Rest and Turnout

On the pasture, quite a few horses had their heads lowered, intently searching the ground for what little grass remained.

Mejiro Tenma, turned out alone, seemed completely uninterested in the grass beneath his feet, aside from occasionally running over to the fence for a few mouthfuls of water.

The gray horse simply stood there quietly, yawning from time to time.

"After the rest period ends, the training plan will still focus mainly on building strength."

Ogawa Joe folded his arms and explained his training plans for Mejiro Tenma to Kitano.

Although there had not been much progress with weight management, Ogawa Joe still wanted to do everything he could.

For dirt racing, Mejiro Tenma still had far too little muscle mass.

Kitano nodded and opened Mejiro Tenma's panel at the same time.

Behind basic attributes such as [Speed] and [Stamina], there were inconspicuous upward arrows.

The arrows all tilted at slightly different angles. He guessed that this might be related to the system's assessment of growth increases.

However, without exception, all of them pointed upward at only a very slight angle.

For abilities like [Wisdom], whose base value was already high, the upward angle of the arrow was so subtle that one had to look carefully to notice it.

And aside from [Wisdom] and [Growth Type], the other abilities were still followed by a long string of question marks.

Couldn't see anything at all, could I?

Kitano closed the panel and continued listening to Ogawa Joe's training plans.

"At least in the short term, we probably won't assign Pegasus any overly demanding training."

In truth, there was not much training that could be arranged anyway.

Whether it was gate training or desensitization, neither seemed to be a problem judging by the first race.

They had even received an evaluation from jockey Ochiai that Pegasus seemed to possess "some kind of instinct for racing."

As for programs with stricter facility requirements, such as swimming training or forest hill work, Nishiken Farm did not have the means to conduct them.

That was simply the norm for regional racing.

During the brief intervals between races, being able to let a horse recover even a little from its fatigue was already quite good.

"What do you think, Mr. Kitano? Both in terms of training and racing?"

After explaining the farm's training plans, Ogawa Joe turned to ask Kitano what he thought.

Mejiro Tenma's smooth escape from maiden status in his very first race was an encouraging piece of news for everyone involved.

This at least gave them much more room in choosing races, rather than forcing them to scramble through one maiden race after another.

"For training, let's follow Mr. Ogawa's plan."

Kitano had always respected advice from professionals in fields he did not understand.

"As for racing..."

After a brief pause, he continued, "At least for the rest of this year, it's enough to race for the sake of gaining experience. There's no need to rush."

As he spoke, he patted Mejiro Tenma's dusty gray head poking over the fence.

Unlike most new owners, Kitano had not been carried away by this momentary victory and made unreasonable demands of the trainer and jockey, such as insisting that they had to win races.

He had given Tanaka the same answer when asked on the day the race ended.

Both Tanaka back then and Ogawa Joe now found Kitano's choice somewhat unexpected.

Though the toll on the horse's body was not especially severe, prize money in regional racing was quite limited.

And while boarding fees, the largest expense, did not compare to the nearly one million yen per month often seen in central racing, they were still no small sum.

Because of that, many regional owners had their racehorses compete frequently.

Kitano's expectations for Mejiro Tenma were merely that he would not lose too much money.

If they could complete more tasks along the way, then naturally, that would be even better.

And if they failed to complete them, there was no need to force it.

From that perspective, Kitano was somewhat easygoing as a horse owner.

"And besides—"

Kitano withdrew his hand and continued, "He's still growing. Entering too many races probably wouldn't be good for him, right?"

As a veterinarian, Kitano likewise would not consider arranging an overly packed race schedule for a racehorse.

"That's true—"

Ogawa Joe nodded, then turned to look toward the group turnout area in the distance, seemingly lost in thought.

"Mr. Kitano, I've finished spreading the bedding!"

Ogawa Masaru's voice came from the direction of the stables.

The boy jogged all the way over to the pasture.

"Thanks for the effort."

Kitano nodded to the boy.

"It was nothing, nothing~"

Wiping the sweat from his face with a towel, Ogawa Masaru wore a bright smile.

At that moment, Mejiro Tenma suddenly dropped to the ground and rolled over.

He failed to roll all the way over.

After trying several more times, he finally got back up, looking rather sulky.

Everyone burst out laughing at the slightly comical sight.

Only Ogawa Masaru looked at the mud all over Mejiro Tenma's body and rubbed his head in distress.

After Kitano left the farm, Ogawa Masaru sighed as he picked up a bucket, preparing to wash Mejiro Tenma.

Apparently satisfied with his turnout, the filthy gray horse kept shaking his head all the way to the wash area.

"He used to be such a quiet type when he was little. Now he's become so troublesome."

As Ogawa Masaru hooked the securing rope onto the halter, he muttered softly to himself.

After turning down the water flow and testing the temperature with his hand, he aimed the shower nozzle at the filthy gray horse.

Mejiro Tenma's relatively short coat was soon soaked, faintly revealing the muscle lines on his chest that had not been very noticeable before.

Ogawa Masaru got to work.

When he washed the top of Mejiro Tenma's head, the little gray-and-white ears deftly dodged aside. When the nozzle moved lower, he cooperatively closed his eyes.

At least in that respect, he was still as clever as when he was young.

He could practically be called a bath-time expert.

Ogawa Masaru moved the shower nozzle to the front, and Mejiro Tenma took the chance to bare his teeth and gulp down water.

"So ugly."

Ogawa Masaru smiled and gently patted Mejiro Tenma's upper lip. "If you want a drink, wait until we're back in the stable. It's bath time now!"

With that, he set down the nozzle, picked up a brush, and began grooming Mejiro Tenma's tangled mane.

Mejiro Tenma shook his head even more violently, splashing Ogawa Masaru's clothes with droplets of water.

Later, while drying him off, Mejiro Tenma took advantage of Ogawa Masaru's inattention to snatch up the towel in his mouth. He only reluctantly let go after Ogawa Masaru pleaded with him for quite a while.

After a long bout of fussing around, the washing was finally finished.

After sending the clean and refreshed Mejiro Tenma into the stable, the utterly exhausted Ogawa Masaru dropped onto the floor.