Kitahara had not been unaware of the series of training methods—or rather, the equipment and systems—that Miyamura Kyoko mentioned.
Back when he was running a club, he and his friends would often try to attend top-tier open forums or banquets to promote the development of their stable and the club. They had even attended international, first-class horsemanship exchange meetings and banquets.
Granted, at that time, with his status, all he could do in such places was stay quietly in a corner—but he still gained a solid understanding of many advanced, cutting-edge systems.
The reason he hadn't seriously considered them before was very simple.
They were expensive.
Extremely, absurdly, prohibitively expensive.
Especially in this era, which lagged behind in technological progress.
Take "wind tunnel training," for example. In the other world, a wind tunnel setup designed for professional athletes—with fully functional features—would cost at least millions of yen, and that's already with the technology matured and commercialized to some extent.
Here, in this world's Japan, "wind tunnel training" hadn't become widespread yet. Only certain universities and research institutes owned such equipment, and their setups started at tens of millions of yen. At present, getting one was practically impossible.
As for gravity-chamber training, biomechanical simulation modeling, OmegaWave—those were all even more expensive than wind tunnels, and in some cases, cost wasn't even the issue.
Take gravity chambers: in Japan, those devices existed only in the aerospace field.
With all these restrictions, Kitahara had instinctively felt there was no need to even consider such approaches.
But now that Miyamura Kyoko had brought it up, he gave it serious thought and realized—maybe they weren't completely out of reach after all.
Wind tunnel equipment was far too expensive and could be set aside for later, but "parachute sprint training" was something they could start right now.
As the name suggests, this training involves attaching a parachute to the body and using wind resistance to increase training intensity.
At first glance, it sounded similar to towing heavy weights, but in truth, parachute sprint training targeted explosive sprint power, while towing trained cruising endurance—the two were completely different.
When dragging heavy objects, the athlete resists the friction between the object and the ground, requiring long, steady force output as long as the weight remains.
Parachute training, on the other hand, used air resistance. The faster you sprinted, the greater the resistance generated. In other words, the resistance could be controlled, effectively improving explosive power and sprint performance.
In fact, wind tunnel training was like an advanced version of parachute sprinting. Professional setups could more precisely control wind speed and direction—thus resistance—and even use standing platforms to simulate different terrains while simultaneously providing better balance training. This allowed for highly targeted conditioning.
Therefore, they could start with parachute training first. Conveniently, Oguri Cap's weighted training gear already had matching hooks and locks, making it usable not only for towing drills but also for wind-resistance exercises.
As for wind tunnels and other, more expensive methods…
Oguri Cap still had a few endorsement deals pending. These local Kasamatsu companies didn't pay much, and the digestive tablets Kyoko had mentioned were probably just a small partnership, but it was a direction to build upon.
Kitahara realized that as his capabilities improved, resources would naturally increase as well.
He wasn't someone with much desire for material luxuries, so all those resources could be put into improving the Uma Musume's training conditions—and their quality of life.
Planning out how to use those resources from now on suddenly seemed very necessary.
Thus, after discussing future training directions with Miyamura Kyoko, Kitahara spent more time considering the resource planning issue.
Additionally, the next day he ordered professional parachutes—the commission once again handled by the Light household.
That day, after training:
"Excellent! With 40 kilograms of weight, 800 meters on dirt in 56.1 seconds!"
Reading out the numbers on the stopwatch with excitement, Kitahara shouted to Oguri Cap, who was slow-walking on the track to recover her breath, "Oguri Cap, you've gotten even stronger!"
Oguri Cap's weighted training had been going on for a while now. The load hadn't increased—it was still maintained at 40 kilograms.
Kitahara and Miyamura Kyoko had already tested and determined that this was her optimal weight load at the moment. Any increase would have to wait until she fully adapted.
During her first mock race after enrollment, Oguri Cap's 800-meter dirt time was 51.1 seconds. Now, it was 56.1. The 5-second gap clearly showed she hadn't fully adapted to the weight yet and still needed training.
But there was no rush. It had only been a few days since starting weighted drills. At first, her 800-meter time had been over 60 seconds, and now she was already under 60—an outstanding improvement in such a short span.
When Oguri Cap reached the edge of the training field, Kitahara called out toward another Uma Musume still on the track:"Super Creek, you can stop and rest too! That's all for today!"
Super Creek's foot inflammation had healed, and she had now joined the training. Unlike Oguri Cap, however, what she was currently undergoing was "rehabilitation training."
According to Miyamura Kyoko's assessments, all of Super Creek's leg data was clearly lower than Oguri Cap's. Under such circumstances, it would be far too risky for her to enter races without first strengthening to a certain level.
But aside from her legs, her overall physical health was excellent.
Especially her respiratory system—Super Creek's readings in that regard were actually slightly better than Oguri Cap's.
After hesitating for a moment, Super Creek—who had been jogging the track for rehabilitation—finally stopped.
She walked over somewhat hesitantly, not even showing the slightest sign of panting.
Fiddling nervously with her collar, she said, "Um, Mr. Kitahara, I feel like I can still keep running a bit longer…"
Kitahara knew the kid was starting to get impatient again.
When she first arrived in Kasamatsu, Super Creek had been a bit too eager to start training, and after Kitahara taught her the importance of "patience," she had behaved herself for a while.
But once she started training alongside Oguri Cap, her competitiveness could no longer be contained. Now and then she would sneak in extra drills, clearly having noticed just how far behind she was.
If Kitahara hadn't anticipated this in advance and kept a close eye on her, she probably would've already overtrained herself into sleep deprivation or worse.
"That's enough for now. Just follow my plan—you'll be fine. Trust me."
Kitahara didn't bother saying things like "progress isn't achieved overnight" or "Oguri Cap has already competed in many races; you don't need to compare yourself to her."
He knew perfectly well that Super Creek understood all that. Her temperament just hadn't been tempered yet.
In this situation, the best approach wasn't explanation but direct distraction.
"You two have been training really hard lately—and of course, Belno Light and Kyoko have been busy for quite a while too."
Smiling, Kitahara looked at Belno Light and Miyamura Kyoko, each holding a laptop.
Miyamura Kyoko preferred using a laptop for her notes, and she had already purchased some medical training devices, like heart rate monitors. Both Oguri Cap and Super Creek were now equipped with various sensors during training.
Influenced by her, Belno Light had also replaced her note-taking habit with laptop recording, diligently logging everything each day.
"Tomorrow's the weekend. Let's all take a break—go out, do some shopping, maybe catch a movie or something."
"Oh, right—Light, is Mrs. Konan free tomorrow? If convenient, could you ask her to come to Kasamatsu? I have something very important I'd like to discuss with her."
(End of this chapter.)