Bu over time. () The material conditions of the farm gradually improved, and the conjugation of Liunisu began to flourish. In accordance with the requirements of horse breeding, the farm rebuilt permanent stables, established a water supply system for horses, and enclosed a small piece of soil as a horse fence for horses to roam freely.

In order to solve the problem of concentrate feed, he went to the Planning Commission several times and got permission to buy or collect oats. Shourong and other legumes and cereals are included in the procurement list. Wu Nanhai also promised to include these feed varieties in jihua at the time of sowing. All winter. He was all about finding the right feed for the horses, and in order for them to breed in the spring, the stallions and mares had to grow old, and the grass could only keep the horses alive.

Fortunately, after the establishment of the Qijiazhuang, there were many miscellaneous grains among the large quantities of grain seized. Nick is a treasurer. ran to Ma Qianjing's place to grind and soak all day. Finally, he got all the beans except soybeans, mung beans and red beans, including the bean dregs left over from making tofu in the future, and he also told Wu Nanhai that they should be counted as horse feed.

"I still want to feed the pigs." Wu Nanhai felt a pity.

"Feeding horses and pigs is wasteful. Now I can cook less. I'll make fried bean dregs for everyone to eat, and it's also a dish. Aunt Tian, who presided over the work of the canteen, said.

"Forget it." Wu Nanhai said, "It's strange if you don't scold everyone to death." ”

"It's not unpalatable, stir-fry it with mutton fat and big oil, and then put some green garlic to spray it fragrant," Aunt Tian gestured. "Snowflakes!"

"If you don't have meat oil, you rely on oil to enhance the flavor. Otherwise, who will eat dried okara. ”

Nick said, "Pigs can't pull carts, and we don't need pig cavalry. ”

"Okay. I'm convinced. "Wu Nanhai has given way." It's yours. ”

Thanks to the replenishment of grains and tofu residues, the herd was in good condition throughout the winter and the herd had expanded, and through the purchase and seizure, Nick now had twenty-five horses in his stables. A large part of them are already capable of daily servitude, whether it is pulling carts or driving animal power.

Wu Nanhai though in each. The level of expertise is average, but he is indeed a haode leader. Nick thought. At the very least, he listens to everyone's opinions and ideas, and does not ignore anyone, including the foreman of the farm.

The fenced gate outside the stables was closed, and several teenagers in gray uniforms were tending to the horses. Seeing Nick come back, the half-sized boys all gathered around.

"Chief Ni, weishenme, this horse doesn't listen to me?"

"I'm going to wash the horse's hooves, but the horses won't give me the hooves."

"How do you clean the hair on the horse's brush?"

"Chief, the horse kicked me" and someone was "honorably wounded".

They wore the red collar badges of the artillery and were cadets of the artillery corps. According to the regulations, the army's artillery cadets took turns to serve in the farm stables one day a week: washing horses, learning hoof trimming, playing horseshoe, walking horses, and so on. These cadets greatly lightened Nick's burden. This allows him to concentrate on horse training, pedigree building and breeding management.

"Don't rush, speak slowly."

Nick calms everyone down and tells a boy who works in the stable to take Big Iron back to the stable first. When it comes to horses, Nick is always in good spirits.

"To wash a horse's hooves, you need to have the skill of catching the horse's hooves." Nick said Little Shoes, you come and brush "Celeron." of hooves. ”

The horses collected from this plane are named after the processors of Intel and Peng. It's just that the aborigines can't figure out that a horse is not called a tiger race, a dragon, and a "sheep race" is the sheep in Australia running fast?

"Yes!" The little shoes loudly agreed and brought "Celeron" over.

Xiao Lezi is not a Mongolian, according to himself, his hometown is from 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 of the same period.

Little Lezi was short, and he followed Nick's instructions, lifted the horse's front legs to the middle waist, gritted his teeth, and lifted the horse's legs with both hands. I didn't expect it to be done so smoothly. Just like Nick demonstrated. He grabbed the horse's hoof with his left hand and put it on his knee. But as soon as the hand was released, the horse's hooves suddenly slipped off his knees, and the little godson quickly jumped away, with an expression of worry about whether he would be kicked.

"Don't be afraid," Nick reminded him, "you're not catching the horse's hooves the right way, try in the opposite direction." He tried to catch it in the opposite direction, and it was much more secure than the net. He took a brush in his right hand to brush the dirt off the bowed hoof. Every time the brush touches the horse's hooves, the horse moves its legs from time to time. At this time, the face of the little shoes was nervous. Zuihou pulled an iron bucket with water and cleaned the soles of the horse's feet with a broom.

"Remember, hold on to the horse's leg when washing, and if you let go, it will trample on your foot or become angry."

After washing the horse's feet, he applied the horse's hooves with hoof oil according to Nick's instructions, and this hoof oil was only obtained after Nick applied for Wu Nanhai for a long time.

"Good. Now I wash my hind feet too. Nick said.

The little godson hesitated: "Will you kick me, kicking someone on the hind leg will kill someone."

"Don't be afraid. I'm watching. Nick comforted him

The hind foot is more terrifying than the forefoot, and the little shoe grabbed the left leg of the hindfoot with both hands, trying to pick it up, but it was unsuccessful. But the horse didn't kick him, which was a little reassuring to him. So I hugged it hard again. This time, it was very easy to hug it.

But the cleaning was still very laborious, and whenever the horse's hooves were about to slide off his body, he tried his best to lift them up again, and finally cleaned all four of the horse's legs, and Xiao Lezi was already covered in sweat.

"Good job." Nick approving, though a little longer.

"Horses are very precious and useful animals, and if you want them to work for you, you have to take good care of them. Do you understand? ”

"Yes, Chief!" The artillerymen of the future returned tea in unison

Nick then pointed out to the others, and then checked the horses in the pen to see if they were all in good condition, before returning to the stable.

The tall stables are one of the landmarks of the farm, and not only the local aborigines are amazed to see it, but also to cross the crowd. The building is full of curiosities. The whole building is a brick and timber structure, with a long strip shape. It has a high spire. The ventilation and lighting are very good. The floor of the double-row stables is all made of compacted soil. cushion

Where the days are replaced. Make sure the stables are clean – they lack veterinary medication and strong cleaning measures to ensure that the horses do not get sick and do not get sick. Yang Guigui also sprinkled lime on the ground at the entrance and exit of the stables every day. As a simple disinfection measure.

Since the number of horses has increased, so has Nick's manpower. He disliked the ignorance of the people he had brought from the indigenous settlers to have experience in horse breeding, and that many of the experience of raising beggars was completely wrong. So don't have any at all.

"Correcting a mistake is more sleepy than starting from scratch with a blank sheet of paper"

So Nick chose only two fourteen or fifteen-year-old and a half-year-old children from among the children of the farm workers, named Shengbao and Noble, to help, and these two children had gone through the literacy class and were now officially apprentices to him.

He took care of Sheng Bao to fetch water and feed for "Big Iron". The stallions are harvested twice a day. Therefore, it is especially necessary to be rich in nutrients. For this reason, he specially obtained special feed rations of eggs and millet from Wu Nanhai. Eggs are used to supplement protein, as for small millet. It has a very good effect on improving the quality of the stallion's ** and semen.

Noble brought water from the outside, and Nick taught him how to clean his genitals for "Da Tie", especially washing Gu Maru with cold water, which Yang Guigui taught him, and it is said to be beneficial to semen secretion.

"Big Iron" is a stallion they have high hopes for, and as a Tieling pull horse, it has the blood of many first-rate stallions on Shijie. Including the Ardenma, Anglo-Norman, Belthulon, Anglo-Arab, and many more. It is an excellent pull horse. It is extremely important for the future of the traverser's agricultural, military and road transport. In addition to breeding it with Tieling mares, Yang Guigui is also going to be used for breeding and crossbreeding with Yunnan mares.

After cleaning the "big iron", he took care of the matters that the apprentices should pay attention to. Nick hurried back into the house. Prepare for a break. Recently, he has been really tired: he starts to get up at 3 o'clock in the morning to feed the horses, and until the evening he feeds the zuihou once to feed the hay, serves the horses, teaches the apprentices, collects and processes the feed, and engages in administration, and hardly an hour is idle. There was a constant smell of horse manure in the house, but Nick didn't dislike it at all, because he was too tired to take a shower. Afraid of soiled sheets, he woke up when he was there, and there are many things going on during the breeding season. Generally, I don't dare to sleep too hard. I looked at my watch, and it was almost noon. My stomach growled with hunger. He got up and flicked off the grass stalks on his body. I poured some water from the crockpot and washed my face in the basin. Get ready to go to the cafeteria for lunch.

Suddenly, the phone rang. It was Yang Guigui who called.

"Come to the Lotus Root Pavilion for lunch, Wu Nanhai is in for a treat."

Lianli Pavilion is a special ** place in the demonstration farm, there is a small lake next to it, and now it is full of lotus roots, so everyone calls it open.

"What do you do with a treat for no reason?"

"It's not for you. I invite you to be a companion, by the way, this matter has a lot to do with your horse breeding career, you must come! Yang Guigui hung up the phone after speaking.

What does it have to do with horse breeding? Nick was scratching his head.

When I came to the Lotus Root Pavilion, it turned out that it was Dude, the People's Commissar of Civil Affairs, who was invited. As soon as the conversation began, Nick realized. It turned out that Yang Guigui was the idea of Da Mei Village.

Speaking of which, this idea has been around for a long time. After a few months of horse breeding practice, Nick also knew that the overall climate and environment of Lingao were not very suitable for horses. The site is also too narrow, and only the open area on both sides of the Wenlan River is suitable for grazing horses, but this area has either been reclaimed as farmland or included in the future reclamation of the agricultural department. It is unlikely that large tracts of land will be reserved for horse breeding, after all, planting is a top priority, and grain production is also directly related to the scale of horse breeding.

Although the combination of house feeding and the extensive use of silage and concentrate allows for a fairly high density of horses in the existing space. However, the climate here is too hot and humid, and in the summer it is very bad for the health of the horses. Moreover, the long adaptation period of such a sensitive thing as a horse to an unfamiliar environment is also a headache. Horses that are unpleasant and uncomfortable will obviously not have a lot of "sexual interest", and the natural reproduction rate will be low. This is also weishenme Yang Guigui is anxious to engage in artificial insemination.

Yang Guigui went to the high mountain range area several times after the Chinese New Year, just to see if he could open up mountain pastures there in summer, the mountain vegetation is abundant, the climate is cool and pleasant, the natural feed is abundant, and there is a clean water source, which is a suitable summer land for horses and other large livestock.

The most readily available place is of course Damei Village, a small village built on the ruins of Qijiazhuang, firmly controlled by the crossing regime. There is a water source near the village, and there are nearly 1,000 acres of valley and slope land, which can be used for grazing and growing fodder.

But Dude, who controls all civil affairs in this matter, nods.

"I have no problem with establishing a ranch in Damei Village." Di De said, "It's just that the road to Damei Village has to pass through the county seat, does it affect you?" ”

"That's what I said. Yang Angui disagreed, "If you want to say this." How many kilometers is Bairencheng from the county seat? Besides, isn't the whole area of the county under our surveillance now? ”

"That's not bad." Dude nodded, "But after the ranch was established there, you lacked strong protection, Damei is more than ten kilometers away from here, and the road has not been hardened, just an improvised road." After what happened, it would take at least half an hour for reinforcements to arrive. You must rely on the militia of Damei Village to protect the ranch. ”

"Damei Village is not Xi Yaya's personal grasp of political power construction and militia training, it will not be too bad."

"No matter how good it is, it's only armed with a big sword and a spear. Besides, there are only 12 people in the backbone militia that have been rigorously trained. Dude drank a glass of wine, "There are a total of fifty households in Damei Village, with two hundred and sixty-one men, women and children. Sixteen to fifty males were sixty-four. "He has a good memory. The numbers are very accurate, "You have to know a little bit. Lingao is a very troubled place. If dozens of horses were raised in Damei, Ding Zhuang, who was sixty-four people, might not be able to stop a large number of bandits. ”

"Exaggerated, huh? Just twenty or thirty horses."

"Not an exaggeration." "Do you know how much a horse sells for on this plane? ”

"One hundred taels?"