The Red Pony

The Red Pony Summary | Chapter 1 Summary

The story begins at daybreak on the Tiflin ranch near Salinas, California. Billy Buck is a middle-aged ranch hand who works for the Tiflin family. He is a seasoned ranchman who is very good with horses. He rises with the sun and curries and brushes two saddle horses before breakfast. He goes to the ranch house when Ruth Tiflin rings the iron triangle to signal that breakfast is ready. He waits to go into the dining room because he is a cowhand and it is proper for a family member to go in first.

Ten-year-old Jody Tiflin is awakened by the triangle. Jody has blond hair and grey eyes, and his mouth "works" when he thinks. He dresses quickly in shirt and overalls, and hurries to the kitchen to wash before breakfast. It is late summer, so he wears no shoes. Everyone eats a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon, and biscuits. Jody's father Carl comes in wearing boots; Jody looks under the table to be sure he's wearing boots even though he knows by the sound of his father's footsteps that he is. It is light now; Carl turns off the oil lamp over the table. Jody wishes he could ride along with his father and Billy, wherever they might be going that day. However, he does not ask any questions, for his father is a disciplinarian and Jody is obedient and shy.

Carl and Billy are going to drive six old cows to the butcher. Billy says he could do it alone, but Carl says he'll go along to keep Billy company. Mrs. Tiflin asks Carl when they'll be back. He says he isn't sure, because he has to "see some men in Salinas." After breakfast, Jody watches the men mount the horses and drive the cows out of the corral and over the hill.

When the men are gone, Jody walks around the property near the house with the dogs, Doubletree Mutt and Smasher. The dogs are excited to be with him; they run ahead, looking back occasionally to be sure he is following. They go through the chicken yard where quail are eating with the chickens. Jody continues through the vegetable patch; the new corn is over his head and the cow-pumpkins are small and green. He goes to the sagebrush line where there is a pipe outlet from a cold spring into a wooden tub; he has a drink. He turns and surveys the ranch, seeing the ranch house and the bunkhouse where Billy Buck lives. He sees the large black kettle under the cypress, where they slaughter and prepare pigs. The birds and squirrels make a great racket as he looks over the ranch buildings. Jody feels "an uncertainty in the air, a feeling of change and of loss and of the gain of new and unfamiliar things." He sees two buzzards over the hill and knows that something has died nearby. He hates the buzzards but knows they can't be hurt because they take away carrion.

Jody goes back down the hill toward the house. Back through the garden, he smashes a melon with his foot and feels bad about it. In the house, his mother inspects his dirty hands but doesn't make him wash because she knows he'll just get dirty again on the way to school. As Jody begins the mile walk to school, his mother notices "that his mouth was working a good deal this morning."

On the way to school, Jody collects rocks and throws them at birds and rabbits. He meets two friends along the way and they walk together, acting silly. School has been open for only two weeks.

Coming home at four o'clock that afternoon, Jody immediately looks for the horses in the corral. They are not there, so he knows his father and Billy are still gone. He moves slowly toward his afternoon chores. His mother is mending socks on the porch and tells him there are doughnuts for him in the kitchen. She scolds him for stacking too little wood and finding too few eggs the day before and tells him to fill the wood-box full and to search in the grass for hidden eggs. Jody does his chores. When he feeds the chickens, the quail come to eat, too; his father is proud that they come and doesn't allow shooting near the house for fear they'll leave. After filling the wood-box, Jody takes his .22 rifle up to the cold spring. He aims it all over the place but does not fire because he has no ammunition. He won't be allowed cartridges until he is 12.

There is no supper until after dark, when Carl Tiflin and Billy Buck return. Jody smells brandy on their breaths and is glad because sometimes his father talks to him and tells stories about his own boyhood when he's been drinking brandy. However, after dinner his father sternly tells him to go to bed because he's going to need Jody in the morning. Jody is disappointed, but he is excited about getting to do something out of the ordinary the next day, whatever it might be. Later, from his bed, he hears his father tell his mother, "However,, Ruth, I didn't give much for him."

In the morning, Jody dresses even more quickly than usual and rushes down to breakfast. He notices that Carl and Billy are both wearing flat-heeled shoes. His father looks "stern and disciplinary" as he turns off the oil lamp, and Billy doesn't look at Jody at all. Carl tells Jody to accompany the men after breakfast, which makes Jody nervous; "he felt a kind of doom in the air." As he follows the men out of the house after breakfast, his mother calls to his father not to "let it keep him from school."

They walk past the cypress and the pig-killing equipment, through a stubble-field, and to the barn. Carl crosses to the single box stall and tells Jody to join him. Jody looks inside and sees a red pony colt. Its coat and mane are rough and tangled, and it has a wild look in its eyes. Carl tells Jody he must curry the pony and keep his stall clean or he will sell the pony off. Jody puts out his hand toward the pony's nose, and the pony bites his fingers. Jody is proud of the pony's spirit, and the men laugh "somewhat in relief." Carl leaves the barn to be alone; he is embarrassed. Billy stays and assures Jody that the pony is indeed his if he takes care of him and breaks him. Billy tells Jody that Carl got the pony at a sheriff's auction in Salinas. He shows Jody the saddle they got with the pony. Jody calls the pony Gabilan Mountains. Billy suggests just "Gabilan," which means hawk. He offers to make a hair rope for Jody if he will collect tail hair from Gabilan.

After school that day, Jody brings six boys home to see the pony. They are all very impressed and see Jody with new respect. They all want to ride the pony or at least lead him around, but Jody tells them the pony must be halter broken and trained first—that it will be a long time before anyone can ride him. The boys see the saddle and are equally impressed by it. Jody tells them his father might want him to help with the stock once Gabilan is saddle broken. After the boys leave, Jody goes to work currying and brushing the pony, making his coat shine. He forgets his chores until his mother comes to remind him. She is proud of his new devotion to the pony.

Now Jody is always awake before the triangle calls him to breakfast. He goes to the barn every morning before dawn to spend time with Gabilan. Some mornings Billy is there getting the saddle horses ready for work, and he tells Jody lots of things about horses. Jody listens carefully to Billy, because like everyone around, he knows Billy is a great horseman. Billy's own horse is nothing impressive to look at, but Billy wins first prizes at the rodeo because the horse is so well-trained.

Jody is proud of Gabilan's fierce spirit and his beautiful coat and muscles. He notices how Gabilan expresses himself with his ears.

Billy keeps his promise and helps Jody halter-break Gabilan and train him on the long halter. Gabilan learns well but retains his rebellious spirit, occasionally biting or kicking or stomping—but always looking like he is amused when he behaves badly. Carl complains that Gabilan is almost too good at the long halter work, that he is "almost a trick pony." However, he tells Jody that he should train him to the saddle soon. Jody is thrilled, for he has been practicing on the saddle on a sawhorse for some time. He dreams of riding his galloping horse out across the fields.

Jody begins saddle-breaking Gabilan, slowly getting the pony used to the saddle and the cinch. Billy helps him train Gabilan to the bridle. Jody is proud of the rambunctious way Gabilan resists bridle training. He dreams about when he'll first sit in the saddle on Gabilan, and he worries that he will disgrace himself by not getting up right away when Gabilan throws him off. Jody's father gives him an old pair of spurs, bent and cut to fit Jody. He tells Jody he can ride the pony by Thanksgiving, which is only three weeks away. Billy instructs Jody many times about how to get in the saddle and what to do when he gets thrown. Jody worries that it will start raining and make it more dangerous when he gets thrown. He practices mounting the saddle on a sawhorse. Every afternoon, he puts the saddle on Gabilan and leads him all over the ranch.

Winter weather comes before Thanksgiving, much to Jody's regret. Jody keeps Gabilan in the box stall, not wanting him to get wet. He takes the pony out every afternoon for exercise. Finally the sun comes out, and Jody tells Billy he'll leave Gabilan out in the corral that day while he's at school. Billy assures him it's not going to rain anymore, and that if it does, he will come take care of the horse; he also assures him that rain won't hurt a horse. However, Billy is wrong about the weather; it begins pouring after noon. After school, Jody rushes home in the rain to get Gabilan into the barn.

Jody rubs the pony down with a gunny sack, drying him as well as he can. The horse trembles and only nibbles at the hot mash Jody gives him. Billy and Carl come home when it is nearly dark. Jody is angry with Billy for being wrong about the rain, but Billy and Carl both tell Jody the rain won't hurt the horse. Carl complains that coddling causes weakness in animals as well as in men.

After dinner, Billy and Jody go to the barn to see Gabilan. Billy inspects the horse and gives him a rub-down. They tie a blanket around Gabilan. When Jody returns to the house, his mother assures him that Billy is "as good as any horse doctor in the country."

For the first time, Jody sleeps past the ringing of the breakfast triangle. He dresses fast and runs to the barn. Halfway there he hears Gabilan coughing. Billy is already there, rubbing Gabilan's legs. He assures Jody the pony has only caught a little cold, and that he'll soon be better. Billy assures Jody he will stay with the pony all day while Jody is at school. The next day is Saturday, and Jody will be able to be with him.

The pony is worse when Jody gets home. Billy shows him a lump under Gabilan's jaw; Billy says he will open it when it gets bigger, and then the horse will get better. Gabilan has "strangles." Jody helps Billy steam Gabilan with a medicinal nose bag. Jody wants to sleep in the barn with Gabilan, but Billy tells him that he will sleep in the stall that night and Jody can sleep with the horse the next night. Carl tells stories by the fire after dinner and becomes angry and hurt when Jody doesn't pay close attention; Jody cannot think about anything but Gabilan.

The next day, the pony is worse. Billy opens the lump under Gabilan's jaw and drains the pus. He tells Jody he's seen sicker horses get well, and that as long as he doesn't get pneumonia, they will pull him through. Jody stays with Gabilan all day. He helps Billy with another steam bag. He brings his bedding down to the barn. Despite his worry, Jody goes to sleep. He is awakened by crashing noises and discovers the barn door has blown open and the pony has gone out. He runs out with a lantern and finds Gabilan. The pony lets Jody lead him back to the barn. He is much sicker. Jody does not sleep any more that night.

In the morning, Billy comes in and tells Jody he must cut a hole in Gabilan's windpipe so the pony can breathe. Jody insists on staying. Billy cuts the hole and the pony breathes. It begins raining again. The triangle rings for breakfast. Jody goes to eat first, getting soaked on the way to the house. He eats and goes back to the barn, where Billy shows him how to keep the mucus out of the breathing hole. Carl comes and tells Jody to leave with him, but Billy angrily tells Carl to let Jody alone. Carl leaves.

Jody spends the morning taking care of Gabilan. At noon, the pony lies down on his side. Billy comes back and tells Jody to go take a nap so he can stay with the horse that night. Jody goes to the mossy tub by the spring outlet and looks around; the ranch buildings seem different now. Doubletree Mutt comes and sits with Jody. Jody returns to the barn and realizes the pony is dying. He dozes a little in the afternoon. His mother brings him a bowl of stew; he eats a little. The night is windy and cold. The pony's breathing is quieter. Jody wraps himself in a blanket and sleeps.

In the morning, Jody awakes to find the barn door open and the pony gone. He runs out and follows the pony's tracks. He sees a circle of buzzards flying lower and lower in the sky. He runs over the ridge. He sees the pony lying in a clearing; the buzzards are waiting for the pony to die. The pony is dead and the buzzards have begun eating when Jody runs up. He grabs one of the buzzards and kills it with his hands and a piece of sharp quartz. He is still beating the dead bird when Billy pulls him off and holds him to calm him. Carl wipes the blood from Jody's face and says, "Jody . . . the buzzard didn't kill the pony. Don't you know that?" Billy carries Jody home, angrily saying to Carl, "'Course he knows it. . . . Jesus Christ! man, can't you see how he'd feel about it?"