Chief’s helicopter did it!

Maj Gen Partap Narwal (retd)

The coming week was to be the busiest for us. As I went to bed, only my body lay down and rested; my mind remained occupied — thinking, imagining, planning. Suddenly I got up — how can the helicopter land there!

In 2012, I commanded the Horse Breeding Farm, Babugarh, a 200-year-old sole Army unit next to Hapur. The acres of land and the number of horses are in thousands here; and the syces from generations work in hundreds. The farm boasts of a pristine ambience, for which the Commandant and his team has no eyes, as their sight was fixed on getting more and more fodder for mares and foals for the Army — the latter being harder.

The mares in wild are prolific breeders, but in husbandry surroundings, they find the process burdensome. The Commandant faces umpteen challenges daily. The problems begin with the breeding season in February, as mares don’t show their amatory overtures. After days of efforts, when they are roped in for encounter with the stallion, the process is often repeated the following month. Still, after holding the pregnancy, they may lose it anytime. The losses are attributed to even frivolous reasons which may sound convincing only when read in textbooks. Considering such uncertainties, the Army Headquarters (AHQ) has set a target of getting 60 per cent mares gravid yearly by autumn. The past record of 15 years then showed the highest figure attained at the farm was 65 per cent.

Earlier that day, I had received a message from the AHQ that the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) would visit us next week. He was to reach from Delhi by helicopter. I had thought of an open ground for landing, but lying in bed, I realised that the ground was close to mares’ paddocks and my memory flashed a textbook line: low flying aircraft can cause abortion in mares. How many pregnant mares out of hundreds may stick to this prophecy!

There was no other suitable landing site as the landscape was covered with trees, crops and electricity poles. The next morning, when I conveyed my apprehension, the AHQ also found it convincing. I suggested changing the mode of journey to the land route. But by evening, it was reported that the mode remained unchanged. When we contacted the flying staff, they reluctantly agreed to consider a crop-field for the landing site. Our search narrowed to an oat-field in the farthest corner, which was harvested for fodder. Ridges and furrows were levelled. The flying staff approved the site.

The dust storm from landing sent us scurrying behind staff cars. The visit went off as per the plan. Though the helicopter noise from that distance could not have threatened the mares, the thought of likely losses haunted us. When an AHQ-deputed team began checking each mare for pregnancy in November, we anxiously awaited the result. The team declared above 72 per cent mares in foal. The syces chortled, ‘We never heard of such results here… not even from our ancestors!’