The Akhal-Teke horse, commonly known as the "sweat-blood horse," is a term that is often introduced in detail in almost any encyclopedia.
The most famous legend is that during the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of Han did not hesitate to launch a war for this horse.
However, in reality, this horse does not even rank in the top ten among modern horse breeds. If not for its great reputation, it probably wouldn't have much ability. The reputation of this horse far exceeds its actual capability.
This horse is average in every regard, with medium speed, and it does not run particularly fast.
It is neither too big nor too strong, and its agility is only above average. Its only advantage is endurance. It is known as an immortal existence, but it is somewhat inferior to the Mongolian horse.
This horse is definitely not as fast as purebred horses in short sprints, nor is it as fast as the Mongolian horse in long-distance runs. It is comparable to the Arabian horse, but the Arabian horse has very strong reproductive capacity. The population of this horse, except for some in Turkmenistan, lacks purebreds worldwide, making it difficult for others to fully understand or study it.
However, considering that it is not a purebred horse, it might be better kept as a pet.
Looking at the horse in front of him, Jiang Hai smiled awkwardly. If he had to choose, he would rather select an Arabian horse or a purebred horse than this one. It seemed a bit too foolish to ride. The more he looked at it, the more it resembled a large rabbit.
"Well, I don't think there's a horse you need here. Come with me, young man, and let me show you the Quarter I carefully raised." Seeing Jiang Hai's gaze, Bob smiled as well. He didn't say much and took Jiang Hai further away. However, as they just walked out of the stable, a huge horse head suddenly stretched out from the side.
Looking at this huge horse head, Jiang Hai was startled because it appeared to be more than twice as large as the horse inside.
"Hey, little guy, stop making trouble!" Seeing Jiang Hai startled, Bob, who was beside him, couldn't help but wave his hand and pat the huge head. The head then withdrew, and in Jiang Hai's view, a massive creature with shoulders half a head taller than him and a head as high as two of himself walked out from the side. Every time this creature stepped, the ground shook, but it seemed to enjoy playing this way.
"This is a Shire horse, the most powerful horse in the world. It is a British draft horse capable of pulling five tons of weight," Bob explained, smiling as he gestured toward the horse in front of him.
"I have three such horses here. I brought them back from Europe three years ago. This horse is extremely difficult to acquire now. I worked hard for two years and only managed to breed this pony. Yes, you read it right; this is a pony. It's just over one year old now." Bob patted the horse's knee and smiled. Jiang Hai looked up at the giant animal.
This time, it was really surprising. He jumped up and punched the horse's knee. This horse was huge!
"Bob, this may offend you, but I still want to ask: Are you selling this horse?" Looking up at the massive creature, Jiang Hai raised his head and asked Bob. Since he had seen this horse, he felt it was very powerful.
"Well, what do you want it for? Although this horse is easy to care for, it's too heavy and can't run fast. If you use it for pulling things, to be honest, any tractor would be much more efficient than what this horse can pull." Bob was stunned for a moment and spoke in a slightly puzzled tone. Although this horse was carefully bred by him, he knew that in a horse farm, except for a few extremely important horses that could not be sold, the rest were up for sale, including this pony. If farm owners were overly sentimental about their animals and insisted on naming them, their businesses would be ruined.
"No, no, no, I won't put it to work. I just want to ride it for fun." Hearing Bob's suggestion, Jiang Hai quickly clarified. Upon hearing Jiang Hai's response, both Bob and Robbins were momentarily stunned. Ride it for fun?
Well, they had overlooked a major point. While Jiang Hai might not be one of those rich individuals from Wall Street, he was indeed a young billionaire. It's not bad to have some hobbies, after all.
"Okay, this horse costs fifty thousand US dollars." Shaking his head and letting go of any other thoughts, Bob moved back into business mode. In the U.S., if someone could pay, the sale was set.
"Fifty thousand? Sure!" Jiang Hai nodded. He had expected the horse to cost tens or hundreds of thousands of US dollars. If it were in the millions, he would have to think twice, but fifty thousand was no problem!
Seeing Jiang Hai agree, Bob smiled. Though horse farm owners in the U.S. earned decent money, fifty thousand was still a significant sum. His horse farm's annual net profit was around $100,000, so this horse, after expenses, was equivalent to a quarter of his income. Bob then led Jiang Hai to the second stable, where he realized just how valuable a fifty-thousand-dollar horse could be.
The horses in the second stable were all Quarter horses, black, white, spotted, brown, etc., in every color imaginable.
Jiang Hai had seen such purebred Quarter horses before and estimated one of them would sell for hundreds of thousands or even millions of US dollars in China.
But in the U.S., such a purebred Quarter horse, a mature horse between three and five years old, only cost about $17,000.
He had known wealthy individuals in China who were severely overcharged, but he didn't expect it to be this extreme.
Jiang Hai didn't hesitate to purchase a $17,000 horse. He wasn't going to buy a spotted or wild horse that cost $1,000 for three to five years. He wanted good horses. After Robbins' selection, he ended up buying five of these horses—one each for Robbins, Burke, Philemon, Harriman, and Bell, making it easier to graze them.
After paying with his card, Bob called over a girl to help load the horses.
The girl looked about 16 or 17 years old, not bad-looking, about 1.8 meters tall, with slightly dark skin, big blue eyes, blonde hair, and a small face. She fit the aesthetic ideal of many Easterners.
Her straight long legs, delicate face, and fair skin—despite being tanned—still appeared white. She had small freckles, which made her stand out.
This was the first time Jiang Hai had paid a compliment to a girl since arriving in the U.S.
"Hey, boss, this girl's pretty, isn't she? She's Bob's little daughter. She just started her second year of high school this year and is studying in Boston." Robbins, noticing Jiang Hai's gaze, couldn't resist making a cheeky remark. However, Jiang Hai only rolled his eyes in response. He felt that, at least for the time being, he wasn't looking for a relationship.
After all, he had just gone through a divorce, right? Although the marriage had been financially transactional, amounting to only 400,000 yuan, when he paid that money back, he was done with that chapter.
"Okay, everything's loaded, and the destination is here!" After loading the horses into Bob's Ford pickup, the girl walked over gently and asked Jiang Hai and Robbins.
"Yes, it's here." Jiang Hai nodded, looking at the address in the girl's hand. Though he hadn't been here long, he knew the address well. After confirming the destination, Jiang Hai had no further plans, which made Robbins feel disappointed.
"By the way, Robbins, you asked Bob and the others to send the horses. What are we going to do now? Are we heading back together?" After everyone had gotten into their cars, Jiang Hai asked Robbins, curious.
"No, boss, don't you have a gun license? It just so happens that we're out today, so let's apply for a gun license first. Out in the wild, there are always some uninvited guests, like wild animals entering our territory. We need self-defense weapons. Luckily, we all have our own weapons, but you, boss, don't." Robbins explained.
Jiang Hai was momentarily surprised but smiled and nodded. Of course, he knew Robbins had raised the topic of guns early in the morning.
What man doesn't like guns? Although it's legal to own a gun in the U.S., you still need to apply for a license. Anyone with a mental illness or a bad criminal record can't apply. Jiang Hai had no doubts about this, but the problem was, if he were to apply himself, he was unfamiliar with the process.
He had mentioned this to Bell before, but Bell and the others were busy at the time. Robbins, however, had overheard and planned to take Jiang Hai to Boston to help him apply for a license. Jiang Hai clapped his hands excitedly. Finally, he would have a gun.
"Boss, are you ready?" Robbins smiled and asked, before stepping on the accelerator. The car sped toward Boston. About an hour later, they arrived in the North District of Boston. After exiting the highway, they reached a gun store. Jiang Hai also noticed the road sign. Not far from here was the TD North Bank Garden, more commonly known as the North Shore Garden Stadium, the home court of the prestigious NBA team, the Boston Celtics.