Black Beauty is born in a pleasant meadow and raised by his mother Duchess, who teaches him to be gentle and hardworking.

Black Beauty is broken in by his first master, who gently trains him to wear a saddle and carry a rider.

Black Beauty arrives at Birtwick Park, where Squire Gordon and his wife give the young horse his name.

John Manly rides Black Beauty through a violent storm to fetch a doctor for the gravely ill Lady Gordon.

An inexperienced Joe Green gives the exhausted Black Beauty cold water after his midnight ride, making the horse dangerously ill.

Squire Gordon's wife becomes too ill to remain in England, the family departs, and all horses are sold to new owners.

Beauty and Ginger are sold to Earlshall Park, where the Earl's wife forces them to wear painful bearing-reins.

Groom Reuben Smith rides Black Beauty while drunk, causing a fall that kills Reuben and permanently scars Beauty's knees.

The Earl decides that Beauty's scarred knees are too unsightly for his fashionable stable and arranges to sell the horse.

Jerry Barker buys Black Beauty at a horse fair and puts him to work pulling a London cab.

Black Beauty spots his old friend Ginger pulling a cab in London, broken down and wishing she could die.

Two wealthy passengers keep Jerry waiting in freezing cold on New Year's Eve, and Jerry falls dangerously ill afterward.

Jerry recovers but is too weak to drive a cab, so his family moves to the countryside and Beauty is sold.

Black Beauty collapses while pulling an overloaded cab up a steep hill for the cruel owner Skinner.

Farmer Thoroughgood and his grandson Willie nurse Beauty back to health and sell him to two kind ladies for a quiet life.

Black Beauty grows up on a farm with a loving mother and a kind master before being sold to Squire Gordon at Birtwick Park, where he thrives under the care of groom John Manly. His happy years end when Squire Gordon's ailing wife forces the family to leave England, and Beauty is sold to Earlshall Park, where a drunk groom's recklessness leaves him permanently scarred. His damaged appearance drives him steadily down the social ladder into harder and harder working lives across urban England. After years of neglect and suffering, he collapses under an overloaded cab, nearly dying in the street. Rescued by the kindly Farmer Thoroughgood and nursed back to health, Beauty is eventually purchased by two gentle ladies and lives in peaceful contentment at last.

The key milestones of Black Beauty's life from birth to final happiness.

A hunt near Beauty's meadow ends in tragedy when Squire Gordon's eldest son is killed after being thrown from a horse.

Ginger tells Black Beauty about her cruel early training, explaining why she became aggressive and distrustful of humans.

Merrylegs explains to Black Beauty that he gently tosses rough and demanding boys from his back to teach them to be kinder.

Squire Gordon rebukes a laborer for beating his pony and openly challenges his friend Captain Langley about the cruelty of bearing-reins.

Squire Gordon offers James Howard a prestigious groom position with his brother-in-law, and James begins preparing to leave Birtwick Park.

A fire breaks out overnight at an inn stable during a trip; James bravely blindfolds and leads Beauty and Ginger to safety.

Joe Green confronts a man beating his horses and reports him to a supervisor; the man is later charged with cruelty.

Ginger violently rebels against the tight bearing-rein at Earlshall, kicking and rearing until she is unhitched from the carriage.

Lady Anne is badly injured when her horse Lizzie bolts and falls into a dyke; Beauty gallops urgently to fetch the doctor.

Men from Earlshall find Reuben Smith dead and Beauty badly injured on a dark road, then walk Beauty slowly home.

Mr. Barry purchases Black Beauty, but his groom Filcher is caught stealing Beauty's oats and is sent to prison.

Captain describes to Black Beauty his life as a war horse and losing his beloved master during a cavalry charge.

A drunken driver crashes into Jerry's cab and badly injures Captain, who is later shot to spare him further suffering.

Jerry drives a woman named Dinah Brown to a country town on a Sunday so she can visit her dying mother.

Beauty is sold to the harsh cab owner Nicholas Skinner, who rents him to merciless drivers until Beauty falls into complete despair.

Black Beauty's world is filled with characters and episodes that illuminate the dangers and injustices horses face at every level of society. From witnessing a fatal hunting accident in his youth to befriending the embittered Ginger and watching James Howard bravely lead horses from a blazing stable, Beauty encounters both courage and cruelty early in life. At Earlshall, Ginger's dramatic rebellion against the bearing-rein and Lady Anne's near-fatal riding accident reveal the chaos that results from poor oversight and reckless behavior. In London, Beauty hears Captain's moving account of war, watches a fellow cab driver work himself to death, and is finally sold to the brutal Skinner, reaching the lowest point of his entire life.

The supporting events, friendships, and dangers that shaped Beauty's world.

Beauty overhears John and James talking and learns that the horse Rob Roy, shot during the hunt, was his own brother.

Sir Oliver tells the other horses how his tail was permanently cut short for a passing fashion, leaving him unable to swat flies.

Black Beauty refuses to cross a flooding bridge during a violent storm, saving Squire Gordon and John from almost certain drowning.

John tells James how Squire Gordon rescued him and his orphaned sister from poverty, showing how kindness creates lasting loyalty.

John argues to Tom Green that ignorance is nearly as dangerous as wickedness, while conceding that Joe Green did his best.

Beauty watches Squire Gordon's family depart forever and returns to find that Birtwick Park is no longer his home.

Mr. York tells John that the Earl's wife insists on tight bearing-reins purely for appearances, overriding York's own better judgment.

Reuben Smith's widow grieves that alcohol destroyed a good man and left her and six children with nothing.

Jerry refuses a lucrative contract to drive his cab on Sundays, choosing to protect his principles, his horses, and his family.

The cab driver known as Seedy Sam describes how financial pressure forces him to overwork his horses; he dies shortly after from exhaustion.

Jerry reveals to a fellow cab driver that he once drank heavily but found sobriety through religious faith and his wife's support.

A lady stops on the road and persuades Beauty's driver Jakes to remove the bearing-rein, allowing Beauty to pull his heavy load.

Polly writes to her former employer Mrs. Fowler, who responds by offering Jerry a coachman position in the countryside.

Young Willie convinces his hesitant grandfather to buy the broken-down horse at the fair, sensing that Beauty was once something great.

The ladies' groom arrives to collect Beauty and reveals himself to be a grown-up Joe Green, reuniting with his old friend.

Throughout Black Beauty's life, key revelations and decisions shape both his fate and his understanding of the world. Early discoveries about his slain brother Rob Roy, the lasting harm done to Sir Oliver by a cruel fashion, and his own instinct saving lives at a flooded bridge all establish the intelligence and vulnerability of horses. The departure from Birtwick Park and the revelation of Reuben Smith's widow's grief mark the start of Beauty's darker years, driven by vanity, poverty, and addiction. In London, Jerry's principled stand against Sunday work, the tragedy of Seedy Sam's death, and Jerry's confession of his own battle with drink reveal how integrity and love can resist even the harshest circumstances. The final turning points bring resolution: a lady's small act of compassion, a letter securing Jerry's future, a boy's faith in a broken horse, and Joe Green's tearful recognition of his oldest friend.

The discoveries, decisions, and emotional turning points that define Beauty's journey.