Hokkaido Horse Racing Story.

Chapter 354 The Changes in the Makeshift Troupe

Monday morning, after the weekend.

The moment you step inside, you realize that the ranch's lounge has completely lost its vitality, and you might even mistake it for a black-and-white silent film without color.

Although you could still hear the members chatting, the volume was much lower than usual.

There was a sense of lethargy.

"It's so hot——"

Rachel Ho sat on the tatami in a very ungraceful posture, sprawled on the low table like a melting ice cream cone.

"I'm completely melted."

As she spoke, Kikuchi imitated her and lay down on the table.

"After all, there's no air conditioning on the grazing land~"

It wasn't even noon yet, but the temperature had already exceeded 30 degrees Celsius.

This is a season when both people and horses are susceptible to heatstroke.

"Even visiting students is less common in this kind of weather."

After opening the official ranch website and glancing at the number of applications for the learning experience in the background, Zep sighed with emotion.

"However, Mr. Yoshida is still coming this afternoon."

Kikuchi, slumped limply on the table, turned to look at the hoof trimmer.

"Remember to call him Yoshida-sensei then."

While scrolling through the electronic memo on his tablet, Ravid spoke up to remind her.

"Okay, okay~"

"correct--"

As he said this, the Indian put down his tablet and looked over.

"At the Yakumo branch, the project that the president arranged should have already started, right?"

".That's right."

He looked away from the e-journal on the screen and nodded without changing his expression.

A budget of 50 million yen —

If we follow the standards set by the Yahagi team, there will still be plenty of room for maneuver after the sub-fields are completed.

Of course, this is impossible.

It's not that they've developed a sense of self-awareness as horse racing spenders.

Since it was built as a resort for use in the Sapporo and Hakodate racetracks during the summer, high-temperature countermeasures were naturally a priority during its construction.

A large portion of the cost savings from the land purchase was quietly allocated to the budget for the central temperature system, and the remainder was invested in the renovation and upgrading of the stable ventilation system.

—From the very beginning, I was prepared to spend the entire budget.

Although it wasn't strictly speaking an extravagant or wasteful act, there was a strange sense of unease about it.

"Well, speaking of which, Yueyue is also arriving this afternoon."

“Boss, you’ve already said it—and the stables are all ready.”

As he spoke, Zep wore a smug expression, as if he deserved the credit.

"I should be the one saying that. Also, can I prepare the feed according to the formula provided by the production farm for now?"

Rachel Ho glared at the hoof trimmer with annoyance, then shook the tablet and asked a question.

"Just do it."

After successfully changing the subject, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

June has just begun and the temperature is already quite high; it gets even hotter when you get nervous.

Of course, the air conditioning in the lounge was running at full blast.

Despite this, Asayama, who had just come in from outside, kept complaining, "It's so hot!"

"Everyone was a bit listless during the herding session, except for Ata-chan, who was still full of energy."

"It's said that racehorses with small handles aren't very sensitive to temperature. Also, the wording is so corny."

Kikuchi, still slumped over the table, grumbled.

"Actually, it's because I just trimmed Ata-chan's fur, and her winter fur has grown a bit since we got back to the ranch."

Upon hearing Asayama's words, Ravid raised his head slightly.

"If that's the case, Yueyue probably needs to get his fur trimmed too, since the weather in the Southern Hemisphere must still be quite cold right now."

"I'm terrible at geography, but leave this to me!"

Asayama confidently made a "scissors" gesture.

"Don't say things like that if all you can do is cut bangs!"

This time, Rachel Ho took on the role of the sarcastic commentator. She sighed in unison with Lavida.

Then, the stage manager looked at them with a "should we say it now?" look.

Then, he coughed once and spoke.

For a long time, the ranch maintained the traditional Hidaka Small Ranch style of operation.

Although there is some division of labor, it is still a newly built ranch with a makeshift team.

From now on, the ranch will officially divide its various functional departments—

The breeding department responsible for caring for breeding mares and yearlings before weaning;

The department responsible for the initial training of yearlings after weaning;
The training department responsible for further development after the initial training is completed;

And a development department temporarily responsible for operating the ranch-themed store and official website, as well as planning for the retirement of horses.

Although we considered imitating Gumoia at the beginning, it was ultimately a small ranch that was far smaller in scale than Gumoia's.

After discussing with Lavid, it was decided to adopt this simpler departmental division as a starting point.

As for the organizational structure, such as administrative departments, agricultural departments, veterinary departments, hoof trimmer departments, stallion departments, and racing departments, we'll have to wait until later to discuss that.

The frameworks of the European and American ranches we've come across are already quite mature; all we need to do is extract the parts that are suitable for our current Mejiro ranch.

—Although it seems rather rudimentary now.

The members reacted even more excitedly than expected after the decision was announced.

"Am I finally going to get a promotion, Boss?"

Faced with Zep's deliberately exaggerated gaze, he couldn't help but sigh again.

"Congratulations! In addition to still being the chief hoof trimmer, you've also become the deputy farm manager."

"—Responsible for agricultural work."

Before the Germans began celebrating, Zepp added this remark, and Zepp clutched his heart with an exaggerated expression.

However, the other members, including Ravid, still clapped and congratulated him.

"Others can apply to whichever department they want, even if they're in the same department."

Amidst the newly appointed deputy director's protests of "unfairness," I swiped my phone screen, tapped the group chat, and sent explanations from various departments.

Like a scene from a yoga studio, the remaining members murmured and fell into deep thought.

"Can I go to the breeding department?"

Kikuchi was the first to speak after putting down his phone.

"The production process is quite bloody. Will you be able to help us out then?"

"Well, leave it to me."

He seemed to hesitate for a moment, but Kikuchi finally nodded firmly.

Rachel Ho turned to look at Asayama, who then made a "ladies first" gesture.

"So, this is the first birthday horse department, with Yuehuang-chan and Yueyue-chan~"

While rubbing her hands together, the girl let out a strange laugh that sounded like that of an old man.

Where is Asayama-kun?

Ignoring the overly suspicious laughter, she turned to look at Asayama, who was holding a cup of barley tea in both hands.

"Can I still work in the breeding department?"

Setting down the glass, Asayama hesitated before speaking.

"No problem, I'll be relying on you again in the future."

"Well, leave it to me."

With this, the initial departmental division has come to an end.

There are still many things to do, including re-signing the contract.

In addition, the training department still relies on the support of field manager Lavid and allied ranches, the already chaotic development department also relies on the members to take turns to contribute, and the resident veterinarian and race director can only be concurrently held by the ranch representative himself.

—After working hard for half a day, we finally transformed from a makeshift troupe into one that was slightly less like a makeshift troupe.

Although it may seem a bit comical, this is a necessary step if the business is to develop smoothly.

"The recruitment for the 'training' department really does require shorter individuals—"

When recruiting new members, one must also give it serious consideration.

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"【Overseas Horse Racing】"

At the Jeb Invitational (G1) held on the 11th (Sunday) at Bellamy's Park Racecourse in the United States, "Next Good Luck," ridden by Japanese jockey Genta Ochiai (Monbetsu, Hokkaido), achieved a 6-0 finish out of 9 runners.

——《n○tkeiba》

(End of this chapter)