war horse

What good would a thoroughbred be to the Narracotts? A family of three who's been struggling for a peaceful living, paying for land that can't even be used. When Albert – the only son of the family – saw a foal's birth when he was a kid, a bond was formed between the two parties. Ted Narracottt bought it  at the auction and Albert raised him ever since, giving him the name Joey.

One day, the struggle to pay their rent was harder than ever before, counting the fact that their land needs to be ploughed in order for them to be able to plant crops. Albert though, the hard working lad he is, trained Joey. Taught him to be able to respond to calls and to be obedient. But when the day came for Ted to pay the rent and they had nothing, Ted was forced to auction Joey off to a wonderful man called Captain Nicholls.

While Joey was going to be rode on in the surprise attack the British had planned on the Germans, it was a shock to all of them when the British lost due to the machine guns the Germans had hidden near the borders of the forest.

Joey and Topthorn, a black horse that was in the war too, was taken and was cared for by many people. First they were taken by Michael and Gunther, the German brothers that defected the war, then Emilie and her grandfather who were French and lived in the midst of the war. The horses were taken again by  the German private Heiglemann and were told to drag heavy artillery for the war which caused the death of Topthorn.

Joey who was left alone, overcame his fear of leaping when the tank threatened to kill him. He ran to No Man's Land and miraculously survived with the help of Peter from Edinsburg and Colin from Britain. When Colin brought Joey back to the British Camp Base, he was almost killed. Luckily, Albert who was there realized it was Joey and he was tended to.

When the war ended at 11:00, because Joey wasn't a captain's horse, he had to be auctioned off. All of Albert's friends helped him gather the money even though he lost Joey to Emilie's grandfather who gave Joey back to Albert because he knew it was the right thing to do.

In the end, Albert came home from war safe and sound, getting Joey back in the process too.