Ship's Daily Training (2)

Mmm-

Seeing that training had begun, Koichi started eating his breakfast too.

A rice ball and a small can of coffee.

Thanks to his efforts over the past few weeks, he had successfully lost another pound.

With the skill he had drawn last time, he no longer had to worry about his weight skyrocketing whenever he ate whatever he wanted.

Smack, smack, smack-

The first thing Ship had to learn was what the whip meant.

As Koichi had said earlier, racehorses had no clear understanding of how they should run, how far they should run, or when they could stop.

That was when jockeys needed to use their whips and reins to give commands.

That made this a racehorse's first lesson.

They needed to know what it meant when the whip struck different parts of their bodies.

Of course, the taps were very light. Megumi Mitsumori was simply getting him used to them and teaching him what to do when he received those commands.

Koichi had originally thought Ship would start throwing a tantrum almost immediately, but to his surprise, he stuck with it for quite a while.

Sure enough, Ship was still dependable when he was young.

After learning all that, Ship also had to learn his gaits.

"Young Master Koichi, here's the water."

"Just leave it there. I'll leave cleaning the stables to you."

Koichi glanced at the worker from his ranch.

The bottled water was naturally for them. Training a racehorse was no easy task.

Back when she first arrived, their trainer had complained to him quite a bit about how difficult it was to get certified.

"All right."

The worker glanced at Gold Ship, who was still training, then hurried out.

Gold Ship was not someone they could afford to mess with.

Koichi waved toward them.

"Come take a break if you're tired. I'm not some harsh boss who only knows how to squeeze every last bit of work out of you. I've even had water brought over."

Fortunately, it was spring. Once summer arrived, the temperature here would rise quickly.

Watching Gold Ship go around in circles was making him feel dizzy.

"Sure, let's take a short break."

"All right."

Megumi Mitsumori also knew that training was not something they could accomplish in one go.

Gold Ship might not look particularly tired, but she certainly was.

They could have some water and chat first.

There was actually something else she had been wanting to ask Koichi.

Neigh, neigh-

Now that he was free to move around, Gold Ship began strolling around the training ground.

He was at an age when his curiosity was especially strong.

"Sasaki, there's actually something I've been wanting to ask you."

Megumi Mitsumori picked up a bottle of water and asked.

"Go ahead."

Koichi looked at his trainer in puzzlement.

Was she going to ask him how he got the hot-tempered Golden Masterpiece to behave?

"How are things between you and that trainer, Kudo, now?"

Megumi Mitsumori was quite curious about this senior colleague of hers.

After all, he was her senior, and he really had trained several very famous racehorses.

Both of the golden brothers, Dream Journey and Golden Masterpiece, were under his care.

"I've actually only met him once. He was probably on the seventh floor during the race too, but he left early."

Koichi spread his hands.

He knew that the man had never thought much of him from the start, and had even sent another jockey to make things difficult for him.

He had probably seen Koichi take first place and felt too embarrassed to stay.

Under normal circumstances, he would certainly have come over for a photo.

"I see. Then if you take first again next time, won't that just make things even more awkward for him?"

Megumi Mitsumori covered her mouth and laughed.

A jockey he had dismissed earning more and more honors would certainly leave a racehorse trainer looking bad.

After all, the trainer and owner were the ones who chose the jockey.

"That's not really my concern. But whatever he says, he's still Golden Masterpiece's trainer."

Koichi trusted Ayano Aoe to handle the matter.

After all, she wanted to sweep all three legs of this year's Triple Crown and make Golden Masterpiece a Triple Crown winner.

"You're right about that."

Megumi Mitsumori thought for a moment before replying.

A jockey's job was ultimately to ride racehorses in races. The people above them had the final say on the arrangements. Of course, jockeys also had to fight for good horses, because that was the only way they could get results.

Everyone wanted to earn more money.

The top jockeys in Japan were already being kept well supplied by the big ranches.

Those people never lacked good horses.

From another perspective, Koichi was definitely their competitor. After all, there were only so many races each year, and even fewer first-place finishes to go around.

Neigh, neigh-

After making a circuit of the training ground, Gold Ship walked straight up to Koichi.

Carrot Machine.

Time to restock the carrots!

"All right, all right, stop nudging me. Keep that up and I'll fall off."

Sitting on the concrete wall, Koichi gently pushed him away.

As for the carrots, he had already put them in his pocket.

He couldn't exactly perform a carrot-conjuring trick in front of Megumi Mitsumori.

"Here you go, here you go."

Koichi took out a carrot and pushed it straight into his mouth.

If he didn't give him one, Ship certainly wouldn't leave him alone.

Anything that could be solved with a single carrot was a minor problem.

He had drawn another whole pile of carrots while he was in Kyoto.

Neigh, neigh~

After eating a carrot, Gold Ship felt considerably more satisfied.

Once he finished, he resumed his journey around the training ground.

"It looks like you and Gold Ship get along pretty well."

"These racehorses aren't little idiots. Of course they can tell who's good to them and who isn't."

Koichi rolled his eyes.

In his original world, Gold Ship had gotten along very poorly with his trainer.

He and Ship would be partners in races for a long time to come, so building a good relationship now was certainly important.

He was just afraid Gold Ship would suddenly awaken that side of himself ahead of schedule and pull some stunt on the track.

"Mm, that's true. Well, I'll get back to work."

After taking another sip of water, Megumi Mitsumori walked toward Gold Ship.

They didn't have much time to spare.

Neigh, neigh-

"Ship, stop running away. Weren't we working together perfectly well just now?"

Neigh, neigh-

Gold Ship kept running and stopping, as though he was afraid she might suddenly give up.

After eating that carrot, he felt full of energy again.

Phew-

Megumi Mitsumori took a deep breath.

Gold Ship was far too mischievous. Sure enough, she couldn't handle him alone.

Yet that man was still sitting over there enjoying the show.

"Sasaki-"

"Coming, coming! Ship, stop moving around. Once training's over, we can go have a bath."

Seeing her murderous glare, Koichi jumped down from the wall.

He realized that Ship really enjoyed teasing Megumi Mitsumori.

For now, getting the work done came first.

(End of chapter)