As soon as I arrived on the grassland, I pondered a question: Did the horse create the saddle, or did the saddle create the horse? I have been looking forward to seeing horses in Inner Mongolia. To be honest, I am a horse lover. I like the handsomeness, gentleness, and loyalty of horses. High head, flying mane, round belly, strong legs, and neighing - a horse is a combination of strength and beauty! Ma has a pair of angelic pupils, which are human like. How many people have become friends with Ma! Horses are vegetarians, which makes them both powerful and elegant, as if they were a high priest among four hoofed animals who practiced the precepts. Ma performed many wonderful stories. In "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Liu Bei was framed by Liu Biao's stepwife, and it was Lu Ma who successfully escaped from Xiangyang, known as "Jumping Horse Tanxi". Guan Yu used warm wine to slay Hua Xiong, relying also on horses: "At the sound of the Luan bell, the horse reaches the central army, and Yun Chang lifts Hua Xiong's head and throws it to the ground." Many arts have been achieved through horses, such as Lang Shining's "Hundred Horses", Xu Beihong's "Eight Horses", movies "War Horse" and "Turin Horse", erhu song "Horse Racing"... I like horses, but in our south, horses are rare. The land in the south is high and low, with gullies and ravines that are not suitable for horses to gallop. Baotou is a paradise for horses. As soon as I arrived in Baotou, accustomed to the mountains and rivers of the south, I was amazed that the earth felt like it had been ironed with an iron, or rather, like a piece of unfolded paper, which immediately gave people the impulse to run. I think it's time to have a satisfying meeting with Ma Tong! In Baotou, I really saw many horses. For example, in the office building of the Baotou Federation of Literary and Art Circles, many photography works about horses have been posted. One of the pictures shows a white horse on a misty grassland, with blurred eyes and a sad expression. Is it a poet among horses? Seeing it, I want to hold its head and talk to it. At the Damaoqi Museum, I saw many horses in rock paintings, which were simple, naive, and almost symbolic, appearing ancient and profound. But I couldn't see a real horse up close, which is a regret of this trip. In Baotou, I was invited to participate in a literary event, which included visiting Baotou Iron and Steel (Group) Co., Ltd., one of the earliest steel enterprises in the Republic, Inner Mongolia First Machinery Group Co., Ltd., the largest equipment manufacturing enterprise in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, as well as Baotou Yellow River National Culture Park Museum and Yellow River Jizi Bay. I haven't really spent much time with the grassland. Going to the Poetry and Painting Grassland in Damao Banner is also one of the activities. It is a natural grassland with an area of 100000 acres, but I only stayed there for one afternoon and one evening. The next morning, I followed the team back to Baotou. I saw blue sky, clear water, felt bags, windmills, and Ao Bao there, but I didn't see any horses. I had no chance to witness the scene where the skyline of the grassland gradually brightens up, and a red sun slowly rises in the silhouette of the herd of horses. Oh, I also saw horses - on the way back, I saw three or five horses grazing on the grassland. But they are too far away, as far away as virtual objects. However, I saw the saddle. At the Damaoqi Museum, they are displayed in shop windows and are real objects. Dozens of saddles are displayed together, forming a world with profound historical significance and strong visual impact - they are miniature buildings composed of saddle plates, saddles, saddles, stirrups, ropes, belly ties, drawers, saddles, and other exquisite and mysterious structural arts. They are a miniature kingdom synthesized by various crafts such as woodworking, embroidery, weaving, and metal forging. They have uneven shapes and complex craftsmanship. They are inlaid with gold and silver, carved with intricate patterns. The lifelike animals, vibrant plants, and symbolic patterns on their bodies all come from ancient traditions and a sophisticated and majestic aesthetic system. They are first and foremost objects, related to physics and technology, which gave birth to the technique of saddle making. My friend in Baotou told me that the Mongolian people have been making saddles for over two thousand years. The Mongolians have 28 tribes, and there are 28 styles of saddles. Since the 13th century, various tribes of the Mongolian ethnic group have relied on the power of horses to travel around the world, while also bringing saddle making techniques to the whole world. For over two thousand years, people on the grasslands have created saddles for riding horses and developed many customs related to saddles. They showcase their ethnic culture on saddles and decorate them with patterns of gold, silver, copper, cloisonn é, and various ethnic styles; Prepare the saddle, and friends and family come to congratulate, holding a Hada to express their blessings. The owner rides on a horse with a new saddle and gallops proudly. After returning, tie the Hada to the rope of the saddle to celebrate with everyone; After a long journey, one must wait until the horse has finished sweating and rested before taking off the saddle; They do not allow children to cross and play with saddles, as it is said that crossing saddles will scratch their backs... People on the grassland believe that respect for saddles is respect for horses, respect for roads, distance, speed, and strength. Saddles, in their hearts, are related to heroism, identity and status, strength and beauty, auspiciousness and safety, and spiritual totems... At the Damaoqi Museum, I wandered among dozens of saddles, and my thoughts became distant. They are undoubtedly all used. What kind of horses were once under their bodies? What kind of people have sat on their saddles? What kind of temperament and friendship does he have with it? What kind of distant places has he been to, what kind of scenery and sky have he seen, what kind of sunlight and moonlight have he been illuminated by? Although I didn't see the horse, I felt its aura because of the saddle. Being among dozens of saddles feels like being among countless horses. For a moment, I even had hallucinations - countless nasal sounds rising and falling between the saddles. At the hotel where we stayed, I also saw the saddle. They are placed on the entire wall of the lobby. They are abstract paintings, three-dimensional art, philosophy, and poetry. They were silent, but when I looked up at the wall, I felt countless horses leaping past. The entire hall was filled with the sound of galloping hooves and deafening neighing. In my opinion, wherever there is a saddle, there is the grassland under the blue sky, and the battlefield where horses gallop. In Baotou, I saw more saddles. The Yellow River is like a horse looking back, with its green banks on both sides forming saddles. In the workshop of Baotou Iron and Steel (Group) Co., Ltd., the hot and bright red iron looks like an unruly horse running on the track of the workshop, and Baotou is the saddle on the steel mount. Inside Inner Mongolia First Machinery Group Co., Ltd., there are so many tanks dressed in camouflage uniforms, and they are all muscular warhorses. Inner Mongolia First Machinery Group is the saddle on the back of the warhorses. Upon learning about the current size, scale, and development speed of the two companies, a picture of ten thousand galloping horses appeared before my eyes. Perhaps the people of Baotou have long found the code for enterprise development from their most familiar horses. The corporate spirit of Baosteel is "perseverance and self transcendence", while the corporate spirit of Inner Mongolia First Machinery Group is "daring to take responsibility, good at tackling challenges, moving forward bravely, and striving for the first place forever". The so-called "perseverance, surpassing oneself" and "courage to move forward, always striving for first place" are not just a summary of the spirit of horses and an extension of the spirit of saddles? So, during my days in Baotou, I saw horses everywhere, riding on the saddle at all times. (New Society)