then the diagnosis is complete."

Although the medical fees will not be received so quickly, for Kitano, who just paid over a million yen in one go for Medahira's foster care, it is still an income.

If a few farmers hadn't happened to pay off the medical bills they owed last winter during these few days, he would probably have to go back to eating bean sprouts.

Back in the car, Kitano unlocked his phone screen and several unread messages popped up one after another.

Representative Ogawa, Master Tanaka, and Rider Ochiai each gave advice on their debut battle from their own perspectives.

"The 23rd—"

Putting down his phone, Kitano tapped the steering wheel and thought for a few seconds.

Then he responded.

"Just do it."

Chapter 9 Before the Beginning

On the night of the 22nd, Kitano suffered from insomnia for the first time in a long time.

The last time I was that nervous was the day I got my veterinary license.

Ever since he learned the results of the gate position lottery from Master Tanaka a few days ago, his thoughts have been spreading like weeds.

Closing his eyes, Kitano repeatedly reminded himself: If he continued to stay up late, his hairline would sooner or later become higher than those guys in the medical department.

Calm soon returned to the bedroom.

Ten minutes later, Kitano opened his eyes again.

Although he knew that in this situation, pouring a glass of warm water, taking a sleeping pill and continuing to sleep was undoubtedly the most sensible choice, he still picked up the mobile phone under the pillow.

The bright light from the screen made Kitano squint subconsciously.

To protect your eyes, turn on your bedside lamp.

It’s not good to play with your phone while lying down.

Then, sit up.

As a result, the sleepiness that was not much to begin with completely disappeared.

He suddenly felt an urge to say something.

Open the software named "X".

An update notification popped up.

Taking advantage of the gap between software updates, Kitano struggled to think about the content of the tweet.

He is not the kind of person who would casually show his life on social platforms.

There is nothing outstanding in the writing style.

I can't be like other horse owners who naturally type out a long list of words of outlook or expectation before the race starts.

Kitano had no idea what was going on until the screen slowly dimmed.

“How do I become a qualified horse owner?”

Finally, he wrote down his questions.

As a new horse owner in the first episode, he really wanted answers.

Click Send.

Although it was already late at night, the tweet quickly received likes.

In addition to his university mentors and alumni, many livestock industry workers and people associated with the Veterinary Association are also following his account.

Occasionally, he would answer medical questions about livestock on "X".

It seems that this has helped it gain a certain amount of fans among breeders and veterinary students.

But Kitano had no intention of using this to expand his fame, and even the personal profile section was left blank, just like when he first registered.

Apart from the casual likes, the tweet itself quickly fell silent.

The few sporadic replies were just words of envy or compliments from younger students who were staying up late to their seniors.

Kitano suddenly felt a little sleepy.

Just as I was about to lie back down on the bed, a notification popped up in the background indicating that a reply had been received.

That was a slightly long tweet.

@seiun0005: From a horse owner's perspective, as long as they have money, that's all they need, right? (Laughs) But going the extra mile and becoming a "qualified horse owner" can get quite difficult. It's not just the racehorses themselves, but also the farms, riders, trainers, stablehands, farriers, and even the fans. Just figuring out how to interact with all these different people with different needs can be quite a challenge.

Judging from the profile picture, he is obviously an old man.

It's amazing that you can stay up so late.

“So how do you behave like a proper horse owner on race day?”

With an attitude of humbly asking questions, Kitano continued to ask questions under the tweet.

The reply came quickly.

@seiun0005: My father, when he was still alive, always taught me to respect the game itself. If I don't have too many ideas, how about trying to approach it as seriously as possible?

After thanking the old man, Kitano lay back down on the bed.

"Are you serious?"

The time was 4:53 the next day.

Ochiai opened his eyes before the alarm clock started beeping.

Local riders generally don't have to worry about oversleeping and missing a race like their counterparts in the central region.

But he would still set the alarm for 5 a.m. on game days.

Then wake up earlier than the alarm clock.

I stood in front of the mirror, squeezed the toothpaste, and my brain, which had just started working again, immediately started thinking about today's game.

The first race was a two-year-old mixed race that started at 2:35 p.m. The horse on hand was a slightly lazy type.

The distance is exactly one thousand meters. If you don't have an advantage in the gate position, you may have to whip it early and put some pressure on it.

Then comes the second race limited to two-year-old mares.

The race distance is longer, 1,100 meters, and the gate position is the outermost ten.

The horse has a strong fighting spirit, but its strength is not outstanding.

After discussing with trainer Hiroyuki Oguni, the result was to adopt a slightly more radical strategy.

The third race is also a battle for two-year-old horses. The distance is one thousand meters and the gate position is six on the outside of the middle.

There is nothing to worry about regarding the horse itself. In fact, its level of training is even better than many neglected three-year-old horses.

However, its strength is not outstanding and its physical growth is not as good as expected.

When assigned to such a gate position, you have to be extremely alert at the beginning.

If you are delayed by the horses squeezing in from both sides when leaving the gate, you may suffer a crushing defeat.

After ensuring that all nine games of the day had been played through, the fourth, fifth, and sixth games, Ochiai's attention finally returned to reality.

The foam in the mouth has been reduced to an unnoticeable level.

After spitting out the remaining foam, he quickly wiped his face with a towel that was not yet completely wet.

I ate the vegetarian sandwich with half a glass of ice water.

Then, the morning exercise began.

During the break, Ochiai was browsing his phone.

His homepage mostly contains information related to horse racing.

I also forwarded my idol Andohara Rider's derby prediction.

After taking a shower, he changed into a black sportswear that looked somewhat serious.

Then he put on a black windbreaker.

Before going out, he checked his shoelaces meticulously.

Such attire often attracts ridicule from colleagues.

Even the riders at the central station dressed quite casually before officially starting their shift.

Many people even went out in slippers.

Changing several sets of clothes is a complete waste of trouble.

From this point of view, local riders who only need to wear the same winning uniform even when running several races in a row will occasionally attract the envy of their colleagues at the central level.

Picking up his handbag, Ochiai walked out of the rider's dormitory.

Riding on a bicycle, the distance to the race track, which was not very long to begin with, was reached in the blink of an eye.

After changing his equipment and briefly greeting the staff in front of the preparation room, Ochiai chose a place where he would not be easily disturbed and sat down.

Although some people choose to relieve stress or pass the time by chatting, he is not that type.