The next morning.
Kitano arrived at Nishiken Farm, and Ogawa Masaru told him about what had happened during yesterday's training.
"Have Pegasus help with the training?"
Setting down the cardboard box in his hands, Kitano showed a surprised expression.
"Has she finally learned to speak?"
There did not seem to be much reason for surprise.
After all, this was Pegasus, whose [Wisdom] stat was A-.
"No matter what, animals can't talk, can they? Your ideas are way too strange, Kitano."
Ogawa Masaru gave him a slightly odd look.
Then he eagerly recited the lead-horse training theory he had just learned from his father.
"I see."
Kitano nodded.
He could now be considered fairly familiar with horses' bodies, but there was still much to learn beyond that.
He still had a long way to go.
"A-Sheng, you're really impressive."
For humans as individuals, admitting that someone else surpassed them in a certain area was an extremely difficult thing.
Especially when the other person was someone of lower standing in terms of age or seniority.
But Kitano had nothing to worry about.
He did not care much about what others thought of him.
"Impressive...? Hehe... it's nothing special~"
The boy smiled proudly, though a little bashfully.
"A-Sheng is just parroting what he heard. Don't let this idiot fool you, Mr. Kitano."
After exposing the truth, Ogawa Kanna smiled smugly as though her prank had succeeded.
Ogawa Masaru shot her an irritated glare.
"Mr. Shimura will be here soon to shoe O-chan and Little Flower. Why aren't you hurrying over to get ready?"
Brushing back the ends of her black hair by her cheek, the girl glared right back at him without backing down.
"...Got it!"
Ogawa Masaru had unquestionably come off worse in this exchange.
The boy dejectedly picked up the lead ropes.
"Then I won't disturb you any longer."
Kitano smiled as he said goodbye to the two of them.
"See you, Kitano."
As he spoke, Ogawa Masaru tossed one of the lead ropes to Ogawa Kanna.
"Goodbye, Mr. Kitano."
The girl spoke softly.
By the time the two led the yearlings to the area used for hoof trimming and bathing, the farrier, Shimura, was already waiting there.
Various farriery tools were neatly lined up across the table.
"Thanks for the effort, Mr. Shimura."
Handing the bay yearling called Little Flower to Shimura, Ogawa Kanna bowed slightly.
"It's nothing. This is our job, after all."
Shimura stroked along the bay mare's neck, all the way down to her white-marked legs.
He encountered no resistance at all.
"She's really docile—"
As he spoke, he slowly lifted Little Flower's left foreleg.
"She seems to have grown well. Her hooves are in very healthy condition!"
Then he picked up a hoof thickness gauge and began checking the thickness of each area.
Though he was sometimes criticized for being inflexible, Shimura trusted precise data more than experience or intuition.
For a farrier, rigor was indispensable.
It was a principle he had consistently upheld throughout the past thirty years of work.
"This time, we can leave the heels a little higher."
Setting down the instrument in his hand, Shimura spoke.
Given the current shape of the hoof, there was slightly too much pressure on the toe of the front hoof.
Leaving the heel portion a little higher could reduce the pressure on the toe.
Maintaining a certain degree of concavity in the sole served the same purpose.
He fitted a new horseshoe, then used a rasp to file away the protruding portions of the nails.
Releasing the hoof clamped between his legs, Shimura thumped his slightly aching lower back.
Then came the next horse.
"Are you Kobayashi Rikki's child?"
He greeted the chestnut horse before him.
Though this was not Ocean Fleet 2024's first time being shod, she still appeared quite nervous.
"Relax, O-chan."
Ogawa Masaru kept comforting the startled chestnut mare.
"She's really small. Running must be tough for her."
Moving his gaze down from her body, Shimura began examining the chestnut mare's legs.
They were a little surprising—not as delicate as her build suggested.
He reached out and gave them a light touch.
The connection between the hoof and fetlock was on the softer side.
Her muscles also had a sense of strength to them.
"These look like legs capable of producing very good movement."
He could not help feeling regretful.
Still, this was an extremely common occurrence.
Otherwise, the "perfect racehorse" would not have become the ultimate goal pursued by generations of horsemen.
Lifting the chestnut mare's hoof, Shimura picked up the hoof thickness gauge again.
"She's a very petite type, and her hoof walls are a little thin."
Ocean Fleet 2024's hoof wall was only 6.5 millimeters thick, while a horse's hoof capsule normally ought to measure around eight to twelve millimeters.
Overly thin hoof walls reduced weight-bearing capacity and were also prone to cracking and sensitivity.
After considering it for a while, Shimura decided to replace the chestnut mare's shoes with lighter aluminum ones rather than continue with the previous farrier's approach of using full-support shoes.
Full-support shoes could increase the weight-bearing area and distribute pressure on the sole as much as possible.
However, the downside was that prolonged use of full-support shoes might restrict the hoof's natural growth, making this thin-hoofed condition even worse.
While heating the horseshoe, Shimura used a hoof pick to clear dirt and excess horn from the bottom of the hoof.
Then he used hoof testers to check the distribution of pressure throughout the hoof.
"The hind hooves need to be a little steeper... The front hooves can keep their current angle..."
Once he had a rough plan in mind, he picked up the hoof knife at his feet.
Like a sculptor at work, he was extremely cautious with every cut.
After trimming the hoof, he turned his attention to the softened horseshoe.
Drawing on the image in his mind, he hammered the shoe into the appropriate shape.
Then he pressed the horseshoe against the sole.
It was a perfect fit.
Seemingly startled by the rising white smoke, Ocean Fleet 2024 gave an uneasy shudder.
"Sorry, could you hand me that?"
Before he could begin shoeing properly, there was one more thing he needed to prepare.
Taking the small box Ogawa Masaru handed over, he removed the pink silicone inside.
After kneading it briefly, he pressed the silicone, which looked like chewed gum, into the recessed center of the sole.
Only after applying the silicone cushioning pad did he move on to the horseshoe itself.
Even without enough hoof wall to drive nails into, thin-hoofed horses could now be shod using adhesive.
It was somewhat troublesome, but he managed to finish smoothly.
By the time all four horseshoes had been replaced, Shimura was drenched in sweat.
"This girl should have her shoes changed every four to five weeks. Also, you can try supplementing her with some biotin or feeding her things like flaxseed."
Shimura spoke as he bent down to apply hoof oil.
Though lightweight, aluminum horseshoes were not as durable as the iron shoes used before.
Moreover, when trimming a thin-hoofed horse, one had to follow the principle of "often, but little"—
Observe often, trim little.
After finishing the shoeing, Shimura gestured for Ogawa Masaru to lead the chestnut mare for a few steps.
Her gait was perfectly normal, with nothing unusual about it.
Perfect.