Hokkaido Horse Racing Story.

Chapter 379 Sakamichi Training of the Deer Hair Group
It was just past eight in the morning during the third week of September.

Looking down from the top of the slope, you can see Zep waving his hands like an idiot, while Rachel Ho, riding on a deer-haired horse, turns her head and says something to him with a somewhat helpless expression.

A gift from Grandma Takamura: a steep mountain path with a slope of about 2.9% and a length of about 100 meters.

but--

Since entrusting the breeding to Nishiken, the foals purchased at auctions are often moved to different locations within a short period of time, and the slopes in the back mountains are not actually used very often.

This is partly due to the increasingly severe bear infestation in recent years, making it difficult for the ranch's existing manpower to go into the mountains for maintenance.

Since there is still plenty of time before it officially debuts as a racehorse, it has been decided to reopen this slope and conduct outdoor slope and diagonal training for the Tajiro Rider. Subsequently, mud training on the slope will be combined to gradually enhance the bit handling ability.

Even when they first arrived in an unfamiliar environment, the deer-haired horse was not intimidated at all and quickly adapted to the new place.

After successfully completing the slope training in the past few days, we also did some practice moving diagonally to the left and right.

At the start of the training, Meguro Traveler showed considerable resistance.

According to Rachel's feedback, there seem to be occasional delays to the right.

So, Zepp made some adjustments to the horseshoe, and today is the day to see the results.

"start--"

As he said this, he raised the starting flag in his hand.

Of course, whether it's verbal or gestural instructions, they're really just for show.

The actual Sakamichi data detection relies on a miniature instrument that was recently implanted in the horse's body.

—A five of these advanced models that combine heart rate monitoring and timing, which can be redeemed for one silver amulet each through the system store.

Considering that Yuehuang is still young, only the Traveler and the Impulse from the Deer Hair Group have been implanted for the time being.

After a long absence, I returned to my work as a veterinarian, and the surgery went even more smoothly than I had expected.

The real trouble is the subsequent data collection.

Initially, no one at the ranch could fully understand the data fed back by the instruments, including Zepp, a specialist who claimed to have studied all data related to horse racing.

It's more complicated than I imagined.

Nevertheless, he managed to understand most of the information about the horse's body from the data by figuring things out on his own and by shamelessly asking experienced trainers like Mahanes and Reid for advice.

"Wow, this looks easy!"

Standing behind the tripod, Kikuchi, who was in charge of recording the training footage, sighed.

Mejiro riders often appear somewhat nervous when riding in indoor corridors or at Marubaba Park.

Outdoor training sessions are usually more relaxed, and can even lead to some unruly behavior.

In the first half of the race, the deer-haired horse, controlled by Rachel Ho, kept moving in a straight line, but it seemed to notice the photographers above the slope and its steps gradually became more excited.

—As expected, they're a real handful.

After rushing up the slope, Mejiro ran along the buffer zone for quite a while before finally turning around and taking a step under the urging of the stableman.

"The feeling to the right is not as obvious as before."

Rachel Ho dismounted and began stroking the deer-mane horse's head as she spoke.

"Although the sensation from the bit isn't that intense, it feels incredibly stable on my back when I'm running!"

As soon as the words were spoken, the man and the horse revealed what appeared to be the same smug expression.

Come to think of it, I didn't even break a sweat—

"I see. What about maneuverability?"

After being asked that question, Rachel Ho's expression immediately fell.

"It's the same as always!"

So, after several other members arrived, they discussed and decided on a training plan to continue strengthening the diagonal walking practice.

Then came the second round of practice on the slope.

In the first round, Meguro Rider travels alone, but in the second round, he follows behind the other horses.

Furthermore, the first round requires an uphill stance with the right forelimbs leading, while the second round requires a shift to the left forelimbs leading. —Although the goal for the second event was almost never achieved.

"Then I'll leave it to you."

With that, Kikuchi gave up the spot behind the tripod to Ravid, then put on the vest that had been under the tree and jogged toward the stables.

The person accompanying him during the training on the slope was another horse, a deer-haired horse.

A few days ago——

"By the way, has Chongli gotten fatter again?"

After finishing the last round of weight loss, I tried to switch to easier arm exercises, and some time has passed since then.

I went to the stables with doubts, and then I saw this scene—

The unidentified creature, with its back to the corridor and resembling a brown sugar daifuku displayed prominently in a shop during the Lunar New Year, was comfortably dozing on the only available piece of paper scraps.

"You've gained weight again, as expected. Thrust."

As he let out a sigh, he took out his phone and snapped a picture of the scene before him.

"N-no, that's not it! Those are muscles! Besides, taking pictures from behind is against the rules—"

As if in rebuttal, the rush of energy after waking up peeked out from between the fences, its nose, covered in grass clippings, forcefully pressing against the palm.

Once led out into the corridor, the changes in the hindquarters, especially the rump, of the deer-mane horse became more pronounced.

Of course, rather than saying he gained weight, it's more accurate to say that his buttocks became fuller and more defined during this period, and the muscles he could feel had indeed increased significantly.

The corresponding weight is...
Five hundred and forty-two kilograms?

Even Sakuya, who was adjusting her body shape to resemble a breeding mares, had only barely reached this weight a few days ago.

Because the increase far exceeded expectations, they even made sure to remove the load from the scale first and restart the power.

I even stood on it myself to verify its accuracy, and it showed that it was indeed 68 kilograms.

Then, let the force go up on the scale again.
The result was indeed 542 kilograms, so it seems the scale is not faulty.

I need to lose weight again—

As if it had caught the keyword "weight loss", the originally lazy deer-mane horse rolled its eyes in horror.

At this rate of development, it's not impossible for him to debut with a weight of over 520 kilograms.

However, there's nothing we can do about it.

"Second round, 100 meters of muddy slope, get ready—"

Zep shouted this in a very serious manner as he ran all the way back to the starting point of the slope.

Of the two deer-haired horses waiting side by side, the one with the momentum seemed as steady as if it wanted to firmly plant its hooves in the ground, while the traveler, on the other hand, appeared eager to try.

"start--"

He waved the starting flag for the second round.

At the beginning of the training, he was a little impatient and had a tense momentum, but gradually he was able to run steadily under the pressure of the parallel horses.

After going through the entire process of basic training, diagonal practice, and then slope training, I was able to control my rhythm much better than at the beginning.

Although they occasionally show signs of slackening when overtaken, their fighting spirit has improved compared to before.

In addition, perhaps because they had adapted to the soft ground, running became easier and more comfortable.

If this trend continues, there's a chance that my weight might decrease slightly.

As for the other side—

The image on the video equipment clearly reflected the head of the deer-mane horse, which was raised high.

"call--"

Couldn't help but sigh.

(End of this chapter)