Chapter 28 — Before I Knew It, I Was in My Third Year Too
June in Hokkaido has no rainy season, and the weather is wonderful.
…Or at least that’s probably what the tourist brochures say.
They’re not wrong. The sky is high, the breeze is cool, the grass grows like crazy, and the days are long.
As far as ranch scenery goes, it’s one of the best times of the year.
Stone’s second breeding of the season ended safely—or had it?
Well… it was over without any major issues. I thought.
This year’s two-year-olds—meaning the gray colt whose favorite word was “objectively”—had also gone off to Okabe-san’s stable.
On the morning he left, he’d declared,
“I’m probably the type who calmly analyzes situations and steadily produces results.”
Then, three minutes later, he froze solid in front of the horse transport ramp and muttered, “…That’s steeper than I expected.” It made me wonder what “objectivity” really meant.
Still… he made it to the stable safely.
So far, we hadn’t heard of any major problems.
The horses from our ranch always say whatever they want…but in the end, they all head off properly.
Good kids.
If this year were like last year, this would be the time when everyone could finally relax for a while.
Except…
“…We’re way too busy.”
I found myself leaning against the pasture fence and muttering while staring off into the distance.
“Sakuu! Something’s flying around!”
“That’s a dragonfly.”
“A dragonfly! Can I eat it!?”
“Probably wouldn’t taste very good.”
“Moooom! He stepped on my shadow!”
“Your shadow doesn’t shrink if someone steps on it. Don’t worry about it.”
They’re extremely noisy.
Cute, but noisy.
Well, they were like this last year too.
The difference was that this year, Grandpa had started blatantly increasing my workload, saying,
“You’re in your third year now,”
At that time…
Brrrrrrr…
I heard the sound of a car coming from the entrance to the ranch.
“…Another visitor today?”
There had been so many visitors lately that it was keeping us constantly busy.
â—‡
“So this is Sakurai Ranch?”
“I heard about this place from Tenzan-san the other day.”
“Ah, we met at that party two years ago.”
“Would you mind showing me some of your yearlings?”
This was what they called a private farm visit.
Simply put, buyers come directly to the ranch before the auction saying things like, “Would you consider selling this one to us?” or, “If you’re sending this horse to auction, let us know first.”
For a small ranch like ours, that was actually a pretty big deal.
We’d had a few visitors last year too, but this year there were obviously far more.
The reason was simple.
Tenzan Sakura.
The horse we’d sold two years ago had gone on to win a G1.
As a result, people suddenly started thinking,
“Maybe we should take a look at the horses at Sakurai Ranch?”
…Apparently Crown’s name had become known to some people too.
And whenever lots of people came to look around, the foals got strangely excited.
“Saku! That old man with the beard keeps staring at my legs!”
“That’s his job.”
“Do I have a face that looks like it’ll sell for a high price today?”
“How should I know?”
One of the fillies even looked up at a man in a business suit and confidently declared,
“I think this guy likes me.”
Where does that confidence even come from?
Though…
the man actually did seem to like her quite a bit. He watched her walk, studied the angle of her shoulders, and nodded thoughtfully.
“How’s her temperament?”
Temperament…
Well, I couldn’t exactly answer, “She’s kind of a brat.”
“She’s still a little mischievous, but she’s healthy and energetic.”
Yeah. That sounded like a safe answer.
Meanwhile, the filly herself whispered beside me,
“That guy’s got quite a belly. Tell him he should exercise more, Saku.”
I was really glad people couldn’t understand horses.
â—‡
Tenzan-san came too.
As always…he wore an excellent suit.
It looked completely out of place on the ranch’s dirt roads, but somehow…it still suited him perfectly.
“Hello, Saku.”
“Hello, good to see you again.”
“You look busy.”
“Yes, well… thankfully.”
“Heh. That’s good.”
This man was still a little intimidating.
His voice was gentle, but there was something about the way he observed everything.
It felt like he saw right through people.
After quietly looking over the horses for a while, he spoke.
“Tenzan Sakura’s success will bring all kinds of people here.”
“I think so too.”
“Small ranches have strengths that large operations don’t.”
“Hm?”
“You can keep a close eye on every horse. You truly understand each one’s personality.”
“I see.”
“I’m looking forward to what comes next.”
I had a feeling that was incredibly high praise.
â—‡
By evening, after finally seeing Tenzan-san off, I leaned against the stable wall.
I was exhausted.
“…Being a ranch owner isn’t just about taking care of horses.”
I sighed.
From the stall across from me, Stone looked over with half-lidded eyes.
“Kid.”
“Hm?”
“Being busy is a good thing.”
“I know.”
“It’s a whole lot better than sitting around with nobody coming.”
“…True.”
“So? Did anyone say, ‘We absolutely have to have this one’?”
“They did.”
“Oh?”
“The funny thing is…”
“Every visitor fell in love with a different horse.”
Stone snorted.
“Of course they did.”
“They all had different tastes?”
“Exactly.”
“That’s how people are when it comes to horses, and that’s what makes it so interesting.”
Maybe she was right.
Just then, one of the foals came charging over at full speed and planted both front hooves on my rubber boots.
Hey. That’s dangerous.
“Sakuu! Are there more visitors coming!?”
“Not today.”
“Yaaay!”
“What’s with the ‘yay’?”
“Saku can play with us now!”
For some reason, that made all my tension melt away.
Yeah.
For these little guys, things like private sales…
buyers…
business…
None of that mattered to them.
Their whole world consisted of:
“Can we play?”, “I’m hungry.”, “Where’s Mom?”
Thinking about it made me smile.
“Sure.”
“Yaaay!”
Satisfied, the foal immediately spun around to ram someone else.
“Saku’s gonna play with us!!”
“Awesome!!”
“Woooo!”
Another peaceful day.
Peaceful… noisy… and incredibly busy.