Compared with cattle, horses and camels, sheep are the livestock that need special protection most in winter grassland. The town of Mandu Baolige, Dongwuzhumuqin Banner, Inner Mongolia, where we are at this time, is the most typical place, and the sheep here are especially protected by herders. It is said that Wuzhumuqin sheep has won the favor of meat lovers because of its fat meat, delicious taste and warm and dry. As early as the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Wuzhumuqin fat-tailed mutton was designated as special mutton for athletes from all over the world.
The lowest temperature in winter in Mandu Baolige can reach MINUS 40 degrees Celsius, but cows, horses and camels basically don't need special care, while sheep are more delicate. Most herders' sheep will form a sheepfold with Lele carts, with hundreds of sheep huddled together to keep warm, and a row of reeds more than one person high will be inserted outside the sheepfold to keep out the wind. The temperature of MINUS 30 or 40 degrees did not threaten the sheep that "held the group to keep warm". However, some herders do not use reeds, but only use canvas and iron brazing to enclose the sheep, which can also play a certain role in preventing wind and cold. According to local herders, dried sheep dung is the best fuel in winter, and yurts mainly rely on it for heating instead of dried cow dung. Sheep dung is odorless and nontoxic after drying, while cow dung will burn faster, and the heating effect of cow dung will be worse relatively.
Most of the needs of herdsmen on the grassland can be met in the simplest way, and herders will not cause any harm to nature. For example, herdsmen can build yurts anywhere near ponds or rivers when they change places, and there is no need to build new building materials. When they plan to leave, they will tear down the yurt, put things on it and move away. During this period, most of the living materials come from nature and will eventually return to nature. A year and a half have passed, and there are almost no traces of people living and living in the places where herders build yurts.
Many people in Dongwuqi Prairie are still unwilling to give up their traditional life and still follow simple life or laws. For example, every morning, after the sheep are driven out of the sheepfold, diligent herders will clean the sheepfold. They don't feel hard or dirty at all, and they always keep a happy and satisfied smile on their faces. Even in the seemingly harsh cold environment, we haven't seen many modern tools of life and production in the local area, which is the real life of Dongwuqi grassland.
Living in this seemingly harsh environment, herders even think that it is a waste to dump a basin of washing water, because everything is hard to come by in the winter prairie with difficult living conditions, and we must learn to cherish it. Maybe people's desires will never be fully satisfied. Is the place of reflection not developed enough? Still don't know how to reduce demand? Still don't know how to cherish resources? "Simple and happy" is the secret of herdsmen's life on the grassland. In fact, we should learn from this optimistic spirit of herdsmen.
Most Mongolian herders on the grassland have deep feelings for horses, and some even regard horses as their closest partners or family members. On the Inner Mongolia prairie, the most ideal horse training season in a year is not spring, summer and autumn, but winter. No matter how cold it was, the horses held on. In the snow and ice environment, we saw many horses' backs and manes covered with fine ice slides. Mongolian compatriots regard horses as lovers, competing and relying on each other. Every excellent herder has a BMW pony, but the process of taming is absolutely painful.
In the harsh environment of Inner Mongolia prairie, herders have their own ways to train horses, which is a natural law passed down by Mongolians since ancient times. In fact, horse training is also a traditional Mongolian project that has been passed down for thousands of years. Like the "Men's Three Arts" (horse racing, archery and wrestling), it is a competitive sport that can fully display the courage, skills and courage of Mongolian compatriots. Therefore, for thousands of years, Mongolian compatriots have regarded "riding and shooting well and practicing fierce horses" as the basic standard to measure an excellent Mongolian man.
The herder and his son we visited were both good local horse trainers. There is an old Mongolian proverb-"A good horse is strictly tamed". Nowadays, every winter, Baolige, which is full of grassland in Dongwuqi, will concentrate on horse training activities, which is equivalent to various Mongolian nomadic cultural performances. It is very beautiful.
The best horse trainers on the grassland will be respected by herders, and their fascination with excellent horse trainers is no less than the idolization after 00. They will use their own skills to subdue a fierce horse that is more than one person tall with their bare hands, and accurately trap the galloping horse with slender harness. When asked about their secret of subduing fierce horses, the horse trainer just replied easily-every excellent Mongolian herder knows the ecological laws of nature, and animals (horses) are also a part of nature. After a long time, they can always create ways that conform to the laws of nature in their production and life.