My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 739 The Horse's Hoof is Rotten
A sunny winter day is not only perfect for going out to play, but also for doing chores.

Now, whether in the mountains or in the villages, the trees haven't lost all their leaves yet; it's just that the streams surrounding the villages are getting shallower and shallower.

When the water was deep, flocks of wild ducks used to play on the surface of the river in the wide section east of the village, but now they can't be seen anymore.

However, shallow water also has its own charm.

The children took advantage of the sunny weather to play in the water with the village dogs.

Normally, nobody plays in the water during winter.

However, since Wang Cunye was giving the little green horse a bath today, they were all drawn over.

And today, vegetables have started to be grown in the greenhouses.

The adults in their family are all here helping out.

Besides the villagers, the leaders were also there, helping out.

The greenhouse is bustling with activity right now.

Walking through the narrow gate in the earthen wall, you can see people dressed in cadre uniforms, some digging holes to bury seeds, others watering them, chatting and laughing as they work, with a very clear division of labor.

We are currently growing cucumbers and tomatoes in a relatively large vegetable greenhouse.

They were growing vegetables while a TV station was filming them.

Of course, today's shoot is just a quick one, it won't interfere with the work.

After all, it's a leader coming to the village to do work, so it has to be recorded, made into the news, and published in the newspaper.

Anyway, leaders from the province, city, and county were all there.

If one person does all this, people will say it's just for show.

But since everyone has come, it's a rural outreach activity worth promoting.

And they really were there to work with all their hearts.

As for why it's so sincere... to put it bluntly, it's for no other reason than this.

He just wanted to get a meal from Chen Ling's family.

There was nothing I could do; I didn't get to eat a single meal yesterday, either at noon or in the evening.

Logically speaking, since they had made a new discovery in the mountains and even hunted game, they had a good excuse to go to Chen Ling's house for dinner that night.

But who would have thought that this kid would slip away again after going home for a short while.

Since I was called away by someone, I couldn't say anything to them.

The person who came to call Chen Ling was Professor Zhong. He said that he had contacted Shanmao and that Shanmao would return as soon as possible. However, although Shanmao was worried about his wife, he couldn't grow wings and fly back no matter how worried he was.

Moreover, he and Professor Han also gained something there, and they couldn't ignore those gains.

For example, they adopted several litters of puppies.

This is only part of the harvest.

If the lynx was in a hurry to get back, it wouldn't be able to take care of the puppies, so it asked Chen Ling to find someone to see if they could send a car to bring the dogs over.

Yunnan and Guizhou are too far away, and Little Sheep can't be relied on, so Chen Ling can only call Liang Yuemin and Zhao Gang to see if either of them has any connections.

Liang Yuemin has many friends.

Zhao Gang is from the military region and is in charge of military dogs; he also has acquaintances in various places.

You should look for those two.

Sure enough, when the call was made, Zhao Gang immediately found someone to help him when he heard it was about this matter.

This not only solves the dog problem, but also allows us to bring the lynx back along the way.

"Why does Xiao Chen have so many dogs again?" Secretary Zhang wondered.

"You don't know this, Secretary, but since that cartoon about the rich family came out, countless people are now urging him to have a puppy."

Yu Qi'an said with a smile.

"Huh? You can't just find a dog from out of town, can you? Didn't they want a puppy because they like Xiao Chen's own dog?"

The fat leader of the municipal bureau frowned.

Secretary Zhang glared at him upon hearing this: "Have you forgotten what the villagers said yesterday? Now Xiao Chen is receiving sacks and sacks of mail, all written by kids who watch cartoons..."

Just think about it, how many of these kids want a puppy?
"It's Xiao Chen's own dog, how can they possibly divide it up?"

"Wow, that's amazing!" The fat man was immediately taken aback.

Yu Qi'an was very satisfied with his reaction. He raised his chin and gave a thumbs up: "Leaders, you don't need to worry about these dogs. Fugui picks the best dogs."

He also knew people at the military dog ​​breeding base, and the military dogs they had eliminated were all good prospective dogs compared to ordinary domestic dogs.

This is also among those being sold.

"Huh? There are even military dogs here?"

Even Secretary Zhang was startled.

"Yes, we can't just throw away the ones that are eliminated, and training military dogs is very costly."

Yu Qi'an said.

Just as he finished speaking and was about to say something more, he suddenly heard a familiar voice outside, so he hurriedly got up and said, "Professor Zhao is back. I'll go out and see."

"What? Professor Zhao is back? Come on, let's go see him too." Upon hearing that Zhao Yubao had returned, Secretary Zhang hurriedly followed.

Mr. and Mrs. Zhao have been accompanying him at the county hospital these past few days.

After all, Professor Zhong and the others are getting old. Although Bai Huining is helping out, Du Juan's condition was too frightening before, so it's better to have more people watching over her so that they can take turns during breaks.

After Secretary Zhang and his team arrived in the village, they wanted to visit Zhao Yubao as soon as possible, but Zhao Yubao was not there, and they couldn't possibly go to the hospital to bother him.

Thankfully, they're back today, at least I can see them before they leave.

Otherwise, if the news later reports that someone went to Chenwangzhuang but didn't see the great writer Zhao, who was living in seclusion there, it would seem insincere and incomplete.

"This blue horse that Fugui raised has become more sensible lately. It let you touch it. Not bad, not bad."

As soon as we stepped out of the greenhouse, we saw Zhao Yubao dressed like an old man from the countryside, wearing a black liberation cap and a clean cotton-padded jacket, standing by the river with his hands behind his back, talking to Wang Cunye.

Judging from his demeanor, if I hadn't seen him before, I would never have believed that this was the great writer.

If a stranger came, they would definitely mistake him for an old farmer from the countryside.

Wang Cunye said with a smile, "Who knows how Lingzi was trained? Whipping him used to be useless, but this month he has suddenly become much more obedient."

That’s true…

Little Green Horse has been very well-behaved in front of people lately.

Previously, no one other than Chen Ling would be allowed to come near it, but now not only can Wang Zhenzhen ride it, but even Wang Cunye can take it out for a walk.

Today, the old man brought it and the packhorse that Yu Qi'an left behind to brush their coats.

The little blue horse looks magnificent; you can tell at a glance that it's a fine steed. In reality, however, it's quite dirty.

She doesn't have a proper sleeping posture.

Often, he would just roll on the spot, grin, show his teeth, and lie in the haystack, looking like he was dead.

If you leave it like this, you'll not only get dirty, but you'll also smell bad.

After all, this horse runs around all day and sweats a lot. If it's not washed for a long time, it will stink for miles.

If it runs around everywhere and goes to all sorts of places, it will smell much worse than other people's livestock.

This requires frequent bathing and grooming. "Professor Zhao, it's great to finally meet you."

When Secretary Zhang met Zhao Yubao in person, he was so excited that he strode up to shake hands with him.

Zhao Yubao clearly recognized him, and was taken aback when he saw him: "Hey? Why haven't you left yet?"

"I heard you guys threw a big party yesterday, made such a big fuss, wasn't that enough?"

The old man came to the countryside for peace and quiet, and although he was quite familiar with these people, he didn't really welcome them.

"Well... we wanted to stay an extra day today to help Xiao Chen with some work at his greenhouse," Secretary Zhang said with a slightly embarrassed smile.

"You're just here to freeload, huh? Looks like Fugui didn't feed you yesterday."

Zhao Yubao is like this with outsiders; he says whatever comes to mind.

Secretary Zhang was taken aback for a moment, then let go and clapped his hands: "Oh dear, that's why we didn't get a meal. I've heard their food is delicious. Since we're already here, how can we go back without eating?"

I came to do some chores for his family today. I wonder if he still has the nerve to refuse us food?

Zhao Yubao was speechless upon hearing this: "I'm not saying this to be mean, but you, the Party Secretary, are you really that serious?"

“The Party Secretary is a human being too. Besides, this is the money I earned through my labor, so I should eat it,” Party Secretary Zhang said.

Upon hearing this, Wang Cunye smiled wryly: "Good heavens, I feel like this is being said to me."

Everyone was taken aback, then realized that Chen Ling's father-in-law was there, and they couldn't help but laugh.

"Uncle, please treat me to a meal. We've traveled such a long way and haven't had a proper meal. We've been craving food just from hearing about it from others."

The fat man from the municipal bureau started shouting.

"Alright, alright, you've done all the work today, so meals will definitely be provided, definitely." Wang Cunye said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, the fat man immediately offered his help: "Uncle, let me help you groom the horse!"

The two old men quickly stopped him: "Hey, don't! This horse has a bad temper. If a stranger gets close, it will kick up its tail."

"Huh? So scary?"

As soon as the fat man finished speaking, the little blue horse turned its head and glared at him angrily, its nostrils flared, puffing out heavy breaths and letting out a high-pitched neigh.

The group of people were terrified and retreated repeatedly.

Old Wu, standing in the crowd, was both frightened and excited: "Good heavens, when this horse neighs, it's like I can see the grasslands."

"Yes, how about we go to the grasslands next? It's not easy to come to the mainland, so let's go see all the places we should visit."

"Uncle, is this little horse the offspring of the big horse? Why is its color different?" the fat man asked curiously.

"No, this little horse is also a fully grown adult horse. It's a different breed from the blue horse. It's called a packhorse, and this breed of horse doesn't grow very big," Wang Cunye explained.

Pack horses are not a rare thing.

But very few of them had actually seen it before, so they were all quite curious.

Seeing this, Wang Cunye said that the horse had a good temperament and could be petted, so they all went up to tease the black packhorse.

"Uncle, why do you only brush the little horse's fur and not give it a bath like you would a big horse?"

Fat people have many problems.

However, Wang Cunye was very happy to be addressed as "Uncle" repeatedly, so he patiently explained to him the differences between the little blue horse and the packhorse.

To put it bluntly, the little blue horse was dirty; it only had its fur combed and not bathed, which made it smell quite strong.

Then he added that if the smell wasn't too strong, just brush the horse's hair more often.

The most important thing for a horse is grooming.

For horses, grooming is actually much more effective than bathing.

When brushing, the dirt in the roots of the horse's hair can be brushed out directly, which is much cleaner than simply washing it with water.

The bristles also make cleaning more thorough.

Furthermore, during the grooming process, you can tell which muscles or bones on the horse have problems by brushing it over its body.

Because the brushes used to brush a horse's hair are usually quite stiff.

It's a hard brush.

If there's a problem with any part of it, it's like a swelling on a person's body; if you press on it, it will sink in.

When brushing, apply a little pressure, and the bristles will immediately flatten out in any damaged areas.

If a horse is uncomfortable at this time, it will move to one side.

It's obvious at a glance.

By combing the animal's fur every few days, you can detect any problems early and bleed or shave the animal and apply medicine as needed.

The little blue horse was tough; even when Chen Ling whipped it, there were no visible injuries.

I gave it a bath mainly because it was too dirty.

On sunny days like this, when the plant is relatively dry, a brush stroke will lift up all the loose dust.

It's pungent even when you're close to it.

Let's brush its fur after it's bathed.

However, even though they said they were just checking for problems by brushing the bristles, they never expected that there would actually be problems with them.

So Wang Cunye took a brush and brushed the little blue horse's hair.

The rest of the people took turns brushing the packhorse's mane.

Pack horses are not only small in size, but they are also generally quite docile.

The horse that Chen Ling's family left behind was the same.

Its entire body hair is black and shiny.

The stranger brushed his hair, but he didn't flinch and stood there cooperatively.

In fact, packhorses are known for their robustness and strong disease resistance.

They are easier to raise than normal horses.

If they don't usually travel long distances to haul goods and are purely domesticated, there's really nothing wrong with them.

But when I was brushing the bristles today, they found a problem.

At first, Wang Cunye thought that these people didn't know how to brush the horses' fur, which made the packhorses uncomfortable.

It turned out not to be.

First, there was a small sore on my buttock, probably from an insect bite, and it looked like it was starting to fester.

Another issue is the hooves; the right hoof on the hind leg has some rot.

The insects are alright. This winter wasn't cold, so the horse had a smell and there were insects around, so it's normal for it to bite them.

The rotten hoof part is a bit puzzling.

These packhorses are usually led out to graze with the cattle and sheep every day, instead of being kept in the livestock pen all the time. The pen is not damp, the manure is cleaned up every day, and their hooves are not soaked in dirty water.

How did it get rotten hooves?

Moreover, these packhorses that travel on mountain roads have very hard hooves. They only move around outside the village and don't go far, so there's no risk of them getting nails stuck in their hooves.

Chen Ling had just finished cooking lunch in the village when Yu Qi'an called him over to check on the problems with the packhorses.

Chen Ling was also completely bewildered after seeing it: "Rotten hooves? The horse's hooves are shod with iron nails, how can they still be rotten?"