Hoof Care Guide for Thin-Hoofed Horses

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 looked surprised.

"Has he finally learned to talk?"

There did not seem to be much to be surprised about.

After all, this was Pegasus, whose [Wisdom] stat was A-.

"Animals can't talk no matter what, right? Your ideas are really strange, Kitano."

Ogawa Masaru gave him an odd look.

Then he recited the lead-horse training theory he had just learned from his father.

"I see."

Kitano nodded.

He could more or less be considered familiar with horses' bodies now, but there were clearly still many things to learn beyond that.

He still had a long way to go.

"A-Sheng, you're really impressive."

Admitting that someone else surpassed you in a certain area was a very difficult thing for an individual human being.

Especially when the other person was someone "below" you in terms of age or seniority.

But Kitano had nothing to worry about.

He did not care too much about what other people thought.

"Impressive...? Hehe... it's nothing special~"

The boy smiled proudly, though a little shyly.

"A-Sheng is just parroting what he heard. Mr. Kitano, don't let this idiot fool you."

Having exposed the truth, Ogawa Kanna smiled smugly, pleased with her prank.

Ogawa Masaru glared at her irritably.

"Shimura will be here soon to shoe O-chan and Kohana. Why aren't you getting ready?"

Brushing back the ends of her black hair by her cheek, the girl glared right back at him.

"...Got it!"

In this exchange, Ogawa Masaru had undoubtedly come out worse.

The boy dejectedly picked up the lead ropes.

"Then I'll leave you two to it."

Kitano smiled as he said goodbye to 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 of them led the two yearlings to the area used for hoof trimming and bathing, Shimura the farrier was already waiting there.

Various shoeing tools had been neatly arranged in a row on the table.

"Sorry for the trouble, Mr. Shimura."

Ogawa Kanna handed the bay yearling called Kohana over to Shimura and gave a slight bow.

"It's nothing. This is our job, after all."

Shimura stroked along the bay mare's neck all the way down to her white-painted legs.

She did not resist at all.

"What a gentle girl—"

As he spoke, he slowly lifted Kohana's left foreleg.

"She's grown well. Her hooves are in very healthy condition!"

He then picked up a hoof gauge and began checking the thickness in each area.

Though he was sometimes criticized for being inflexible, Shimura preferred precise data over things like experience or intuition.

For a farrier, rigor was indispensable.

It was a principle he had consistently upheld throughout his thirty years of work.

"This time, we can leave the heels a little higher."

Shimura spoke as he set down the instrument.

Given the current shape of the hoof, there was slightly too much pressure on the front toe.

Leaving the heels a little higher could reduce the pressure on the front toe.

Keeping a certain amount of concavity in the sole served the same purpose.

He fitted new horseshoes, then used a rasp to file away the protruding parts of the nails.

Releasing the hoof clamped between his legs, Shimura thumped his slightly aching lower back.

Then came the next horse.

"So you're Kobayashi Rikki's child?"

He greeted the chestnut horse in front of him.

Though it was not Ocean Fleet2024's first time being shod, she still looked quite nervous.

"Relax, O-chan."

Ogawa Masaru kept soothing the startled chestnut mare.

"She's really small. Running must be hard on her."

Lowering his gaze from her body, Shimura began examining the chestnut mare's legs.

To his slight surprise, they were not as slender as her build suggested.

He reached out and felt them briefly.

The connection between her hooves and fetlocks leaned toward the softer side.

Her muscles also had a palpable sense of strength.

"They look like legs capable of producing excellent 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 generation after generation of racing people.

Shimura lifted the chestnut mare's hoof and picked up the hoof gauge again.

"They're very small, and the hoof walls are a little thin."

Ocean Fleet2024's hoof-wall keratin layer was only 6.5 millimeters thick, whereas a horse's hoof capsule normally should be around 8 to 12 millimeters thick.

Overly thin hoof walls reduced their weight-bearing capacity and also made them prone to cracking and sensitivity.

After considering it for a while, Shimura decided to replace the chestnut mare's shoes with lighter aluminum ones instead of continuing with the previous farrier's approach of using full-bar shoes.

Full-bar shoes could expand the weight-bearing area and distribute pressure on the sole as much as possible.

However, the downside was that prolonged use of full-bar shoes could restrict the hoof's natural growth and worsen this thin-hoof condition.

While heating the horseshoes, Shimura used a hoof pick to clean dirt and excess keratin from the bottoms of her hooves.

He then used hoof testers to check the pressure distribution across each 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 made every cut with great care.

After trimming the hooves, he turned his attention to the heated, softened horseshoes.

Based on the shape he had memorized, he hammered the shoes into the appropriate form.

Then he pressed the horseshoes against the soles.

They fit perfectly.

Seemingly startled by the rising white smoke, Ocean Fleet2024 uneasily shuddered.

"Sorry, could you hand me that?"

Before he could begin shoeing properly, there was still one more thing to prepare.

Taking the small box Ogawa Masaru handed over, Shimura removed the pink silicone inside.

After kneading it a little, he pressed the silicone, which looked like chewed gum, into the hollow at the center of the sole.

Only after placing the silicone cushioning pad did he move on to the horseshoe itself.

Even without room for nails, thin-hoofed horses could now be shod with adhesives.

Though it was somewhat troublesome, 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 replaced every four to five weeks. You can also try giving her some biotin supplements 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 traditional iron ones.

Also, when trimming a thin-hoofed horse, one had to follow the principle of "more often, less at a time"—

Observe often, trim sparingly.

Once the shoes were fitted, Shimura gestured for Ogawa Masaru to lead the chestnut mare a few steps.

Her gait was completely normal, without anything unusual.

Perfect.