Black Beauty (0)

Chapters 1–5:
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.
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 .
Chapters 9 –11:
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.
Chapters 12–15:
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.
Chapters 16 –18:
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.