Black Beauty was a handsome horse with one white foot and a white star on his forehead. His life started out
on a farm with his mother, Duchess, who taught him to be gentle and kind and to never bite or kick. When
Black Beauty was four years old, he was sold to Squire Gordon of Birtwick Park. He went to live in a stable
where he met and became friends with two horses, Merrylegs and Ginger. Ginger started life with a cruel owner
who used a whip on her. She treated her cruel owner with the lack of respect he deserved. When she went to
live at Birtwick Park, Ginger still kicked and bit, but she grew happier there. The groom at Birtwick Park, John,
was very kind and never used a whip. Black Beauty saved the lives of Squire Gordon and John one stormy night
when they tried to get him to cross a broken bridge. The Squire was very grateful and loved Black Beauty very
much.
One night a foolish young stableman left his pipe burning in the hay loft where Black Beauty and Ginger were
staying. Squire Gordon’s young stableboy, James, saved Black Beauty and Ginger from the burning stable. The
Squire and his wife were very grateful and proud of their young stableboy. James got a new job and left Birtwick
Park and a new stableboy, Joe Green, took over. Then, one night Black Beauty nearly died because of Joe’s lack
of experience and knowledge.
The Gordons had to leave the country because of Mrs Gordon’s health and sold Black Beauty to Lord
Westerleigh at Earlshall Park. Lady Westerleigh was unkind and selfish, and she made her horses wear bearing
reins, which was very painful. One day, a groom called Rueben Smith took Black Beauty into town and left him
at a stable for hours while he was with his friends. When the blacksmith pointed out that Black Beauty’s shoe
was loose, Rueben didn’t care. He whipped Black Beauty and made him gallop much too fast because Reuben
was late. Black Beauty fell and Rueben was thrown off the horse and died. After that, Black Beauty was not
handsome enough for Lord and Lady Westerleigh because his knees were cut and scarred. They sold him to a
London cab driver, Jerry Barker.
Jerry was a very kind man and Black Beauty was happy working for him. But when Jerry’s doctor told him
he must no longer work as a cab driver, he sold Black Beauty. The very nice ladies who bought him had a
groom with a deep voice and a beard – it was young Joe Green from Birtwick Park, now a grown man. When
Joe realised that the new horse was Black Beauty, he was very happy to see him again. He told the ladies that
Black Beauty belonged to Squire Gordon and that he had been the Gordon’s favourite horse. The ladies were
very pleased with Black Beauty, too. And once again, Black Beauty found himself in a happy home with kind
people.