The Black Stallion

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1941

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-5

Chapters 6-10

Chapters 11-13

Chapters 14-18

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Chapters 11-13Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 11 Summary: “Partners”

The evening after the Black’s escape and recovery, Alec returns to the barn and finds Henry with a packet of news clippings and racing gear. He shows Alec what he wore when he rode the great horse Chang to victory in the Kentucky Derby. They talk about what it would mean to race the Black. The main problem is the lack of any pedigree for the stallion, which means he cannot enter any official races. Henry promises to contact a horse racing official to find any information about the Black.

School friends of Alec, Whiff Sample and Bill Lee, come with him the next day to see the stallion. Immediately overwhelmed by his size and ferocity, the boys hide out in the barn as Alec plays tag at high speed with the Black in the field.

Time passes as Alec learns to ride the horse like a jockey in a race. He and Henry cannot get any information from the Jockey Club in the United States, so Henry writes to officials in Arabia asking for information. When winter comes, Alec introduces The Black to snowfall for the first time: “Cautiously he lowered himself to the ground then rolled over on his back. His legs waved above him. ‘Look at him!’ Alex shouted to Henry. ‘He loves it!’” (114). Alec and Henry plan to train the Black so he will be prepared to race in the spring.

Chapter 12 Summary: “Training Begins”

On April 1, Henry and Alec begin training the Black to become a racehorse. First, they must get a saddle on his back. The Black fights against them, determined not to wear the saddle: “The stallion reared. Alec jumped to one side. Henry was dangerously close to the Black, his hands feverishly pulling the straps through the buckles. […] ‘Got it,’ [Alec] shouted. ‘Get out of his way!’ (121).

With the saddle on his back, the horse rolls over, smashing the saddle but unable to dislodge it. The next challenge is for Alec to climb on the saddle and ride him. At first, the Black throws him. Alec is persistent and finally rides the horse around the field. Henry says next they must get the Black to accept the bit. They work at the process until the sun sets.

Chapter 13 Summary: “Night Ride”

Alec sneaks out of his house in the middle of the night, noting that the time is at 1 a.m. in the morning. On his way to meet Henry, he realizes that two weeks have passed since they familiarized the Black with a saddle and bridle.

Alec meets Henry at the barn where they load the Black into a truck to take him to the Belmont Park racetrack. Because the stallion doesn't want to be separated from his stablemate, they take Napoleon to the track as well. Once they arrive, Jake, an elderly gatekeeper, greets them and lets them inside. Jake and Henry reminisce about when Jake was a horse trainer and Henry’s mentor. Henry introduces Jake to Alec. When they open the truck to take out the horse, Jake sees Napoleon and ask woefully if this is the horse they're going to train. Then, awestruck, he sees the Black.

They saddle the stallion and Alec rides him around the track. The black runs so fast, the reins cut into Alec's hands. Alec cannot see and the wind tears his shirt. The stallion doesn't just go around the track once but runs completely around twice. Alec cannot prevent the Black from running until the horse is ready to stop. They load the horses back in the truck and return to the barn.

Alec wakes the next morning, and his hands are bloodied from the ride. He realizes that he had not been dreaming.

Chapters 11-13 Analysis

Alec, with the complicity of Henry, engage in a series of actions that are dangerous when they take the Black to Belmont Park at night to train him to race. Earlier, Henry muses about his hesitation to retire and how he is excited about the opportunity to train a horse again. In returning to the track, where he learned about racing as a youth from Jake, Henry is reliving his boyhood, for the privilege of which he will break some rules.

Conversely, in going to the track and riding the Black in the dead of night, cutting his hands, and risking his health, Alec ages beyond his years by taking risks to train the horse. As Henry reverts to his youth, Alec grows up quickly. Henry shores up this notion when, in discussing the possibility of Alec riding in the match race, he says Alec has lived through the sort of profound experiences that, even as grown men, he and Mr. Farley have not. The adults, Henry suggests, must give way to the wisdom of the boy. In this way, throughout the narrative, Farley pulls together contrasting characters to mesh the threads of the story.