By mid-May, time had flown by.
Representative Ogawa, Trainer Tanaka, and jockey Ochiai gathered together to discuss Mejiro Tenma's debut schedule.
"This bloodline has achieved quite a few results on dirt tracks. And with Pegasus's relatively broad hooves, handling Monbetsu's track shouldn't be a problem."
As Mejiro Tenma's actual trainer, Ogawa Joe spoke first.
"How has his physical development been?"
Tanaka asked.
"Compared to last week, there hasn't been any noticeable change in his weight."
Ogawa Joe answered with some hesitation.
Mejiro Tenma was the picky sort when it came to food. Aside from apples specially cut into small pieces, he showed little interest even in fresh pasture grass, let alone formulated feed.
That was precisely what worried Ogawa Joe.
"Genta, what do you think?"
Without rushing to offer his own opinion, Tanaka set down the race schedule in his hand and turned to Ochiai.
"His movements are very smooth. His flexibility isn't particularly outstanding, but he doesn't waste unnecessary energy when he runs."
Having already gone through several adjustment sessions with Mejiro Tenma, Ochiai promptly gave his assessment.
"And mentally? How does he seem?"
Tanaka continued.
"He's the somewhat hard-to-read type."
After a slight pause, Ochiai continued, "But he picks up and learns commands quickly, and he has an excellent memory."
"I see..."
Tanaka nodded, then lowered his head in silence and began to think.
"How about trying the 1,000 meters on the 23rd of this month?"
For a horse born in March, making its debut at the end of May was not especially early.
Moreover, according to the person actually in charge, his development currently seemed somewhat slow.
In that case, there was no need to wait for his body to develop further.
It was said that horses grew four times faster than humans.
Yet Mejiro Tenma, who had been born relatively early among horses his age, did not hold much of an advantage in weight.
If they waited any longer, they might instead waste even the small advantage his early birth had given him.
Though it might seem as if he were forcing the pace somewhat, Tanaka felt that his judgment was still sound.
"We'll cooperate on our end."
Although he felt the timing was a little rushed, Ogawa Joe ultimately nodded in agreement.
"I have no problem with it."
Ochiai also accepted without hesitation.
"Then let's report it to Mr. Kitano like this."
Taking out a signing pen, Tanaka added a new entry to the densely packed race schedule.
With Kitano absent, the three-way discussion came to an end.
As for Kitano—
He and a middle-aged man in a suit were intently observing the droppings on the ground, like elementary school students completing an insect observation diary during vacation.
More precisely, they were Merino sheep droppings.
"Look, these are all undigested milk curds."
Kitano spread the droppings apart and began explaining as if nothing were unusual.
The man in the suit wore an awkward expression.
"If the milk curds are small and haven't caused a serious blockage in the gastrointestinal tract, normal intestinal movement will most likely push them along gradually until they are eventually expelled with the feces."
After removing his gloves, Kitano suddenly stood and pried open the lamb's mouth.
After taking a quick look, he released it.
The oral mucosa was normal, and its gait showed no abnormalities while walking.
This preliminarily ruled out the possibility of foot-and-mouth disease infection.
The little lamb's eyes were wide open as it swished its tail and repeatedly curled up its upper lip.
Seeing this, the man in the suit hurriedly stood as well, letting out a breath as though relieved.
"Then it shouldn't be a serious problem, right?"
Pulling his gaze away from the spread-out droppings with some distaste, the man in the suit asked uncertainly.
"Not necessarily. If the milk curds are large, or if they accumulate and stick together in the gastrointestinal tract, they may eventually form a blockage and threaten the lamb's life."
Kitano shook his head, and the motion made the man in the suit look more nervous.
"Can it be resolved as soon as possible?"
He asked earnestly.
"We still need to determine the cause first."
Kitano's expression also turned somewhat helpless.
As a professional manager, the man in the suit might have been quite capable at operating and managing Nishiken Farm.
But when it came to understanding livestock themselves, he was rather lacking.
From the phone call requesting help, the only information available had been that the lambs generally suffered from weak legs and loss of appetite.
"Do you still have the feeding records from the ewes' middle and late pregnancy?"
After walking between the pens and grazing grounds, stopping from time to time to observe, Kitano turned his head and asked.
The pens were dry and clean, with no obvious sharp foreign objects, while the grazing grounds were also reasonably sized.
Aside from parasite and viral infections, the possibilities of illness caused by the living environment and insufficient exercise had also been ruled out.
Then he would try looking for the cause in the mothers and their feed.
"Yes! All the records are saved on the computer. We even have the feeding times and feed batches recorded clearly."
The man in the suit nodded repeatedly and led Kitano toward his office.
"There's nothing wrong with the nutritional composition of the feed, but they've been given far too little green forage."
Just as the man in the suit had said, the feeding records on the computer were extremely detailed, and Kitano quickly found the problem.
"For a short period after the ewe gives birth, there's no real problem with feeding less concentrated feed and green forage. But once her body gradually recovers, if she's nursing, you need to gradually return to normal feeding practices."
"Inject two milliliters of compound vitamin B intramuscularly, and observe the lambs' temperatures closely over the next couple of days."
After saying that, Kitano added uneasily, "Also, keep records of the droppings. If the weak-leg symptoms continue after a few days, contact me anytime."
Even though observation of the clinical symptoms had preliminarily ruled out the possibility of E. coli infection, the follow-up work still had to be done properly.
"Droppings... those need to be recorded too?"
The man in the suit frowned slightly. After thinking it over, he found an employee and gave him a few quiet instructions.
The troubled expression shifted to that employee's face.
"Then the diagnosis is complete."
Although the consultation fee would not arrive so quickly, it was still some income for Kitano, who had just paid over a million yen in boarding fees for Mejiro Tenma in one go.
If several breeders had not happened to pay the consultation fees they owed from last winter over the past few days, he would probably have gone back to living on bean sprouts again.
Back in the car, Kitano unlocked his phone screen, and several unread messages popped up in succession.
Representative Ogawa, Trainer Tanaka, and jockey Ochiai had each offered suggestions for the debut race from their own perspectives.
"The 23rd, huh..."
Setting down his phone, Kitano tapped the steering wheel and thought for several seconds.
Then he sent his reply.
"Let's do it."