After spending Monday at the Training Center, Koichi went to the ranch where Gold Ship was enjoying a pasture rest on Tuesday.
His schedule was fairly light that week, so it was a good chance to visit Gold Ship, who would probably return to the Training Center in the next couple of days.
"Jockey Sasaki."
"Hello, Jockey Sasaki."
The ranch staff greeted him warmly. This satellite ranch mainly provided horses with simple pasture rests.
Besides the grazing fields, there were horse walkers, treadmills, and a few smaller tracks where racehorses could maintain a basic exercise routine during their pasture rests.
Neigh-
Neigh-!
Gold Ship was galloping freely across the flat exercise ground.
But rather than running, Koichi felt that Gold Ship was clearly playing around. The movements were hardly coordinated, and Gold Ship particularly enjoyed pawing at the ground with the front hooves.
Still, he could clearly tell that Gold Ship was much happier out at pasture than in the stable.
Neigh-
After running for a while, Gold Ship suddenly slammed on the brakes and turned to look toward Koichi.
Horses had a very wide field of vision, and Gold Ship had spotted him standing beside the fence while playing.
Clip-clop-
Gold Ship turned around and trotted toward Koichi at a leisurely pace.
The Carrot Dispenser had finally appeared again after a long absence.
Koichi waved when he saw Gold Ship coming over.
Gold Ship's coat was turning increasingly gray. Koichi figured the process would be almost complete by age four.
In the future, Gold Ship would pass that trait on to the offspring very reliably. Unfortunately, far too few of those offspring would inherit Gold Ship's ability.
If he had to put it into words, he could only call Gold Ship a champion for the common man.
Neigh-
After