Hokkaido Horse Racing Story.

Chapter 217 Night Grazing
One Friday in early June, after morning work,

Lead-gray clouds pressed down heavily on the pasture.

The drizzle dyed the outside of the house into a hazy blur.

"It's already thirty degrees in Obihiro."

In the lounge, someone sighed first.

"In a few days, it will probably be as hot as a steamer here."

"Hey - it's tough enough now, okay?"

Amid the chatter of the club members, Kitano silently put down his phone.

There are only six Red Treasure Day foals participating in the Kyushu yearling market this year, and five of them are stallions.

As a result, the focus of the auction returned to Hokkaido.

"See if Jin Jiji has any outstanding mares that have foaled."

This is Kitano’s current plan for this year’s auction.

After taking a quick look at the list of horses appearing in the Kyushu Yearling Horse Market, he clicked on the weather forecast.

It looks like the next few days will be sunny with temperatures continuing to rise.

"How about officially starting the summer grazing plan starting next week?"

Today, the outdoor temperature in Mitsuishi, where Mejiro Ranch is located, is about 26 to 28 degrees Celsius.

On the surface, it seems to be better than Honshu Island, which is being ravaged by the scorching heat.

However, after the arrival of summer when the sky is almost always clear, the high-latitude sunshine in Hokkaido gradually reveals its scorching and aggressive true face.

In addition, there are no buildings to block the view, so once you go outside you have to face the sun directly.

If it weren't for this unexpectedly long rain, the perceived temperature today would probably be above 30 degrees.

During this time of year, night grazing becomes more frequent and scheduling of collective grazing becomes increasingly difficult.

A notification flashed on the screen of the phone on the table.

After the standby screen faded, a forecast popped up: "Rain will continue until the afternoon."

“It will rain again in the afternoon.”

After informing everyone of the news, everyone responded with a series of lazy yawns.

"How about switching to summer grazing mode starting tomorrow?"

Kikuchi straightened his back like an elementary school student and raised his hand seriously to make a proposal.

It may seem a little early, but it’s already the time of year in Hokkaido when horses must endure the scorching heat.

For production farms that primarily run yearlings and yearlings, the risk of heat stroke also increases at this time of year.

Although Mejiro Ranch does not have any foals or pregnant mares that require special care, it currently has three elderly retired horses that are more sensitive to temperature.

"How about all three members of the retirement group be scheduled for the night?"

Qianshan didn't even raise his head, his fingertips kept swiping across the tablet screen, planning the grazing schedule.

"It's fine with Aru-chan, but as for Kyouki, he probably prefers daytime."

"Sister Duobo seems to be quite listless after the sun sets."

"If you're grazing at night, it's better not to be too energetic."

"Ah, that's true."

Therefore, the three retired horses were divided into two groups for grazing.

Dober and Aru-chan, who weren't particularly opposed to night herding, were assigned to the night group. Kyo, who preferred daytime herding, was assigned to the daytime herding group along with Atalanta, who was herding during the summer.

The week after the Oaks Tournament ended, Atalanta returned to Mejiro Ranch to officially begin her summer recuperation.

After Mejiro Sakuya finished her recuperation and returned to the stable, there were only four horses left on the ranch that actually needed care.

Although this is the case, it is not advisable to arrange all four horses to graze at night simply for the sake of convenience.

As diurnal animals, horses will be less active when grazed at night than when grazed during the day, and it often takes longer to achieve the same amount of exercise.

In a relatively quiet environment, the concentration on eating during grazing tends to increase.

For active racehorses, mid-day grazing is always the preferred option.

"Tomorrow, Sister Duobo and Aru-chan will adjust their herding schedule to nighttime. The adjustment period is tentatively set at one week."

After confirming that everything was correct, Qianshan sent the latest grazing schedule to the ranch group, then stood up and walked towards the printer.

"For the nighttime group, the daily supplemental dose of vitamin D3 will initially be 2,000 IU, and will be adjusted based on the horse's condition."

Kitano picked up his tablet, tapped the screen with his fingertips and adjusted the feed formula for the night group.

Lack of light will inhibit the synthesis of vitamin D in horses, requiring additional supplementation through feed.

"For the magnesium supplementation, the nighttime group received an increase of 25 mg per kilogram."

Supplements can effectively relieve stress in racehorses, and have the added benefit of maintaining neuromuscular excitability and preventing metabolic syndrome.

However, due to concerns about the increased risk of insulin resistance, Kitano had previously planned the magnesium supplement content in the feed formula for the three retired horses on the ranch to only be based on the minimum standard of 20mg/kg.

"clear--"

Rachel Ho, who was lying on the table, raised one hand lazily and answered in a drawn-out tone.

"It's time to work on the hay in the summer grazing land."

Having said that, Kitano turned his head and looked out the window.

Of course, under the cover of rain, I couldn't see anything.

Around this time every year, the ranches in Hokkaido begin to harvest the grass on the grazing land, which is called "summer mowing".

In addition to being stored as silage for the winter, the lower quality parts will be dried to remove the bitterness and used as hay for bedding.

Mejiro Ranch is no exception.

Back in March, Kitano bought a RHINO 2150 rotary lawn mower from an American website called "Tr○ctor House."

This model of rotary mower can switch between folded and unfolded modes, making it far more convenient for harvesting hay than the inexpensive agricultural equipment recommended by JA.

"Hey! Let me try it out when the time comes, boss. I've read the instructions several times."

Zep suddenly coughed dryly a few times, then spoke in an unusually serious tone.

"Let me do it. I've been in contact with a lot of similar agricultural equipment with my dad since I was a child."

"It seems very interesting. I want to try it too—"

Just as they were about to get into an argument, Kikuchi, who seemed to be thinking about something from the beginning, raised his head.

"Don't we have the equipment to bale hay?"

The atmosphere instantly turned into an awkward silence.

The members looked over with somewhat subtle expressions.

There are still two weeks left until the pasture season.

　Chapter 2: Late
　　
　
(End of this chapter)