Raising white horses under the forest canopy

Breeding white horses for commercial purposes under the forest canopy brings economic efficiency, creates jobs for local workers, and improves people's lives.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Oanh with white horses raised at the farm.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Oanh in Thong Nhat village, Phong Tho town (Phong Tho district, Lai Chau ) said that since coming here to start a business, he and a number of other households have contracted to manage and protect about 160 hectares of forest.

This area is annually allocated to the group of households to receive forest environmental service fees. However, realizing that the area under the forest canopy can be combined with livestock farming to develop the economy, he boldly bought buffalo and cows to graze, but the efficiency was not really high.

“I started to learn about how to raise white horses, went to many places to learn the model, then sold all the buffaloes and cattle, and switched to this animal. Taking care of and raising white horses is not difficult but the efficiency is much higher than that of buffaloes and cattle. The value is about 3-5 times higher than before. White horses can be consumed immediately in the local market. Meanwhile, the level of horse raising is decreasing, thus making the output stable," said Mr. Nguyen Xuan Oanh.

On the other hand, in addition to using white horse meat to prepare food, the bones can be used to make glue. From the experience of our ancestors, white horse glue is very valuable, used as a functional food or put into medicine to nourish the body and health.

Breeding white horses shows high efficiency.

With the natural climate conditions in the highlands, the horses are very adaptable. The semi-natural grazing makes the horses on this farm very gentle. The horses are fed corn bran and grass to help them grow fast and have good health.

While many places choose to raise tall crossbred horses, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Oanh chooses to raise native horses. Compared to crossbred horses, native horses are much smaller in stature, but in return, the quality of their meat and horse glue products is much better.

Sharing his experience in raising animals, he said, “Compared to other animals, horses are less susceptible to disease. However, raising any animal must comply with measures of barn hygiene and veterinary hygiene. Barns must be cleaned, lime powder sprinkled, disinfected, and sprayed with disinfectants regularly. Although horses do not have ticks or leeches on their bodies, attention must be paid to the issue of food.

Absolutely do not feed horses with moldy bran or cornmeal. For this species, using spoiled or sour food can easily cause digestive disorders. When a horse has digestive disorders, unlike a buffalo or cow that just lies still, a horse struggles and rolls around. Unfortunately, if a horse hits its head on a concrete floor, it can get brain damage and die, causing damage to the breeder.

The horses at the farm graze in a semi-natural pattern.

From the effectiveness of horse breeding, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Oanh and 10 other members, mainly local people, established Xuan Oanh Cooperative to focus on raising horses on a larger scale. Currently, the cooperative's farm raises about 27 horses, mainly breeding horses for sale.

“Concentrated livestock farming has advantages in terms of management and care. One person can manage 20-30 horses while with the same workday, if raising on a small scale, one can only graze one or a few horses, so the efficiency of the labor day is low,” said Mr. Nguyen Xuan Oanh.

Currently, a famous business unit in Hanoi has come to Xuan Oanh Cooperative to discuss and promote cooperation, expand product consumption, deep processing... From there, continue to expand the scale of livestock farming, turning the white horse into a commodity product.

Mr. Dong Xuan Cuong, Vice Chairman of Phong Tho Town People's Committee, said that the Town People's Committee regularly directs and propagates livestock households to implement disease prevention measures, carry out general cleaning, disinfection, environmental decontamination, vaccination to prevent epidemics and diseases in livestock; limit free-range grazing of livestock and poultry in public places...

“Currently, to encourage people to raise livestock in a concentrated manner, the town incorporates Resolution 07 of the Lai Chau Provincial People's Council to support people, cooperate with businesses to invest and consume products for people. Guide people to raise livestock on surplus land to serve family economic development. In particular, recently, the town has promoted the registration of concentrated livestock raising for households in Doan Ket village to solve environmental problems and serve community tourism…”, said Mr. Dong Xuan Cuong.

Huong Hoai (according to nongnghiep.vn)

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