Black Beauty 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.
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.
Black Beauty saved Mrs Gordon’s life when he ran very fast to bring the doctor to her. He then became ill himself because a new groom didn’t look after him properly when he got back. The Gordons moved abroad and Black Beauty and Ginger were sold to Lord Westland at Earl’s Hall. They had a good groom, but Lady Westland was unkind and made the horses wear bearing reins so that they held their heads up high, which was fashionable in London.
One day, a groom called Reuben Smith was left in charge of the horses. He got drunk and rode Black Beauty very hard and used a whip. Black Beauty lost a shoe and eventually fell. Smith was killed in the accident and Black Beauty’s legs were badly cut. He survived but his legs were scarred and Lord Westland decided to sell him. Black Beauty’s next home was with a London cab driver, Jerry Barker.
Jerry and his family treated Black Beauty very well, but the work was hard and the hours were long. Jerry became ill and had to sell Black Beauty to a farmer, who promised to look after him and find him a good home. The farmer took him to some women at Rose Hall. There, Black Beauty was reunited with Joe, the young groom who used to look after him at Mr Gordon’s home. The women wanted to keep Black Beauty, so once again he had a kind and happy home.