As time went by, the material conditions of the farm gradually improved. Nick's horse breeding business also began to prosper. The farm rebuilt permanent stables in accordance with the requirements of horse breeding, established a dedicated water supply system for horses, and also circled a circle.
A small piece of land is used as a horse fence to allow horses to move freely.
In order to solve the problem of concentrated feed, he went to the Planning Commission several times and got permission to include the purchase or collection of oats, alfalfa and other legumes and grains in the purchase list. Wu Nanhai also agreed to include these feed varieties in the plan when sowing.
. Throughout the winter, he was busy looking for suitable feed for the horses. In order for them to breed in the spring, the stallions and mares had to be fattened - feeding grass alone could only keep the horses alive.
Fortunately, after the capture of Goujiazhuang, a large amount of grains were seized, including a lot of miscellaneous grains. Nick felt like a treasure, so he ran to Ma Qianzhuan and soaked them for a whole day, and finally mixed all the beans except soybeans, mung beans and adzuki beans.
He got it all - including the bean dregs left over from making tofu in the future. He also told Wu Nanhai that he would use it in horse feed.
"I still want to feed the pigs." Wu Nanhai felt it was a pity.
"Feeding horses and pigs is a waste. We can cook less dishes now, so I'll make fried bean dregs for everyone to eat, which can be considered a dish." Aunt Tian, who is in charge of the canteen, said.
"Forget it." Wu Nanhai said, "It would be weird if I didn't scold everyone to death."
"It's not bad to eat. Use mutton fat, fry it in heavy oil, then add some green garlic, it will be fragrant..." Aunt Tian gestured, "Snow lily!"
"If there is a lack of meat and oil, then the food relies on oil to enhance the flavor. Otherwise, who would eat the dried bean dregs?"
Nick said: "Pigs can't pull carts, and we don't need pig cavalry."
"Okay, I've got you." Wu Nanhai gave in, "It's yours."
Thanks to the supplement of grains and tofu residue, the horse herd was in good condition throughout the winter - and the horse herd has expanded. Through purchases and seizures, Nick's stable now has twenty-five horses.
Most of them are already capable of daily tasks, whether they are pulling carts or driving animal-powered machinery.
Although Wu Nanhai was average in every professional field, he was indeed a good leader. Nick thought, at least he would listen to everyone's opinions and ideas and would not ignore anyone - including the long-term workers on the farm.
The foreman included.
The gate to the fence outside the stable was closed, and inside there were several teenagers in gray military uniforms taking care of the horses. Seeing Nick coming back, these half-grown boys gathered around him.
"Chief Ni, why doesn't this horse listen to me?"
"I want to wash the horse's hooves, but what should I do if the horse doesn't scratch its hooves for me?"
“How do you clean the hair on a horse brush?”
"Chief, the horse kicked me..." There were also people who were "honorably wounded."
They wear the red collar badge of the artillery and are cadets of the artillery team. According to regulations, the artillery cadets of the Army must take turns to serve in the stables of the farm one day a week: washing the horses, learning to trim the hoofs, shod the horses, and walk the horses.
Waiting for work. These apprentices have greatly reduced Nick's burden, allowing him to focus on horse training, establishing pedigrees and breeding management.
"Don't be anxious, speak slowly."
Nick calmed everyone down and asked a boy working in the stable to lead Da Tie back to the stable. When it came to horses, Nick was always in high spirits.
"When washing horses' hooves, you need to have the skills to grasp the horses' hooves." Nick said, "Little Tartar, come and brush Cy Young's hooves."
These horses collected from this time and space are named after the processor names of Intel and AMD. It’s just that the natives can’t figure out why a good horse is not called racing tiger or racing dragon, but has to be called “race sheep”. Could it be that
Australian sheep run very fast?
"Yes!" Little Tartar agreed resoundingly and brought "Cai Yang" over.
The little Tatar named Da Shi was not Mongolian. He said his hometown was in Henan. After the disaster in his hometown, he wandered all the way to Guangdong. Just because his hair was a little curly, he was given such a nickname by the cadets at the same time.
The little Tartar was short. He followed Nick's instructions and raised the horse's front legs to its mid-waist. He gritted his teeth and raised the horse's legs with both hands. He didn't expect it to be completed so smoothly. Just like Nick demonstrated, he grabbed it with his left hand.
He held the horse's hoof and put it on his knee. But as soon as he let go, the horse's hoof suddenly slipped off his knee. The little Tatar jumped away quickly, with an expression on his face that he was worried about being kicked.
"Don't be afraid," Nick reminded him, "the way you grasp the horse's hoof is wrong. Try it in the opposite direction."
He tried to grab it in the opposite direction, and it turned out that he could hold it much more firmly than before. He held a brush in his right hand to brush off the dirt inside the horse's hoof. Every time the brush touched the horse's hoof, the horse would move its legs from time to time.
Every time this happened, Little Tartar's face became nervous. Finally, he pulled over an iron bucket filled with water and used a brush to clean the soles of the horse's feet.
"Remember to hold the horse's legs firmly when washing. If you let go, it will step on your foot or get angry."
After washing the horse's feet, he applied hoof oil to the horse's hooves according to Nick's instructions. It took Nick a long time to apply for the hoof oil from Wu Nanhai.
"Okay, now wash the hind feet too." Nick said.
The little Tartar hesitated for a moment: "Will you kick me? A kick from the hind legs of a horse will kill someone..."
"Don't be afraid. I'm watching." Nick comforted him.
The hind feet were scarier than the front feet. The little Tartar grabbed the left leg of the hind feet with both hands and tried to pick it up but failed, but the horse didn't kick him, which reassured him a little. So I hugged him hard again.
This time, I picked him up very easily.
But cleaning was still very laborious. Whenever the horse's hoof was about to slip off his body, he would try hard to lift it up again. Finally, he cleaned all four horse legs. The little Tartar was already covered in sweat.
"Good job." Nick agreed, although it took a little longer.
"Horses are very precious and useful animals. If you want them to serve you, you must take good care of them. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Chief!" the future artillerymen replied in unison.
Nick then gave some instructions to other people, and then inspected the horses in the pen to see if they were all in normal condition before returning to the stables.
The high stable is one of the landmark buildings of the farm. Not only the local indigenous people were amazed when they saw it, but also the people who traveled through it were full of curiosity about this building. The whole building is made of brick and wood, long and tall.
The steep roof, ventilation and lighting are very good. The floor of the double-row stable is made of compacted three-component soil. The bedding is changed every day to ensure the cleanliness of the stables - they lack veterinary medicines, so they must strengthen cleaning measures to ensure that the horses do not get sick.
Even though he was ill, Yang Guogui still sprinkled lime on the ground at the entrance and exit of the stable every day as a simple disinfection measure.
Since the number of horses increased, Nick also had more manpower. He disliked the fact that the people with horse-raising experience recruited from the indigenous immigrants from Wu De were quite ignorant, and many of the horse-raising experiences were completely wrong. So he simply didn't want any of them.
"Correcting a mistake is more difficult than starting from scratch with a blank slate."
So Nick only selected two half-year-old children of 14 or 15 years old from the children of workers assigned to the farm, named Shengbao, and the two brothers from Noble came to help. These two children have gone through literacy classes and are now officially
His apprentice.
He asked Shengbao to fetch water and add feed to "Big Iron". Breeding stallions have to collect semen twice a day, so they need rich nutrition. For this reason, he got a special feed ration of eggs and millet from Wu Nanhai.
.Eggs are used to supplement protein. As for millet, they have a good effect on improving the stallion's sexual desire and semen quality.
Laibao brought water from outside, and Nick taught him step by step how to clean "Big Iron"'s genitals, especially washing the testicles with cold water - this was taught to him by Yang Baogui, and it is said to be beneficial to semen secretion.
"Big Iron" is a stallion that they have high hopes for. As an iron-ridge draft horse, it has the blood of many of the world's first-class stallions. Including Ardennes, Anglo Norman, Berthulen, and Anglo.
The Arabian, etc. is an excellent draft horse. It is of great significance to the future agriculture, military and road transportation of the traversers. In addition to breeding it with Tieling mares, Yang Guogui also plans to use it with Yunnan
Mares undergo breeding crosses.
After cleaning the "big iron" and paying attention to the apprentice's attention, Nick quickly returned to the house and prepared to rest for a few hours. Recently, he was really exhausted: he started to feed the horses at 3 o'clock in the morning and continued to feed the horses until 21 o'clock in the evening.
Feeding the last fodder, serving the horses, teaching the apprentices, collecting and processing feed, doing administrative work... there is hardly an hour free.
There was a persistent smell of horse manure in the house, but Nick didn't mind it at all. Because he was too tired and didn't want to take a shower, and was afraid of staining the sheets, he made a straw bed at the door of the house and slept directly on it.
If anything, Wu Nanhai joked that Nick looked like a horse now.
He woke up after less than two hours of sleep. There were many things going on during the breeding season, so he usually didn't dare to sleep too hard. He looked at his watch and saw that it was almost noon. His stomach was growling with hunger. He got up and dusted the grass off his body.
I poured some water from the earthen pot and washed my face in the basin. I was going to the canteen for lunch.
Suddenly the phone rang, it was Yang Baogui.
"Come to Lotus Root Pavilion for lunch, Wu Nanhai treats you."
The Lotus Root Pavilion is a dedicated rotting place in the demonstration farm. There is a small lake next to it. Now it is full of lotus roots, and everyone calls it a "flower".
"Why are you treating me for no reason?"
"I'm not inviting you, I'm asking you to be my guest. By the way, this matter has a lot to do with your horse breeding business. You must come!" Yang Guoguo said and hung up the phone.
Is it closely related to the horse breeding business? Nick couldn’t figure it out.
When they arrived at the Lotus Root Pavilion, they found out that the person they invited was Wu De, the People's Commissar of Civil Affairs. As they started chatting at the table, Nick realized that it turned out that Yang Guobao had the idea of Damei Village.
It sounds like this idea has been around for a long time. After several months of horse breeding practice, Nick also knows that the overall climate and environment of Lingao are not suitable for the life of horses. Moreover, the site is too narrow, and now there is only open space on both sides of the Wenlan River.
The area is suitable for grazing horses, but this area has either been reclaimed into farmland or included in the future reclamation plan of the agricultural department. It is unlikely to reserve a large area of land for raising horses - planting is a top priority after all, and food production is
It is also directly related to the scale of horse breeding.
Although barn feeding and the extensive use of silage and concentrate can raise horses at a high density in the existing space, the climate conditions here are too hot and humid, which is very detrimental to the health of horses in summer. Moreover, horses are so sensitive
The long adaptation period for things to a strange environment is also a headache. Horses that feel unpleasant and uncomfortable will obviously not have much "sexual interest", and the natural reproduction rate is also low. This is why Yang Guowei is eager to engage in artificial
Inseminated.
Yang Guogui visited the Gaoshanling area several times after the Chinese New Year to see if he could open up mountain pastures there in the summer. The mountainous areas have lush vegetation, a cool and pleasant climate, abundant natural feed, and clean water sources, making them ideal for horses and other large livestock.
A suitable place to spend summer.
The most ready-made place is naturally Damei Village. This small village was built on the ruins of Goujiazhuang and is firmly controlled by the Chu government. There are water sources near the village, and there are nearly a thousand acres of valleys and slopes that can be used for grazing and farming.
Planting fodder.
But this matter requires the nod of Wu De, who controls all civil affairs.
"I have no objection to establishing a ranch in Damei Village." Wu De said, "It's just that the road to Damei Village passes through the county seat. Will it affect you?"
"That's true," Yang Guogui disagreed. "If you want to put it this way, Bairen City is only a few kilometers away from the county seat? Besides, aren't the surrounding areas of the county seat now under our surveillance?"
"That's not bad." Wu De nodded, "But after establishing the ranch there, you will lack strong protection. Damei is more than ten kilometers away from here, and the roads have not been hardened, just simple roads. What happened?
It will take at least half an hour for reinforcements to arrive after the incident. You must rely on the militia of Damei Village to protect the ranch."
"Xi Yazhou personally took care of the political establishment and militia training in Damei Village, so it can't be too bad."
"No matter how good they are, they are just armed with broadswords and spears. Besides, there are only twelve militia members who have been strictly trained." Wu De drank a glass of wine. "There are fifty households in Damei Village, two hundred men, women, old and children.
Sixty-one people. Sixty-four men between sixteen and fifty." His memory was very good and he could count very accurately. "You have to know that Lingao is a place where banditry is very serious. If you are in the United States,
Raising dozens of horses and sixty-four men may not be able to stop a large number of bandits - money and silk are so attractive."
"Is that an exaggeration? Just twenty or thirty horses -"
"It's not an exaggeration." Wu De said, "Do you know how much a horse sells for in this time and space?"