After being nursed back to health, Black Beauty becomes a gentle and reliable horse, and is sold to a pair of ladies. He nearly dies, but is purchased by a kindly farmer who can see that Beauty was once a beautiful and elegant horse. One day, Black Beauty collapses while attempting to pull an overloaded cab. Since he is older, and his health is becoming more and more fragile, Beauty quickly passes from owner to owner. Eventually Jerry falls ill, and after he recovers, he and his family decide to leave London and move to the countryside.

Tragically, Black Beauty encounters his old friend Ginger and sees that her life has been ruined by hard labor and neglect. Black Beauty stays with Jerry for three years, working hard, but also being treated with respect and affection. Jerry works as a hired cabdriver in London, and he is very kind and caring. Due to the scars left from his injuries, Black Beauty is no longer considered fashionable, and is sent away from his comfortable life on country estates to a new life as a working horse in more urbanized centers.īlack Beauty encounters suffering and hardship, but his luck seems to change when he is purchased by a man named Jerry Barker. At his new home, Beauty is not treated as well, and he is eventually seriously injured in an accident caused by groom riding him while drunk. All of the horses, including Black Beauty, are sold to new owners. He has many adventures, including being ridden one night for a doctor to save Squire Gordon’s wife’s life.Įventually, the illness of the Squire’s wife leads the family to move away from England. John Manly, a wise groom, cares for him, and he makes friends with the other horses there, including Ginger and Merrylegs. He lives some of the happiest years of his life on Squire Gordon’s estate. Once his training is complete, Beauty is purchased by a well-off man named Squire Gordon. He is determined to always work hard, and to do his best to please his owner.

While some aspects of this training are stressful, Beauty is trained to be confident, patient, and calm. When he is old enough, he is trained to carry a rider, or pull a cart or carriage. Beauty begins his life by describing a happy childhood growing up on a farm with a loving mother. Black Beauty is set in England in the 19th century, and is narrated in the first-person by a horse named Black Beauty.

First edition black beauty book