diff --git a/.agent-plan.md b/.agent-plan.md
index 4204152..6cdcd37 100644
--- a/.agent-plan.md
+++ b/.agent-plan.md
@@ -128,6 +128,12 @@ Documentation + CI:
 - [x] `leadforge/narrative/dataset_card.py` — renders task name and label window from `world_spec.config` instead of hard-coded literals
 - [x] 10 new tests (3 dataset card + 7 config resolution); total 750 passing
 
+### Parquet metadata row counts (PR #37, closes #17)
+
+- [x] `leadforge/validation/bundle_checks.py` — `_check_task_splits()` uses `pq.read_metadata().num_rows` instead of `pd.read_parquet()`; `_check_leakage()` uses `pq.read_schema().names` instead of `pd.read_parquet(columns=[])`
+- [x] 3 new tests: metadata/data row count consistency, task split row count mismatch detection, leakage column detection via schema
+- [x] All 757 tests pass; lint clean
+
 ### Pipeline refactors (PR #34, closes #31 + #32)
 
 - [x] `leadforge/core/rng.py` — `numpy_child()` method on `RNGRoot` returning `np.random.RandomState`
diff --git a/leadforge/validation/bundle_checks.py b/leadforge/validation/bundle_checks.py
index 5b323d9..c8a68d8 100644
--- a/leadforge/validation/bundle_checks.py
+++ b/leadforge/validation/bundle_checks.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 from typing import Any
 
 import pandas as pd
+import pyarrow.parquet as pq
 
 from leadforge.core.hashing import file_sha256
 from leadforge.core.serialization import load_json
@@ -112,12 +113,14 @@ def _check_task_splits(root: Path, manifest: dict[str, Any]) -> list[str]:
                 errors.append(f"Missing task file: {rel_path}")
                 continue
 
-            df = pd.read_parquet(abs_path)
             expected_rows = task_info.get(f"{split}_rows")
-            if expected_rows is not None and len(df) != expected_rows:
-                errors.append(
-                    f"Task {task_id}/{split}: expected {expected_rows} rows, got {len(df)}"
-                )
+            if expected_rows is not None:
+                meta = pq.read_metadata(abs_path)
+                if meta.num_rows != expected_rows:
+                    errors.append(
+                        f"Task {task_id}/{split}: expected"
+                        f" {expected_rows} rows, got {meta.num_rows}"
+                    )
 
             expected_sha = task_info.get(f"{split}_sha256")
             if expected_sha is not None:
@@ -171,7 +174,7 @@ def _check_leakage(root: Path, manifest: dict[str, Any]) -> list[str]:
         for split in ("train", "valid", "test"):
             split_path = root / f"tasks/{task_id}/{split}.parquet"
             if split_path.exists():
-                actual_columns = set(pd.read_parquet(split_path, columns=[]).columns)
+                actual_columns = set(pq.read_schema(split_path).names)
                 extra = actual_columns - expected_columns
                 if extra:
                     errors.append(
diff --git a/tests/validation/test_bundle_checks.py b/tests/validation/test_bundle_checks.py
index 27c820f..31d3e51 100644
--- a/tests/validation/test_bundle_checks.py
+++ b/tests/validation/test_bundle_checks.py
@@ -37,6 +37,33 @@ def test_passes(self, valid_bundle: Path) -> None:
         assert validate_bundle(valid_bundle) == []
 
 
+class TestMetadataRowCounts:
+    """Verify that task split checks use Parquet metadata, not full reads."""
+
+    def test_task_splits_does_not_call_read_parquet(
+        self, valid_bundle: Path, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch
+    ) -> None:
+        import pandas as _pd
+
+        from leadforge.validation import bundle_checks
+
+        def _boom(*args: object, **kwargs: object) -> None:
+            raise AssertionError("pd.read_parquet should not be called")
+
+        manifest = json.loads((valid_bundle / "manifest.json").read_text())
+        fake_pd = type(
+            "_FakePd",
+            (),
+            {
+                "read_parquet": staticmethod(_boom),
+                "DataFrame": _pd.DataFrame,
+            },
+        )
+        monkeypatch.setattr(bundle_checks, "pd", fake_pd)
+        errors = bundle_checks._check_task_splits(valid_bundle, manifest)
+        assert errors == []
+
+
 class TestCorruptBundle:
     def test_row_count_mismatch(self, tmp_path: Path, valid_bundle: Path) -> None:
         corrupt = tmp_path / "bad"
@@ -71,6 +98,32 @@ def test_sha256_mismatch(self, tmp_path: Path, valid_bundle: Path) -> None:
         errors = validate_bundle(corrupt)
         assert any("SHA-256 mismatch" in e for e in errors)
 
+    def test_task_split_row_count_mismatch(self, tmp_path: Path, valid_bundle: Path) -> None:
+        corrupt = tmp_path / "bad_task"
+        shutil.copytree(valid_bundle, corrupt)
+        manifest = json.loads((corrupt / "manifest.json").read_text())
+        first_task = next(iter(manifest["tasks"]))
+        manifest["tasks"][first_task]["train_rows"] = 999999
+        (corrupt / "manifest.json").write_text(json.dumps(manifest, indent=2))
+
+        errors = validate_bundle(corrupt)
+        assert any("expected 999999 rows" in e for e in errors)
+
+    def test_leakage_detects_extra_columns(self, tmp_path: Path, valid_bundle: Path) -> None:
+        import pandas as pd
+
+        corrupt = tmp_path / "leak"
+        shutil.copytree(valid_bundle, corrupt)
+        manifest = json.loads((corrupt / "manifest.json").read_text())
+        first_task = next(iter(manifest["tasks"]))
+        train_path = corrupt / f"tasks/{first_task}/train.parquet"
+        df = pd.read_parquet(train_path)
+        df["__sneaky_leak__"] = 1
+        df.to_parquet(train_path, index=False)
+
+        errors = validate_bundle(corrupt, include_realism=False)
+        assert any("__sneaky_leak__" in e for e in errors)
+
     def test_missing_required_file(self, tmp_path: Path, valid_bundle: Path) -> None:
         corrupt = tmp_path / "nocard"
         shutil.copytree(valid_bundle, corrupt)