Hokkaido Horse Racing Story.

Chapter 38: The Head Horse and Taming

"Time to go grazing, Pegasus—"

Early in the morning, Ogawa Katsu walked into the stable with the leash.

When he opened the gate, he was greeted by the gray butt of a white horse.

Even the reed hair, which is not easy to see, can subtly make people feel the growing muscle tension in the horse's body.

"It's time to graze!"

Standing outside the stable, Xu Hesheng urged softly.

When in the stable, Medodayama would occasionally enter a self-state similar to this.

In this state, if you rashly approach and disturb it, it will get furious even if the person is its closest friend, Ogawa Masaru.

After a while, Mubai Ma shook his ears and slowly turned around.

When the leash was taken out, the reed-haired horse raised its head cooperatively.

"Okay, let's go!"

Taking advantage of the moment when Ogawa Katsu turned back to close the gate, Mubai Ma let out a low growl towards the stable opposite.

Ocean Fleet2024, which was originally eating leisurely, suddenly lowered its head and tucked its tail tightly between its legs.

Mudaiba let out a smug humming sound from his nostrils.

"Pegasus!"

Ogawa Masaru looked at the scene in front of him with a helpless look on his face.

Although he does not have an advantage in physique, Mu Baima unexpectedly became the top horse of the ranch not long ago.

Besides having to prioritize grazing and feeding, there are a lot of other headaches.

After becoming the winning horse, Mubai Ma's many hobbies include scaring other horses.

Especially Ocean Fleet2024 in the stable opposite, it seems to be threatened by it several times almost every day.

In response to Ocean Fleet2024's submissive attitude, Mudaiba raised his head high.

Then, as if reviewing his own troops, he walked out of the stable with his chest held high in a "dance-like" marching posture.

For those who are not experienced or do not know enough about white horses, they may mistake this for a positive sign sent by the horse before grazing.

But as the staff member who has been with it the longest, Ogawa Katsu knows that this guy is simply being proud.

But other than that, there was nothing too out of the ordinary.

He can also fulfill his responsibilities as Toastmasters well.

When we got close to the grazing ground, we finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Although things were not going smoothly, at least Mudai Baima didn't cause any more trouble along the way.

Just as he was thinking this, the reed-haired horse suddenly stopped.

Under Ogawa Katsu's somewhat uneasy gaze, Medaihira yawned with trembling lips.

Then continue along the traction line towards the grazing land.

It's great that nothing bad happened.

In this way, a man and a horse arrived at the grazing ground.

After untying the leash, the next second Baima ran out like a happy Husky.

"be careful!"

After closing the gate of the pasture, Xu Hesheng did not forget to remind them.

Although Medo Hirano won't listen to him.

On the other hand, Ogawa Jō also started training one-year-old horses.

Although he had experience studying in American stables in his early years, he is not like traditional American trainers who seek to have racehorses receive training as early as possible.

In this regard, they are more like European trainers who prefer "natural grazing".

In addition to the necessary basic training and adaptive training, we also focus on the training of racehorses' social and group abilities.

Ogawa Jō thought he had quite a bit of experience in training one-year-old horses.

Since the ranch opened, most of the one-year-old horses he trained have successfully reached the standards of qualified racehorses.

But today, work went awry right from the start. "Let's tidy up the surroundings first, eldest daughter."

He rubbed his swollen head and spoke to his assistant, Kana Ogawa.

The stable was in a mess, and some of the wood chips used as bedding even flew onto Xuhe Zhang's white hair.

From the beginning, Ocean Fleet2024 had been clinging to the wall, making nervous snorting sounds with every breath.

Ocean Fleet2024, which is in the latter part of its first year, should theoretically have received most of the basic training, be able to eliminate fear, learn to wear equipment and receive simple instructions, and start working towards the goal of conserving physical strength and adapting to the track.

And now the chestnut horse in front of him couldn't even do the most basic desensitization to humans.

As for further training, I have absolutely no idea where to start.

Ogawa Jō's method is to use electric toys instead and first conduct the most basic desensitization training on Ocean Fleet2024.

As a result, the chestnut-haired horse became what it is now under the attack of the electric crab.

"It's really difficult—"

Shocked, Ogawa Jō sat down in a pile of sawdust.

Although he was very angry at Murata Farm as the producer when he first took over, he even felt that the other party had no idea about domestication.

After actually taking over, Xu Hezhang more or less understood the difficulties faced by the production ranch.

Given Ocean Fleet2024's overly timid nature, the advancement of any training project will become extremely difficult.

"How about trying to establish a reward system, Dad?"

While tidying up the stable, Ogawa Kanna suggested.

"A reward mechanism? That's something we can give a try."

Xuhe Zhang nodded, and suddenly a cloud of sawdust fell from above his head.

"A Sheng——"

After a while, Ogawa Katsu, who was busy cleaning the stable, poked his head out.

After seeing Ogawa Jō's somewhat disheveled appearance, he forced himself to suppress his laughter.

"What, Dad?"

He asked in a somewhat strange tone.

"Speak to me!"

Xuhe Zhang glared at him first, then asked, "Does this child usually have any favorite food?"

He pointed at Ocean Fleet2024, who was secretly glancing at him from the corner.

"Probably not. He's a good kid on our ranch who isn't picky about food!"

Ogawa Masaru answered with a proud look on his face.

Although its appetite is not that big, Ocean Fleet2024 basically accepts all the feeds given to it.

"That would be difficult to handle."

The method of establishing a reward mechanism through food temptation does not seem to work.

"Hey, Kan'na, how did Dad end up like this?"

Ogawa Sheng lowered his voice and asked curiously.

Although he had encountered difficult situations before, this was the first time he saw his father in such a mess when it came to taming, which was his best skill.

"Please add the suffix "Sister" after Kannai!"

Ogawa Kana hit her brother hard on the head.

However, I still quickly explained the reason for the matter.

Although I didn't expect this idiot to come up with any solution.

"That's right."

Ogawa Sheng gritted his teeth and touched his forehead, which was still aching slightly.

"How about we try to get Megumi Hirano to help it train?"

He suggested, raising his hand cautiously.

(End of this chapter)