spent his young life with his
mother on Farmer Grey’s farm. Farmer Grey was a good,
kind man and the horses had a good life. His mother told
him that not all people were good and she gave him some
advice: ‘Always be good so people will love you. Always
work hard and do your best’. Black Beauty tried to follow
this advice all his life.
First, he went to live at Birtwick Park with Mr Gordon
and his family, who treated their horses well. He became
friends with two other horses, Merrylegs and Ginger. He
was cared for by a groom called John Manly, who never
used a whip. His wife gave him the name of Black Beauty.
He learnt to carry a rider and pull a carriage.
Chapters 6–8: The stable boy, James, got a better job
with a nearby farmer so he was trained by the head groom.
One day, when he drove the carriage led by Black Beauty,
they nearly had an accident. Thanks to the clever horse,
they avoided a broken bridge and got home later but safe.
On another occasion, on a trip to Oxford they stopped for
the night. A careless man smoked in the stables and caused
a big fire. Black Beauty and Ginger were rescued by James
but both he and Ginger were unwell after that and had to
rest.