Hello everyone!
It's time to take a bit of a trip into the past. Well, at least I am.
Whenever I'm feeling down about something or just not at one hundred percent where I should be, I have a couple of ways to get a little boost and end up back in my happy place. If I'm really short on time I'll put on a tune that really gets me going, but if I can make some luxury choices, well.
I'll either put on a REALLY good episode of a television show I like (that depends entirely on my mood at the time) or I'll pick up a good book.
A lot of the times it'll be The Lord of the Rings (because reasons), but some days I just need a different kind of pick-me-up.
Very recently, I was digging around my shelves to find the one book that probably spawned my love for black horses. Yes, that's a thing, and no, I'm not ashamed to admit it.
I'm talking, of course, of Anna Sewell's Black Beauty.
I didn't even realize how old my particular book was until I opened it again yesterday and found a little note hidden there from my aunt who'd bought it for my birthday, way back in 2001.
Dang. Were we ever that young?!
But anyway.
Being that it was one of the first books I actually seriously read in terms of how much my love for horses just had to manifest, I figured I could probably give it a feature here on the blog. After all, I review a hell of a lot of other things, not necessarily all good!
The book is interesting because it's narrated directly by its titular character, namely Black Beauty.
It's also divided into four parts, each depicting some stage of the horse's life.
It begins with Beauty's first real memories, which are of a meadow and a pond, as well as spending time with his mother and eventually with the other colts grazing there. The owner, Grey, seems to be in the business of breeding and selling horses to different buyers, as we're given to understand he's sold many of them to the squire Gordon, where our hero ends up as well. But before we do that we receive some interesting life lessons from Duchess, Beauty's mother, and witness an old English fox hunt which leads to one horse and one rider dead.
It's only later that the author reveals how she planned it, aka that the horse, Rob Roy, was Beauty's older brother, and Gordon Jr. was Gordon Sr. firstborn son and heir who unfortunately would never ride again.
At the Gordon estate, we're introduced to several other equine characters, of which Ginger is probably the stand-out because she and Beauty become fast friends. Several adventures happen at this estate, including Beauty unwilling to cross a sunken bridge, sensing danger, and racing through the night to fetch a doctor for Gordon's wife.
Unfortunately, Beauty's also sick in this part of the book because the young boy caring for him doesn't know better, but he survives only to be sold to a friend of the Gordon's after the family has to relocate to a warmer climate.
This is described in part two, where he and Ginger are bought by another estate owner, even wealthier than Gordon, who seems to enjoy pulling the horses heads up when they're used to pull a carriage. This means that they can't ever lower their heads to their knees, so not only is it uncomfortable it's also dangerous for their health - and doesn't work wonders on poor Ginger. Having already gone through this before coming to the Gordon's, she one day loses it and pretty much goes berserk, which means she's never going to pull a carriage again. Instead, she'll be a hunting horse.
As for Beauty, well, he has to keep on suffering, until the family goes off to London and only a couple of the younger members are left, so he's picked as a riding horse by the lady Anne. Her cousin, also visiting at the time, rides a spirited mare whom Anne wishes to try, too - but this ends in disaster as the horse is nervous and dashes off, Anne on her back, which results in a nasty fall but luckily no broken bones.
That isn't to say that Beauty gets off without a scratch later - before the family's return there are some errands to run and he and Smith, the assistant groom, head to the village to get them done. Unfortunately, Smith gets drunk and doesn't see one of Beauty's shoes is about to fall off. It does, during the mad gallop back, which is followed by Beauty tripping and tossing Smith out of the saddle as well as injuring his knees. Smith dies on the spot - but Beauty's knees are ruined.
Also ruined is Ginger, who overdid it during the hunts, and the two friends are left to recover together before Beauty is sold again.
This time, he lands with a person who lends out carriages and horses, and has a few misadventures there but since he's under ten years old he manages to overcome it all, even getting sold to a man who needs to ride more, as per the doctor's orders. But after being cheated by not one but two grooms, he sells Beauty yet again.
This particular sale happens at a large market, which starts part three as Beauty is bought by Jerry Barker, a cabbie from London who needs a second horse to pull his carriage. And here, Beauty finds a good home as well as a number of different adventures with his owner, and the other horse, first Captain then Max after Captain's death. Not only that, but he meets up with Ginger again - and her unfortunate story of just how bad it can be for a horse. The readers are left guessing whether or not the dead mare driven by the station one time is actually our heroine or not.
Beauty's luck doesn't last either, unfortunately, as during the winter Jerry gets a bad cause of pneumonia and needs to switch jobs, which once again means a sale.
Only this time, Beauty's not as young anymore and his luck seems to have run out, as he's sold first as a horse to pull heavy loads, then to the owner who'd managed to kill Ginger by exhaustion, as a man who lends carriages and horses to cabbies. This is where Beauty's strength eventually just runs out, and he once again finds himself at the big fair.
The last stage of the book happens when a well-off landowner is convinced by his grandson to buy Beauty and let him rest at the family estate. Once his strength returns, Beauty is suggested as a horse for three young ladies, who are specifically looking for an animal to pull their light carriage.
Their groom turns out to be the same individual who nearly killed Beauty back in the day at Gordon's, and it's a happy reunion. He also vouches for the horse's character and the young ladies actually know the Gordons, writing a letter that their beloved Black Beauty is home again.
And that's where we leave the hero - happily munching grass in his new home, safe in the knowledge that he won't be sold again, and dreaming of the good old days with Ginger and the rest, when they were all still young.
Fin!
I can never read this book without tearing up or even outright bawling at certain places. I don't even know what it is - the story of the horse or just the general cruelty of people sometimes depicted, but I can't help myself. And I've read this one so many times it's actually a little bit of an oops haha, but I can't help it. I just love it!
I may have also ordered the Collins Classics version of the book yesterday night while I was at it ...
No judging!
xx
*image not mine
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