Ship's Daily Training

Early the next morning.

Hokkai Ranch, the stable.

Besides Gold Ship, several Shire Horses also lived in the stable.

Shire Horses could weigh as much as a ton and had tremendous stamina and strength.

They were indispensable helpers on the ranch.

"Time to get up, Ship. Your training starts today."

Koichi had risen early and headed straight to the stable.

Gold Ship had originally been free to enjoy a leisurely life here, but things were different now. After all, the horse had to start preparing for races.

Everyone on the ranch was counting on Gold Ship to produce results.

Yet even after Koichi called for quite a while, Gold Ship showed no sign of getting up.

He had no choice but to bring out his trump card.

"Time to eat!"

Eyes snapped open-

At the mention of food, Gold Ship instantly woke up from where the horse lay on the straw.

With food on offer, anything was negotiable.

"Young Master Koichi?"

Miku Kuchiki had just woken up, and as soon as she arrived, she found someone standing in front of her.

Had she gotten up late?

"Come on. I've got time today, so I'll help you brush Ship."

Koichi rolled up his sleeves. He had learned quite a lot from Yosuke.

He would pick up Yosuke's tricks, then pass them on to Miku.

That way, he could save on tuition, too.

"Okay."

Miku Kuchiki instantly felt wide awake, too.

She actually got to work alongside the young master!

How exciting!

Neigh-?

When Koichi opened the door and entered, Gold Ship immediately pushed up against him.

This two-legged creature wasn't scary at all.

"Your young master picked up a few tricks at Aoe Ranch."

Now it was time to show off his skills.

Brush, brush.

Brush, brush-

There was no denying that grooming a horse took skill, especially when it came to making a racehorse comfortable.

At first, Gold Ship resisted a little.

Later, Ship actually leaned toward Koichi.

Who knew this two-legged creature was so good at this?

Mm.

Much better than the one beside him.

Neigh-

Miku, standing beside him, began copying his movements with care.

There really was so much she could learn from the young master.

Naturally, two people worked faster than one, and they soon finished Gold Ship's morning grooming.

"Have your breakfast. Once you're done, I'll take you over to have a look around the training grounds."

Koichi took out his phone and checked the time.

Megumi Mitsumori would already be eating breakfast by now.

They had briefly discussed the schedule last night, and naturally, he had gotten up early today to keep to the agreed time.

Over the next six months or so, they needed to train Ship into a racehorse that could understand commands.

As for what to do during a race, they could leave that to him.

That was a jockey's main job, after all.

Neigh-

Gold Ship suddenly reached over to bite Koichi.

Spare a little?

After catching Koichi's clothes between those teeth, Gold Ship's ears twitched twice.

The horse still missed the carrots Koichi had given out.

"If you don't slack off during training today, there'll definitely be a reward."

Koichi gently patted the horse's mouth.

Despite winning six Grade 1 races, Gold Ship had ultimately been found to have no injuries whatsoever during a physical examination.

When it came to slacking off, he was willing to call Ship the undisputed champion.

Hmph-

In the end, Gold Ship finally let go.

Breakfast first.

Meanwhile, Koichi had already sent Miku Kuchiki, the stablehand, off to eat her own breakfast.

The training grounds.

"Are you really planning to train Ship using Golden Masterpiece's model?"

Megumi Mitsumori read through the plan Koichi had sent her again.

"Ship definitely has the advantage in size. A bigger build should make breaking out of the pack easier later on. I even think Ship could run as a pace-stalker, though we still need to confirm that."

Koichi explained.

As for the late-closing style, that was certainly based on Stay Gold's data.

"I don't have any objections. We can try working in that direction first. Right now, the most important thing is teaching Ship what the commands mean."

Megumi Mitsumori had no objections to that.

After all, this was only her second day seeing Gold Ship, and she still wasn't sure exactly what sort of racehorse she was dealing with.

But Koichi wasn't wrong. A larger build did offer certain advantages.

Golden Masterpiece had tremendous explosive power and stamina, but that smaller build made breaking free of the pack difficult. Once trapped among the other horses, getting out again was hard.

After drawing gate one in their first race, they had been lucky indeed to break out cleanly on the final turn.

Koichi really had grown through racing, too.

"Then that's your job. Just call me if you run into any problems."

Naturally, Koichi wouldn't interfere too much in this area.

Since he had chosen her as Gold Ship's trainer, he would give her free rein to do her work.

"Ship, we'll be spending all our time together for a while. Let's get along."

Throughout a racehorse's career, the people who spent the most time at its side were naturally its trainer and stablehand.

Neigh-

As soon as Koichi released the reins, Gold Ship started acting up.

Who was this two-legged creature?

Megumi Mitsumori watched Koichi retreat to the very edge of the grounds, then turned to collect her things.

Back at school, they had tried training some ordinary horses.

But racehorses were bound to be more temperamental, especially one from the Gold Ship Family, so she would certainly put on all her protective gear before starting.

Safety first!

In their line of work, a few trips to the hospital each year seemed inevitable.

"Be good, Ship."

Megumi Mitsumori quickly reached for Ship's reins.

Dodge~

Seeing her reach for the reins, Gold Ship immediately took a step back.

Catching this horse wouldn't be that easy.

Bleh, bleh, bleh-

Then Gold Ship stuck out that tongue.

"Ship, the sooner we finish training, the sooner you get something tasty."

Megumi Mitsumori couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed.

She hadn't expected Ship to start messing with her on her very first day at work.

This wasn't a good sign.

As a trainer, she had to maintain her authority at all times, or the horse would never listen to her.

Dodge.

Dodge again~

Neigh~

Then Gold Ship began trotting around the grounds.

This was fun.

This two-legged creature seemed much more entertaining than Koichi.

"Stop watching and come help!"

After several failed attempts to catch Gold Ship, Megumi Mitsumori called out, her face flushed.

This was so embarrassing!

"Coming. Stop fooling around, Ship. We can only go back and rest once today's training is done."

Koichi, who had been playing on his phone, put it away and hurried over.

The moment he approached, Gold Ship became considerably better behaved.

"Did you do that on purpose?"

"How could you think that of me? Hurry up and get started, Trainer Mitsumori."

Koichi rolled his eyes, then handed her the reins.

Pipi Ship really did live up to that name.

(End of chapter)