Bo Le Xiang Ma

The legend said that Bo Le was the immortal responsible for watching over and herding horses in the heaven. This name was carried as well in the mortal world by those who were good at selecting good horses.

The first one having been given this name was Sun Yang in the Spring & Autumn Period (770-476 BC). He was so good at selecting good horses that people even forgot his own name and instead called him Bo Le like it was his born name.

One day, Bo Le was entrusted by the Lord of Chu to find a horse that could ride for a thousand miles a day. Bo Le said to the lord that it was hard to find such a good horse and it would take a long while because he needed to go around a lot of places. He promised that he would do his best to find a good horse for the Lord of Chu.

Bo Le went to several states and carefully searched in the areas of Yan and Zhao, which were famous for having good horses. However, after a long and difficult search, Bo Le found nothing. One day, when Bo Le returned from the State of Qi, he found a horse which was strenuously pulling a cart. The horse was panting out of fatigue and even making a step forward was quite difficult for him. Bo Le went straight to the horse and carefully examined him. Strangely, the horse suddenly raised his head and neighed loudly when he saw Bo Le approaching as if to tell Bo Le something. From his noise Bo Le immediately found out that he was a rarely good horse.

Bo Le said to the owner of the horse: “This horse outruns any other horse in the battlefield. However, if he was used to pull the cart, he could not work better than others. Could you please sell him to me?”

The owner of the horse thought Bo Le was a fool. He believed that the horse was nothing more than an ordinary horse or even worse than ordinary one C no big strength to pull the cart, too much consumption of feedstuff and bones that could be seen against his skins. He agreed without any hesitation. Bo Le took this horse and went directly back to the State of Chu. He led the horse to the palace of this country and patted the horse’s neck, saying: “I found you a good owner.” The horse seemed to understand what he said. His forefeet continuously treaded on the ground, making loud clops. Meanwhile, he raised his head and neighed loudly to show his excitement.

The lord heard the sound and went of the palace. Bo Le pointed the horse to him and said: “My lord, I have brought the horse you want. Please take a look at him.”

The lord saw the skinny horse and thought that Bo Le was fooling him. He was not very pleased and said: “I believed in your ability of choosing good horses so I gave this task to you. But what horse have you got for me? Walking smoothly seemed to be a tough job for him. How could he run in the battlefield?

Bo Le said: “My lord, this is really a good horse. He was used to pull a cart before I found him and was not fed carefully. That’s why he was so skinny. I promise you that he could restore to his original appearance and his strength would come back if you feed him with good stuff for one month.”

The lord was half convinced. So he ordered his horsemen to feed the horse carefully. Half a month later, the horse indeed became strong and energetic and could run hundreds of miles within an instance.

Then this horse became the mount for the Lord of Chu and helped him win many battles. Lord Chu admired Bo Le and was convinced of his ability of choosing horses.”