Chapter Ninety-Seven: Wild Horses (II)
Three of the dozen lassos hit their targets directly, slicing around the neck of the king of the white horse.
After successfully lassing the White Horse Queen, the warriors immediately tightly pulled the lasso to restrict the White King's horse's movements.
Seeing that the warriors had successfully lassoed the White Horse King and restricted its mobility, Ning Yuan immediately got up from the snow, then rushed over from the side, and jumped on the horse's back.
"Okay, let go, I'll leave the rest to me, remember, stay away from the wild horses for a while, be careful not to be trampled."
After successfully riding onto the back of the White Horse King, Ning Yuan hugged the horse's neck tightly while commanding his warriors.
Although the King of the White Horse has been successfully trapped, this is only the beginning, and then Ning Yuan has to survive the most important stage of horse taming, that is, boiling the horse and competing with the King of the White Horse for physical strength and willpower.
The so-called boiling horse is to let the wild horse run and kick back at will, release the wild and energy of the wild horse, and when the wild horse is exhausted, it will obey the rider on the horse's back.
As the warriors let go, the White Horse King immediately began to go crazy, and it kept kicking and kicking while running, trying to lift Ning Yuan out on horseback.
Although Ning Yuan had ridden horses in the real world, the horses he rode were all old horses with docile temperaments, and they all wore saddles, and it was the first time he had ridden a wild horse with a strong temperament like the White Horse King.
So although he had some experience in horseback riding, he was still dizzy by the White Horse King, and if he hadn't desperately hugged the horse's neck, I am afraid that he would have been swept out by the White Horse King.
The White Horse King saw that it was not easy to use the stumbling, so he began to run up on the snow, trying to turn Ning Yuan upside down with speed.
It didn't matter if it ran, the whole herd of horses immediately ran with it, and the dozen or so Condor warriors hiding on the side could only watch their lord being taken away by the herd.
Although they were very unwilling, they had to stop after chasing for a few minutes.
Originally, the two-legged ones could not outrun the four-legged ones, and there was still a layer of snow on the grassland, one shallow and one foot deep, and they struggled with every step, and before they had run a hundred meters, several people fell, and finally they could only lie on the grass and watch the horses gradually disappear.
Looking at Ning Yuan again, I saw that his arms were tightly wrapped around the horse's neck, and his legs were clamped on the horse's belly, just like a piece of dog skin plaster, firmly attached to the horse's back, no matter how the King of the White Horse ran or jumped, he couldn't get rid of him.
At this time, Ning Yuan didn't care about anything else, he was now looking forward to the White Horse King's physical strength being exhausted as soon as possible, and then he would return to the camp with the horses earlier.
It's a pity that it backfired, the King of the White Horse seemed to have endless physical strength, and after running at high speed for more than half an hour, it was still so energetic that it didn't know that it was tired.
This time it was bitter Ning Yuan, he felt that his body was about to be turned apart, and his body hurt everywhere, but at this time, he had no other way but to rely on willpower and the White King Horse to continue to consume.
The desire for cavalry made Ning Yuan reluctant to give a heavy hand to the White King Horse, otherwise with his strength, even if he didn't have a weapon in his hand now, he could smash the White King Horse under him alive with his fists.
It's a pity that his mind is full of cavalry now, and he would rather continue to endure the risk of being swept off than give up his previous efforts, although there are still many opportunities in the future, but he just doesn't want to give up this opportunity in front of him.
In this way, Ning Yuan kept running on the grassland with the herd of wild horses.
Along the way, he saw a lot of herds of wild sheep, wild cattle, wild wolves, and even other herds of wild horses, but none of these had anything to do with him, and he didn't have the energy to fight them now.
I don't know how long he ran, Ning Yuan suddenly felt that the wind in his ears became less harsh, he looked up left and right, and found that the speed of the wild horse herd had gradually slowed down, and the white horse king under him was finally tired.
Looking at the white king horse who was constantly panting, Ning Yuan thought for a moment, slowly let go of the arms holding the horse's neck, and then slowly straightened up.
Although he temporarily loosened the horse's neck, his hands still tightly grasped the lasso, as long as the white horse king moved, he would definitely hold the horse's neck again as soon as possible.
Maybe the King Charming was really tired, although it could clearly feel the obstruction on its neck disappear, but it didn't do anything, just stood there quietly panting.
Seeing that the White King Horse did not have any abnormal behavior, Ning Yuan's courage grew, and he first gently stroked the White King Horse's mane with one hand, and then began to tickle it.
Seeing that the King of the White Horse did not look disgusted, Ning Yuan gently patted the horse's buttocks, and then clamped the horse's belly between his legs, which meant to let the King of the White Horse go forward.
As if he understood Ning Yuan's body language, the White Horse King walked forward with small steps while sneezing, looking like that, it was completely convinced by Ning Yuan on horseback.
In this way, Ning Yuan rode the White King Horse and walked around the grassland, and the wild horses followed closely behind them.
After estimating that the physical strength of the horses had almost recovered, Ning Yuan rode the White King Horse and began to return the same way.
Although there are white grasslands all around now, Ning Yuan can't tell the difference between southeast and northwest, but fortunately, the grassland is full of snow, and the traces of the place where the wild horses have just run are very obvious, otherwise he may not be able to find his way home.
After running on the grassland for two hours on the White King Horse, Ning Yuan finally saw the outline of the Iron Horse City.
"No, the name Iron Horse City is not very appropriate, it should be called White Horse City."
Out of his love for the White Horse, Ning Yuan directly changed the Iron Horse City to the White Horse City.
"Open the camp gates, and everyone will stand away from me, so as not to disturb my precious horses."
Looking at the Condor warriors who greeted him, Ning Yuan immediately shouted loudly.
Seeing Ning Yuan's return, the Condor warriors who were originally rushing over immediately came to a sudden brake in embarrassment after hearing Ning Yuan's shout.
However, seeing that Ning Yuan was okay and successfully brought back the wild horses, they were still very happy in their hearts, so let's stand farther away.
After the warriors had withdrawn from a certain distance, Ning Yuan tried to drive the White Horse King to bring the wild horses into the camp.
Although the White Horse King instinctively hated the giant "wooden cage" in front of him, it had now been subdued by Ning Yuan, so although it was a little annoying, under Ning Yuan's order, it still brought the entire wild horse herd into the camp.
In addition to the residential areas for the warriors and the livestock area for cattle and sheep, there is also a stable area specially prepared for war horses.
At this time, the wooden door of the horse shed area had been opened, and Ning Yuan directly rode the white king horse and led the horses into the horse shed area.
The entire stable, which is close to the wooden city wall, is 800 meters long and 50 meters wide, which is more than enough to hold the entire herd of wild horses.
After bringing the wild horses into the stable, Ning Yuan directly asked people to bring several large boxes of apples and a large amount of hay, and then filled the wooden manger with warm water.
Ning Yuan has only preliminarily tamed the White King Horse now, and it will take some time to completely tame the entire wild horse herd, so in order to appease these wild horses, Ning Yuan did not hesitate to take out the precious apple to bribe these ancestors.
His purpose is very simple, that is, to make these wild horses feel the treatment of the guests, and his so-called guest treatment is to provide good food and drink, so that these wild horses can eat and live comfortably.
In winter, the main food of the wild horse herd is the hay roots and stems on the grassland, although there are a lot of these things in White Horse City, they are no different from the outside, so Ning Yuan can only reluctantly requisition the apples that Condor City has finally sent over.
These apples were originally for the soldiers to improve their diet, but now no one wants to eat them anymore, they have all contributed to the wild horse herd, Ning Yuan wants to use these apples to cultivate a relationship with the wild horse herd.
Although the dwelling is also very simple, and it is not as vast as in the wilderness, it does have a wooden roof to reduce some of the cold wind for the horses at night.
In order to let the wild horses accept the Condor warriors as soon as possible, Ning Yuan asked the warriors to take turns to feed the wild horses with small pieces of apples, although the wild horses were a little hesitant at first, but under the temptation of deliciousness, they finally took the initiative to come forward and eat the apples in the hands of the warriors.
Of course, this is only the first step, in order not to make the wild horses feel that they have lost their freedom, Ning Yuan has to ride the white horse king every day to take the entire wild horse herd out for a walk, and when they are crazy enough, he will take them back to the stable.
In this way, after half a month passed, the wild horse herd gradually accepted this situation of living under the same roof with humans, and Ning Yuan finally succeeded in putting the saddle and bridle on the body of the white king horse.
Without a saddle and bridle, people can easily fall off the horse when riding a horse, and the cavalry can not ride a war horse to fight, it can be said that the invention of the saddle and bridle allowed the cavalry to enter the stage of war, without the saddle and bridle there would be no cavalry.
Although Ning Yuan didn't care much about other technologies that could be taught on his own, he still put a lot of effort into the saddle and bridle.
Although the Condor tribe had not found horses before, this did not prevent Ning Yuan from developing saddles and bridles.
Quite simply, there are no live war horses, Ning Yuan can have people get some mud and wooden war horse models, and then use these models to develop saddles and bridles.
He only needed to memorize the general shape and function, and then describe it graphically, and the craftsmen of the tribe would naturally develop it according to his description.
After several improvements, the first set of qualified saddles and bridles was developed, of course, the set of saddles developed by the Condor tribe was with stirrups, and the cavalry without stirrups was incomplete.
After installing the harness on the White Horse King, Ning Yuan was much more comfortable to ride again, and after the example of the White Horse King, the other stallions were also mounted one by one, and now they have begun to accept the riding of some Condor warriors.
As for why only the stallions were fitted with harnesses?
Mainly because Ning Yuan found that many mares had big bellies, not to mention that he didn't dare to install harness for them, even if he rode Ning Yuan refused to let people ride, no matter whether he was pregnant or not, as long as he was a mare, he was not allowed to ride, for fear of accidentally giving them a miscarriage.
The average height of these steppe white horses is about 1.5 to 1.55 meters, and the stallions are slightly taller than the mares, and they are very strong, with excellent speed and endurance, and they are excellent cavalry horses.
There are a total of 355 wild horses in the whole herd, including 29 adult stallions, 163 adult mares, 77 stallions close to adults, 30 mares, 26 juvenile stallions and 30 mares.
It can be said that this is a large herd of wild horses in the yin and yang.
Why? Mainly because there are actually only twenty-nine stallions in this wild horse herd, and the 163 mares are the harem of these stallions, and those wild horses that are close to adulthood or juvenile are their descendants.
The offspring leave their parents to find their own herd when they reach adulthood, so the only permanent members of this wild horse herd are the 29 stallions and 163 mares.
In order to ensure that the herd could continue to breed, the 29 stallions and 163 wild horses Ning Yuan could not move, so he hit the idea on the 77 male wild horses that were close to adulthood.
These wild horses are already about the same size as their parents, and it is believed that in a few months, they will be fully adults, that is, sexually mature, and it is best to use them as war horses.
Therefore, Ning Yuan deliberately arranged for 77 Terran warriors to approach them and cultivate feelings with them.
After the selection of the war horses, Ning Yuan ushered in a new problem, that is, whether to castrate these stallions.
As everyone knows, most of the war horses used in ancient China were geldings.
Stallions are hot-tempered and aggressive, and during estrus, they are more irritable and aggressive, so in order to prevent these stallions from interfering with combat, the ancients would castrate them.
Castrated horses have a more stable and quiet personality, and will be more obedient to the command of the cavalry.
It can be said that both types of war horses have their own advantages and disadvantages.
Stallions are more aggressive, they can take the initiative to help their owners attack the enemy in battle, think about Ning Yuan's previous embarrassed appearance, you can know how aggressive the stallions are.
Although the stallions are very aggressive, their disadvantage is also obvious, that is, in order to completely tame them, the knights must be bred from an early age, and they are only subordinate to their affectionate owners, and others are not.
Geldings are different, because they are very quiet and stable after castration, so anyone can easily ride them, and there is no need to cultivate feelings from an early age.
In ancient cavalry warfare, the loss of horses was also very huge, so compared to stallions, geldings were easier to replenish.
Ning Yuan is a battle maniac, and he prefers that hearty feeling of battle, so after thinking about it for a long time, he finally decided to use a stallion as a war horse.
Although there was a beauty trick in ancient China that Li Guangbi had successfully used a mare, he still didn't believe in this evil, how could a real knight ride a gelding, and he couldn't afford to lose this person.
Besides, what can the stallion do when it is in heat, the big deal is to find two daughters-in-law for it, and it just so happens that its excellent genes can be inherited.
As for the thirty mares, Ning Yuan planned to use them to seduce other stallions to expand his horse herd, and even he planned to conquer the entire prairie after the beginning of spring, and completely turn this place into his own horse garden.