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The Black Stallion #1
The Black Stallion
First published in 1941, Walter Farley's best-selling novel for young readers is the triumphant tale of a boy and a wild horse. From Alec Ramsay and the Black's first meeting on an ill-fated ship to their adventures on a desert island and their eventual rescue, this beloved story will hold the rapt attention of readers new and old.
275 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1941
About the author
Walter Farley
191 books926 followersWalter Farley's love for horses began when he was a small boy living in Syracuse, New York, and continued as he grew up in New York City, where his family moved. Young Walter never owned a horse. But unlike most city children, he had little trouble gaining firsthand experience with horses-his uncle was a professional horseman, and Walter spent much of his time at the stables with him.
"He wasn't the most successful trainer of race horses," Mr. Farley recalled, "and in a way I profited by it. He switched from runners to jumpers to show horses to trotters and pacers, then back to runners again. Consequently, I received a good background in different kinds of horse training and the people associated with each."
Walter Farley began to write his first book, THE BLACK STALLION, while he was a student at Brooklyn's Erasmus Hall High School and Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, and
finished it while he was an undergraduate at Columbia University. It was published by Random House when he was 26. He used his first advance to go traveling and after that hardly stopped longer than it took him to write another book. He traveled and lived in Mexico, Hawaii, the South Seas, most of the South American countries, the Caribbean Islands, and Europe.
The appearance of THE BLACK STALLION in 1941 was hailed by enthusiastic boys and girls all over the country. An avalanche of mail urged Mr. Farley to write more about Alec Ramsey and the Black. But World War II intervened. Mr. Farley went into the US Army, where he spent the next five years. Most of the time he was assigned to Yank, the army weekly magazine, and he was also trained in the Fourth Armored Division.
After the war Walter Farley resumed the adventures of Alec and the Black with THE BLACK STALLION RETURNS. This was followed by SON OF THE BLACK STALLION. Then Mr. Farley tried his hand at a story about a new boy, Steve Duncan, and a new horse, Flame, in THE ISLAND STALLION. Mr. Farley's readers were just as delighted with this book as his others.
Mr. Farley went on to write many more stories about the two stallions, and about other horses as well. Children of all ages have found Farley titles to enjoy, since many of the later stories were written for Mr. Farley's own children when they were too young to read his Stallion novels. And older readers and adults have been gripped by his fictionalized biography of America's greatest Thoroughbred, Man O'War. Walter Farley's titles reached a grand total of 34. The 21 Black Stallion and Island Stallion stories are still in print and selling steadily. His readers respond with passion, writing him thousands of letters and emails every year. In May 1949, the first Black Stallion Club was founded, in Kentucky. Mr. Farley designed a membership button for it; the button was in constant demand among his readers for years. The Black Stallion books were so popular in the late 1940s and '50s that they York Times annual list of best-selling children's books. Three nationwide Black Stallion contests were held. Walter Farley's books have been published abroad in more than 20 countries, including Austria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, England, Israel, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaya, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, and Switzerland, as well as in the United States and Canada.
All his life Walter Farley remained a keen spectator of the racing scene, and he enjoyed nothing more than hobnobbing with horse trainers and other professional horsemen. It is thanks to these people that his books are so full of authentic details of raising and training horses. When not busy working or traveling, Mr. Farley liked to ride dressage and high school Lippizaner horses. He also sailed and sometimes raced his 35-foot auxiliary sloop "Circe."
Mr. Farley and his wife Rosemary, had four children: Pam, Alice, Steve, and Tim, whom they raised on a farm in Pennsylvania and in a beach house in Florida. In addit
"He wasn't the most successful trainer of race horses," Mr. Farley recalled, "and in a way I profited by it. He switched from runners to jumpers to show horses to trotters and pacers, then back to runners again. Consequently, I received a good background in different kinds of horse training and the people associated with each."
Walter Farley began to write his first book, THE BLACK STALLION, while he was a student at Brooklyn's Erasmus Hall High School and Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, and
finished it while he was an undergraduate at Columbia University. It was published by Random House when he was 26. He used his first advance to go traveling and after that hardly stopped longer than it took him to write another book. He traveled and lived in Mexico, Hawaii, the South Seas, most of the South American countries, the Caribbean Islands, and Europe.
The appearance of THE BLACK STALLION in 1941 was hailed by enthusiastic boys and girls all over the country. An avalanche of mail urged Mr. Farley to write more about Alec Ramsey and the Black. But World War II intervened. Mr. Farley went into the US Army, where he spent the next five years. Most of the time he was assigned to Yank, the army weekly magazine, and he was also trained in the Fourth Armored Division.
After the war Walter Farley resumed the adventures of Alec and the Black with THE BLACK STALLION RETURNS. This was followed by SON OF THE BLACK STALLION. Then Mr. Farley tried his hand at a story about a new boy, Steve Duncan, and a new horse, Flame, in THE ISLAND STALLION. Mr. Farley's readers were just as delighted with this book as his others.
Mr. Farley went on to write many more stories about the two stallions, and about other horses as well. Children of all ages have found Farley titles to enjoy, since many of the later stories were written for Mr. Farley's own children when they were too young to read his Stallion novels. And older readers and adults have been gripped by his fictionalized biography of America's greatest Thoroughbred, Man O'War. Walter Farley's titles reached a grand total of 34. The 21 Black Stallion and Island Stallion stories are still in print and selling steadily. His readers respond with passion, writing him thousands of letters and emails every year. In May 1949, the first Black Stallion Club was founded, in Kentucky. Mr. Farley designed a membership button for it; the button was in constant demand among his readers for years. The Black Stallion books were so popular in the late 1940s and '50s that they York Times annual list of best-selling children's books. Three nationwide Black Stallion contests were held. Walter Farley's books have been published abroad in more than 20 countries, including Austria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, England, Israel, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaya, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, and Switzerland, as well as in the United States and Canada.
All his life Walter Farley remained a keen spectator of the racing scene, and he enjoyed nothing more than hobnobbing with horse trainers and other professional horsemen. It is thanks to these people that his books are so full of authentic details of raising and training horses. When not busy working or traveling, Mr. Farley liked to ride dressage and high school Lippizaner horses. He also sailed and sometimes raced his 35-foot auxiliary sloop "Circe."
Mr. Farley and his wife Rosemary, had four children: Pam, Alice, Steve, and Tim, whom they raised on a farm in Pennsylvania and in a beach house in Florida. In addit
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,524 reviews
June 18, 2019
Although I certainly enjoyed Walter Farley's classic tale of a boy and his horse when I read The Black Stallion as a young teenager, I most definitely never liked it quite as much as Marguerite Henry's Misty of Chincoteague series (and other horse series that were part of my childhood); furthermore, I also never did warm up to any of the sequels. And part of the reason why The Black Stallion has always been a bit of a miss for me is the fact that at least some of the scenarios described by author Walter Farley have tended to sound just a bit too good to be true, a bit too convenient and at times, almost unbelievable (and I really, truly do very much despise the fact that Alec keeps feeding the Black sugar, as sugar is basically really really unhealthy for horses, especially if it is something they are fed regularly and not as a very occasional treat). This time around, and basically upon rereading The Black Stallion for the first time in decades, I realise that much of my annoyance with the novel is and likely always has been with the whole thoroughbred racing scenario. Thoroughbreds are often ridden (and raced) much too young and much too fast (and the number of broken down thoroughbreds that end up in feedlots or being used as chuckwagon fodder is indeed both horrible and staggering). Now my family used to raise warmbloods, Trakehners, to be exact. And we would not even have considered breaking a horse (getting a horse used to a rider, to a saddle and the like) until around age three or so. However, with thoroughbreds, even one year and two year olds are routinely ridden and even raced (and at breakneck speeds at that). For example, Alec's friend and horse trainer Henry recounts how his best horse, Chang, collapsed and died after a race (and while you can tell that Henry is sad at what happened, he obviously also is proud of the fact that Chang's record still stands). And I, for one, have always wondered whether Chang was being overworked, whether he should not have been raced that day, whether the owners of Chang, and even Henry, might have failed to notice a potential medical issue or even refused to notice it (indeed, I might be reading too much into this, but these thoughts did come and always emerge whenever I read this part of The Black Stallion). And even the Black's final race, where he beats Cyclone and Sun Raider, it tends to leave a bit of a sour taste in my mouth, mostly due to the fact that the Black is injured during the race, and yes, this is an injury that could have proven much worse than it turns out to be (and I have actually watched thoroughbred races where horses physically attacked one another, jockeys used their whips on other horses, even on competing riders, it is not a pretty sight, and I cannot help but remember these scenarios, these real-life occurrences, when reading about the Black and his races). And I guess it also does not help any that the Black's fighting with other horses often seems to be almost feted and cheered by the author; personally, the fights, while they might be exciting to and for some, have always kind of sickened me a bit (because their description is almost like a revelry, a glorification of violence). Finally, I still do think The Black Stallion is an entertaining, informative and thrilling horse story, and that Walter Farley started writing this (his first novel) when he was a mere teenager is rather awesome in and of itself (The Black Stallion was published when Walter Farley was twenty-six, but he actually started writing the novel in high school). That being said, The Black Stallion most definitely has never been one of my favourite horse stories, as the brutality of the races, the Black's at times overly violent nature (and how this is actually condoned and even feted by Walter Farley's narrative as being something amazing and wonderful) and indeed that the Black was often being fed sugar have always lessened my reading pleasure more than somewhat.
July 23, 2018
A very nice children's story.
March 21, 2017
No idea when I first read this but I was very young. This is the German edition and I always loved the covers (just looked into the English ones and am not convinced so I probably won't re-buy them). I was never the girly type of girl that was into horses, but the fierceness of the Black Stallion, the majestic way it was portrayed in the movie (as well as the Arabian kept in the stables where I had my lessons), and the adventures sucked me in. With the generous backing of my grandfather (who liked the series as much as I did) I got all of the original 13 (15 if you count those that Steven Farley, Walter Farely's son, penned or at least helped with) volumes on my shelf.
It's definitely time for a re-read and, perhaps, for re-watching the old movie too.
It's definitely time for a re-read and, perhaps, for re-watching the old movie too.
April 13, 2024
Re-reading childhood favorites for YT vlog
February 15, 2018
Alex Ramsey first meets the black stallion when they're both booked on a ship called the Drake. When the ship is destroyed during a storm, the Black stallion and Alex are the only survivors. They wash up on a deserted island. Alex knows if it wasn't for the Black he won't have survived the shipwreck. When Alex is rescued from the island, he insist on the Black being saved too. Soon they are on a voyage to New York in America. What fate awaits for a boy and a wild black stallion?
I can remember reading this book around ten or eleven years old. I loved it so much I went on to read all the horse books by Walter Farley, and some by other authors as well. This was my first taste of reading for pleasure. Later, I would extend my love of reading about horses to actually owning a horse on my stepmother's farm. My stepmother, Lynne, saved horses from neglect and abuse. My first horse, Tonka, was a prancer and I loved her. Reading this book again brought back memories of bygone years of pleasurable midnight rides on Tonka. I recommend this children's novel to kids and adults alike. My copy was illustrated by Domenick D'Andrea.
I can remember reading this book around ten or eleven years old. I loved it so much I went on to read all the horse books by Walter Farley, and some by other authors as well. This was my first taste of reading for pleasure. Later, I would extend my love of reading about horses to actually owning a horse on my stepmother's farm. My stepmother, Lynne, saved horses from neglect and abuse. My first horse, Tonka, was a prancer and I loved her. Reading this book again brought back memories of bygone years of pleasurable midnight rides on Tonka. I recommend this children's novel to kids and adults alike. My copy was illustrated by Domenick D'Andrea.
October 26, 2017
I know I read this as a kid & yet I couldn't remember a thing about it which is odd, although I hadn't remembered Misty of Chincoteague very well, either. Too many years, I guess. Anyway, I'm really happy that I had a chance to reread this as an audio book narrated by Frank Muller who did an excellent job.
This is definitely a kids book, perfect for young teens & down. It's full of adventure & yet Alec never forgot to do his homework plus his parents were completely clueless while being fully supportive. It's also full of fortuitous coincidence, something I normally abhor, but that wound up being part of the charm. Things just worked out for the best & that made for a great story.
This was written in 1941, so it is also nostalgic in many ways. The horses were described well, although using 'whistling' to describe one of their high cries bothered me throughout. I've always called it a scream, but things like riding without all the safety gear, getting bucked off, & the exertion of staying on a fast moving horse were very well done. The racing was great, too. Very reminiscent of the match races of the day between Man O' War & his get.
They did keep using a saddle after they heard it break, though. The only time I've known a saddle with a broken tree to work was on an extremely fat Welsh pony. It didn't pinch him due where it broke & all his fat. We used it because it kept good saddles from getting ruined since he had a penchant for scratching his back occasionally. When Fritz decided to roll, he was going to roll; to hell with the rider & tack.
Seeing NYC & Long Island today, some might find it hard to believe the area was rural enough to hold a horse field since Flushing, NY is right on the East River in Queens, just east of LaGuardia airport. While it is now one of the busiest in the world, there wasn't much commercial traffic in the 30s & the date is never given. Alec was planning to take a month to travel back from India via ship, so LaGuardia might still have been an amusement park which it was until 1929.
New York has also spread amazingly fast. My great grandfather kept goats & chickens in Glen Cove (not far east) into the 1940s & some of his neighbors had horses. Mom kept her horse in Centerport (further east) in the 1950s & we used to ride double from our farm in Lake Grove (even further east, north of Lake Ronkonkoma, about midway along Long Island) across fields to the post office in the early 1960s. By the late 70s, the fields were gone, completely replaced by houses packed together on quarter acre lots; completely changed in less than 20 years. So much growth in so little time, mostly due to the way the car changed transportation times, I think.
I highly recommend this, especially in this format for adults. There are some great illustrated editions, too. If you like this, I'd also recommend Old Bones the Wonder Horse. That's actually based on a true horse. I gave it a 5 star review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
This is definitely a kids book, perfect for young teens & down. It's full of adventure & yet Alec never forgot to do his homework plus his parents were completely clueless while being fully supportive. It's also full of fortuitous coincidence, something I normally abhor, but that wound up being part of the charm. Things just worked out for the best & that made for a great story.
This was written in 1941, so it is also nostalgic in many ways. The horses were described well, although using 'whistling' to describe one of their high cries bothered me throughout. I've always called it a scream, but things like riding without all the safety gear, getting bucked off, & the exertion of staying on a fast moving horse were very well done. The racing was great, too. Very reminiscent of the match races of the day between Man O' War & his get.
They did keep using a saddle after they heard it break, though. The only time I've known a saddle with a broken tree to work was on an extremely fat Welsh pony. It didn't pinch him due where it broke & all his fat. We used it because it kept good saddles from getting ruined since he had a penchant for scratching his back occasionally. When Fritz decided to roll, he was going to roll; to hell with the rider & tack.
Seeing NYC & Long Island today, some might find it hard to believe the area was rural enough to hold a horse field since Flushing, NY is right on the East River in Queens, just east of LaGuardia airport. While it is now one of the busiest in the world, there wasn't much commercial traffic in the 30s & the date is never given. Alec was planning to take a month to travel back from India via ship, so LaGuardia might still have been an amusement park which it was until 1929.
New York has also spread amazingly fast. My great grandfather kept goats & chickens in Glen Cove (not far east) into the 1940s & some of his neighbors had horses. Mom kept her horse in Centerport (further east) in the 1950s & we used to ride double from our farm in Lake Grove (even further east, north of Lake Ronkonkoma, about midway along Long Island) across fields to the post office in the early 1960s. By the late 70s, the fields were gone, completely replaced by houses packed together on quarter acre lots; completely changed in less than 20 years. So much growth in so little time, mostly due to the way the car changed transportation times, I think.
I highly recommend this, especially in this format for adults. There are some great illustrated editions, too. If you like this, I'd also recommend Old Bones the Wonder Horse. That's actually based on a true horse. I gave it a 5 star review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
June 3, 2019
Reading this to my kids, I honestly wonder if I've actually read it! I read all the Walter Farley books as a kid, and we also owned the movie on VHS. So I suspect that I had simply seen the movie, and then moved on with the books after that! The book is quite similar to the movie, and my kids found it a little dry. It goes into great detail about how wild the Black is, and how only Alec can ride him, but the big race takes place in just one chapter! Still, it's the first book about a horse that DOESN'T die, and for that, I honor it!
February 18, 2018
I don't like horses, or horse books, but I really enjoyed this one.
July 4, 2016
***Wanda’s Summer Carnival of Children’s Literature***
Wow, talk about fantasy! And yet this is the book which ignited my passion for reading. Totally unrealistic and it was totally captivating to an 11 year old, horse-crazy girl. This is the book which started my life-long habit of identifying with male characters, because I wanted to be Alec Ramsey. I am also truly lucky to have had an indulgent father who purchased my first pony, Nippy, at an auction sale for $50. (We left home with a truck full of pigs and returned home with a Shetland pony). Nippy & I came to have a very close relationship, which I no doubt modelled on Alex & the Black. Fortunately for me, Nippy was much more like old Napoleon in this tale than like the wild black stallion.
It was a treat to re-read this novel and to remember my total adoration of this series, despite the fact that it really doesn’t turn my crank anymore as an adult. Still, like a first love, I will always have fond memories of The Black Stallion.
Wow, talk about fantasy! And yet this is the book which ignited my passion for reading. Totally unrealistic and it was totally captivating to an 11 year old, horse-crazy girl. This is the book which started my life-long habit of identifying with male characters, because I wanted to be Alec Ramsey. I am also truly lucky to have had an indulgent father who purchased my first pony, Nippy, at an auction sale for $50. (We left home with a truck full of pigs and returned home with a Shetland pony). Nippy & I came to have a very close relationship, which I no doubt modelled on Alex & the Black. Fortunately for me, Nippy was much more like old Napoleon in this tale than like the wild black stallion.
It was a treat to re-read this novel and to remember my total adoration of this series, despite the fact that it really doesn’t turn my crank anymore as an adult. Still, like a first love, I will always have fond memories of The Black Stallion.
July 21, 2009
I've been an avid horse fanatic since before I can remember. Unfortunately, when you're a kid growing up in the city, there's nothing a horse fanatic can do about it until they grow up and can afford (or work for) lessons of their own.
When I was a teenager, my parents movied to Long Island, and I finally had the opportunity to work summers at a barn in exhange for riding lessons.
Today I teach riding to little kids, and spend as much time in a barn as a can.
In those years before my horse crazy self had my own horses to adore, and lessons and training to look forward to, these books, among others kept my dream of being an equestrian going.
Although I may not have loved all the farley books equally, (and I've only just realized that there were around 20 of them,) they're all still great books in my opinion. A definite gift for the horse crazed kid.
When I was a teenager, my parents movied to Long Island, and I finally had the opportunity to work summers at a barn in exhange for riding lessons.
Today I teach riding to little kids, and spend as much time in a barn as a can.
In those years before my horse crazy self had my own horses to adore, and lessons and training to look forward to, these books, among others kept my dream of being an equestrian going.
Although I may not have loved all the farley books equally, (and I've only just realized that there were around 20 of them,) they're all still great books in my opinion. A definite gift for the horse crazed kid.
May 24, 2009
This book is clearly a product of its time, and not just because of the corny slang. The second page awkwardly gives us a dose of muscular Christianity ideology: "Never again would he think of a missionary's work as sissy work. No, sir, you had to be big and strong..." The two female characters are completely boring. The Irish- and Italian-American characters are completely stereotyped. Egyptians are referred to as "natives" or as "the dark-skinned man"--I deduce that this person merited description as a "man" because his clothes are westernized. The "dark-skinned man" is portrayed as cowardly, panicing in a crisis, and unconcerned about causing others' deaths. Nice.
There are so many unbelievable coincidences that drive the plot, that I just won't get into them all. But several unbelievable things could have been easily fixed without derailing the plot. Why make Alec a freckled red-head and then claim that his skin tans? Come on! Also, I have a hard time believing that a family that can afford to send a teenager to India for summer vacation would allow him to return to the US unaccompanied on a month-long voyage. Lastly, Alec, the hero, is just too flawlessly heroic to feel like a real character.
The average horse-loving child who reads the book will be oblivious to these concerns of mine, but will probably notice that the ending is somewhat anticlimactic, due to the author's ill-advised decision to abandon telling the story from Alec's point of view and have the race narrated by the racetrack announcer!
There are so many unbelievable coincidences that drive the plot, that I just won't get into them all. But several unbelievable things could have been easily fixed without derailing the plot. Why make Alec a freckled red-head and then claim that his skin tans? Come on! Also, I have a hard time believing that a family that can afford to send a teenager to India for summer vacation would allow him to return to the US unaccompanied on a month-long voyage. Lastly, Alec, the hero, is just too flawlessly heroic to feel like a real character.
The average horse-loving child who reads the book will be oblivious to these concerns of mine, but will probably notice that the ending is somewhat anticlimactic, due to the author's ill-advised decision to abandon telling the story from Alec's point of view and have the race narrated by the racetrack announcer!
March 10, 2016
I didn’t remember this book as being a race horse story. My memory of it was a child bonding with an animal. It’s funny how the mind can omit the things from memory that we don’t like or aren’t interested in. I remember the island part and the neighbor with a stable but everything else is gone. I guess it really wouldn’t have been that interesting of a story if it was just those parts as written without the exciting conclusion. Although if they would have made Alec and the Black’s time on the island the center focus by lengthening their stay and adding more drama, well that would have been a book I would have loved too.
I also don’t have a memory for what came first in my world of reading, The Black Stallion or Black Beauty. What I do know for sure is that I definitely had a horse obsession going on. I’m sure I even asked for a pony of my own at Christmas but ended up with a Barbie Dreamhouse instead. I bet if you asked my dad now he would say the horse would have been an easier purchase after spending his Christmas Eve night into early Christmas Day putting the “damn” thing together. 25 plus years and the man is still complaining.
I also don’t have a memory for what came first in my world of reading, The Black Stallion or Black Beauty. What I do know for sure is that I definitely had a horse obsession going on. I’m sure I even asked for a pony of my own at Christmas but ended up with a Barbie Dreamhouse instead. I bet if you asked my dad now he would say the horse would have been an easier purchase after spending his Christmas Eve night into early Christmas Day putting the “damn” thing together. 25 plus years and the man is still complaining.
August 6, 2019
Alec is heading home aboard a steamship, when the ship sinks in a storm and there are only two survivors: Alec and a spirited black stallion. The two are washed ashore on a small island, where they forage for food, and Alec tames the wild stallion.
I was completely riveted while reading this book! I couldn't put it down, and read it in one day. The writing has such good pacing, and the action moves swiftly along, pulling the reader into the next chapter and the next.
I adored Alec's character. He's smart and tough and resilient. He loves that wild horse and the bond the two share is evident to the world. I was amazed at Alec's energy. He never seems to get tired for long. He's always bouncing right back up after being injured or disappointed. He displays several different types of courage throughout the book; the courage of waiting, the courage of taking risks, the bravery it takes to stick with a task day in and day out, as well as physical courage, and moral courage. I just loved his character!
The Black is described so wonderfully that I could really imagine his wildness and feral energy. Everyone who sees the Black is overwhelmed by the power of his personality, his fire and strength and beauty. It's really excellent writing.
I can't wait to read more books in the Black Stallion series!
I was completely riveted while reading this book! I couldn't put it down, and read it in one day. The writing has such good pacing, and the action moves swiftly along, pulling the reader into the next chapter and the next.
I adored Alec's character. He's smart and tough and resilient. He loves that wild horse and the bond the two share is evident to the world. I was amazed at Alec's energy. He never seems to get tired for long. He's always bouncing right back up after being injured or disappointed. He displays several different types of courage throughout the book; the courage of waiting, the courage of taking risks, the bravery it takes to stick with a task day in and day out, as well as physical courage, and moral courage. I just loved his character!
The Black is described so wonderfully that I could really imagine his wildness and feral energy. Everyone who sees the Black is overwhelmed by the power of his personality, his fire and strength and beauty. It's really excellent writing.
I can't wait to read more books in the Black Stallion series!
September 11, 2015
It's an okay book, three stars by itself. Four stars, possibly five, if I were to let my undying love of the 1979 movie (starring Kelly Reno) influence my opinion. It's hard not to. I feel a general nostalgia for all the books I read in my horse-crazy childhood, and I desperately wanted a Black of my very own!
It's interesting to note that Alec never experiences any issues with authority figures. The two boat captains, the two reporters, the policeman, his father - they're all kind, patient and understanding. They all seem to have Alec's and the Black's best interests at heart, no angles. Even the quarantine inspector lets them go with only a cursory inspection, stating that Alec had already been through enough, they wouldn't want to add to his trouble. And that's after the Black kicked the second inspector! There's one exception to this: the man who loads the Black on the ship (by whipping him) and later tries to rip off Alec's life jacket. He ends up killed in the storm.
I wonder if this book started life as a piece of wish fulfillment fan fiction. The match race is almost identical to the actual 1938 match race between west coast champion Seabiscuit and east cost champion War Admiral. This book was published in 1941 while Farley was still an undergrad. The climactic match race features the Black versus west coast champion Sun Raider and east coast champion Cyclone, and of course the Black is the fastest one on the track. The similarities are hard to ignore!
Ultimately, the movie tells the story better by adding some tension and emotional depth I found lacking in the book. (And the horse is absolutely gorgeous, so there's that!)
It's interesting to note that Alec never experiences any issues with authority figures. The two boat captains, the two reporters, the policeman, his father - they're all kind, patient and understanding. They all seem to have Alec's and the Black's best interests at heart, no angles. Even the quarantine inspector lets them go with only a cursory inspection, stating that Alec had already been through enough, they wouldn't want to add to his trouble. And that's after the Black kicked the second inspector! There's one exception to this: the man who loads the Black on the ship (by whipping him) and later tries to rip off Alec's life jacket. He ends up killed in the storm.
I wonder if this book started life as a piece of wish fulfillment fan fiction. The match race is almost identical to the actual 1938 match race between west coast champion Seabiscuit and east cost champion War Admiral. This book was published in 1941 while Farley was still an undergrad. The climactic match race features the Black versus west coast champion Sun Raider and east coast champion Cyclone, and of course the Black is the fastest one on the track. The similarities are hard to ignore!
Ultimately, the movie tells the story better by adding some tension and emotional depth I found lacking in the book. (And the horse is absolutely gorgeous, so there's that!)
August 30, 2016
It's no surprise that this book has stood the test of time, no surprise at all. Even without the movie and its beautiful images of horse and boy on the desert island, this book stands out in ways that other teen mets horse books don't. The possible exception to this My Friend Flicka (Black Beauty is about a horse, not a boy and his horse). Perhaps this is because both books have the horse be a horse. In other words, the Black Stallion is always a stallion. He doesn't get magically gelded and then ungelded.
That seems part of his greatness in this series; for at no point does Farley ever condsend to his young readers. He presents the world where the rules don't magically change; Alex only finds a way to work with them or around them. Yes, perhaps the book is part wish fulfillment, but it is also a non-Gary Stu wish fullment.
There is such passion and love for horses in this series, but in a non-romantized way. A child could do far worse than starting this series.
April 26, 2022
After being shipwrecked with a savage black stallion, Alec becomes his owner and jockey. It's a short but enjoyable read, suitable for children, and I liked how vividly wild the Black was. However, I long ago read a later book in the series, The Black Stallion Challenged, and found that book more complex and better written - but then it was written twenty years after this one.
April 5, 2018
I think I would have really loved this if I had read it as a kid. It was a cute story with little to no conflict, and I really enjoyed it. My biggest complaint is actually the excessive use of exclamation points. It seemed unnecessary. Other than that, it was a fun, quick, read, though definitely better suited to a younger audience.
December 9, 2009
The Black Stallion begins with a boy traveling home from India. He visited his uncle for two months during his summer vacations. When he boards the ship to take him to England a terrifying and wild horse is brought on deck. The men whip this animal and trick it to get on the boat. However, this ship is not equipped to carry animals so they have to make a makeshift stall. The boy, whose name is Alec, gradually befriends this wild stallion. The ship is wrecked during a terrible storm and Alec ties himself to the horse so as to be dragged through the ocean and not tossed away. They make it to an island where the boy and the horse have to find food and shelter. The horse, also called Black, does not easily trust Alec. So the days pass with Alec showing Black that he means no harm. All of this is exciting but one must ask do they make it off the island? Do they survive? Black is an amazingly, wild and free stallion. He runs as fast as the wind. Do you think in his early life he might have been a race horse?
This is a great book for both boys and girls. I remember going through the phase of loving horses. I still do. Horses are amazing creatures. I could see myself using this in student teaching. The book talks of far away places, events, and symbols. For instance, we read about India, Rio de Janeiro, New York City....suburbs, the statue of Liberty, ports and so on. Even though it is fiction it does bring in several far away places. The Black Stallion is from Arabia. Arabian horses are absolutely the best. One might ask students, if they were stranded on an island what would they do? Would you think to go with the horse? And a wild, untamed beast at that? It would broaden the student's knowledge of far away places. We could definitely include this in a social studies unit and use maps to map out Alec's travels.
This is a great book for both boys and girls. I remember going through the phase of loving horses. I still do. Horses are amazing creatures. I could see myself using this in student teaching. The book talks of far away places, events, and symbols. For instance, we read about India, Rio de Janeiro, New York City....suburbs, the statue of Liberty, ports and so on. Even though it is fiction it does bring in several far away places. The Black Stallion is from Arabia. Arabian horses are absolutely the best. One might ask students, if they were stranded on an island what would they do? Would you think to go with the horse? And a wild, untamed beast at that? It would broaden the student's knowledge of far away places. We could definitely include this in a social studies unit and use maps to map out Alec's travels.
September 2, 2024
Such a great family book! My kids and husband loved it!
October 8, 2018
Cowboys are Better Than Their Horses
I read this when I was a teenager, but even before that I really loved horses, so much so that I wanted to marry Roy Roger’s horse Trigger when. I was 7 years old and living in Shandon, CA, a town of 500 people. We later moved to Porterville, CA, and I had Roy Rogers and Dale Evans paper dolls. My friend cut Dale Evans hair short, and I was rather upset. Other than that I remember wishing that Roy Rogers and Dale Evans were my parents. Perhaps I was just smart enough to know that I didn’t care for my father, but in order to have a new father you needed a new wife. Who knows what I was thinking?
I read this book in later years. I had ridden a few horses since, well, actually in Shandon, a town full of cowboys and rodeo stars. One of the cowboys gave me a ride on his horse. If I remember right it was Dode Hex, a rodeo champion of some kind. I have liked men in cowboy boots and hats ever since, and as I grew older I decided that they were much better than their horses.
We had a Shetland pony in Porterville when we lived out in the country. Someone named Bucky because, well, it bucked. My brother Bill used to tell me that he was going to make Bucky bite me if I got too close to him, so I knew better than to even come within one foot of that pony.
I remember two incidents while living there. One was when my brother threw his toy pistol at me, and it hit me in the hip. I began crying, but then I looked on the ground, and it was broken, so my tears turned to laugher and then I rean up the road to the house.
The other incident was when Bucky bucked Billy off into a large stickerbush. He managed to get out of the bush and then began yelling to me, “Help me!!. Help me!! I can’t get these stickers off me!!” He was walking towards me with his arms held out. He was in pain. I screamed, “No. You will make Bucky bite me!” I am not sure if I helped him or not.
Then then we moved back to Paso Robles, CA, my parents were divorced, but my mom did not marry Roy Rogers because he was taken. I used to visit my dad during the summers, and one summer he was living in Santa Maria at a big ranch where the owner grew vegetables, cattle, and oil wells. They also had a large bull in a pen, and I used to crawl along the fence and stare at it. I knew to stay away. What I didn’t know about was to stay away from their horses. I got to ride one and helped round up cattle with the guys, but then the horse I was riding stepped on my foot when I got off him in order to close a gate. I pushed on his side to no avail. He finally moved away, and I was limping. Then one time the owner’s son slapped the horse I was riding on its rump. The horse ran to the barn, and just as he was entering it, I ducked. What a brat this kid was, even in his cowboy boots and hat.
I went to a Baptist Church camp one summer and made a new friend, and she and I rode horses every day instead of going to Bible classes. One day a dorm mom sat me down and asked me if I were a Christian. I said Yes. My horse days there were over. I now had to sit in their boring classes.
Then around 16 years ago a woman I met, Linda, wanted me to work on her horse ranch. I didn’t need the job, but it sounded interesting, so my husband and I moved on to her property. He had his own job in construction work, so was on my own. I cleaned out the stalls, fed them, and had to put blankets on them in the winter. It didn’t matter how cold it was either; I had to be out there.
When one of Linda’s horses, Lumpy, came down with colic, I was blamed because I must have given him moldy hay. Who can see the color of hay in the dark winter mornings? I walked Lumpy around for hours in the dark until the vet came. I watched her stick her whole arm up his rear end to get the impacted manure out. Aren’t we having fun now. Poor Lumpy.
Linda had noticed that Lumpy never tried to bite me, and she thought it was because Lumpy knew that I was a kind person. Linda was always getting bitten by him. Well, Lumpy liked me, but I can’t say for two of the other horses.
Sugar, a thoroughbred, stepped on my foot once and would not get off. By now I knew to just lift up his foot. He also tried to push be into the fence, squeezing me up against it, but I was somehow able to push him off me, but I don’t recall how.
Then for a while Linda was boarding some woman’s mare, and one day when I was putting a blanket on her she made a 45 degree turn and kicked me between the legs. I backed out of the corral fast. Due to liability, Linda told the owner of the horse to come and get her. I hate mares, and if I remember correctly, Sugar was also a mare.
My husband knew all about pain. When the horse stepped on me he told me to not favor it, and when I was kicked he told me the same thing. As a result, I was able to walk without a limp, both times. Cowboy up was becoming a term that I heard a lot while working there.
That is about it for me and horses. Of course when we lived in Creston, CA there were two horses grazing on the land, and I petted them and gave them lumps of sugar. They weren’t ours to ride, but my husband named them Kal Can and Skippy. Not really. He named one Red, and I am not sure what he named the other.
But now I can always say that I got to work with horses, and I got to marry a man who wore cowboy boots and a cowboy hat and who drove a pickup truck.
But if any child thinks that owning horses is a dream, then they haven’t tried to run them down when they got out of their corral and off the property, nor have they had to get up in the cold to take care of them. But I must say this, I miss Lumpy. Linda was an outrider at the Del Mar race track, and that was her horse. And then she boarded old race horses. I miss old Charley too, as he was a sweet race horse that was getting old, and I am sure by now he has died, and I am just glad that I wasn’t there when it happened.
I don’t know what happened to Linda either. She quit being an outrider because they grew tired of her being an activist. She kept getting into fights with owners who abused their horses, and who knows what all. If you love horses and can’t own one, become an activist.
I read this when I was a teenager, but even before that I really loved horses, so much so that I wanted to marry Roy Roger’s horse Trigger when. I was 7 years old and living in Shandon, CA, a town of 500 people. We later moved to Porterville, CA, and I had Roy Rogers and Dale Evans paper dolls. My friend cut Dale Evans hair short, and I was rather upset. Other than that I remember wishing that Roy Rogers and Dale Evans were my parents. Perhaps I was just smart enough to know that I didn’t care for my father, but in order to have a new father you needed a new wife. Who knows what I was thinking?
I read this book in later years. I had ridden a few horses since, well, actually in Shandon, a town full of cowboys and rodeo stars. One of the cowboys gave me a ride on his horse. If I remember right it was Dode Hex, a rodeo champion of some kind. I have liked men in cowboy boots and hats ever since, and as I grew older I decided that they were much better than their horses.
We had a Shetland pony in Porterville when we lived out in the country. Someone named Bucky because, well, it bucked. My brother Bill used to tell me that he was going to make Bucky bite me if I got too close to him, so I knew better than to even come within one foot of that pony.
I remember two incidents while living there. One was when my brother threw his toy pistol at me, and it hit me in the hip. I began crying, but then I looked on the ground, and it was broken, so my tears turned to laugher and then I rean up the road to the house.
The other incident was when Bucky bucked Billy off into a large stickerbush. He managed to get out of the bush and then began yelling to me, “Help me!!. Help me!! I can’t get these stickers off me!!” He was walking towards me with his arms held out. He was in pain. I screamed, “No. You will make Bucky bite me!” I am not sure if I helped him or not.
Then then we moved back to Paso Robles, CA, my parents were divorced, but my mom did not marry Roy Rogers because he was taken. I used to visit my dad during the summers, and one summer he was living in Santa Maria at a big ranch where the owner grew vegetables, cattle, and oil wells. They also had a large bull in a pen, and I used to crawl along the fence and stare at it. I knew to stay away. What I didn’t know about was to stay away from their horses. I got to ride one and helped round up cattle with the guys, but then the horse I was riding stepped on my foot when I got off him in order to close a gate. I pushed on his side to no avail. He finally moved away, and I was limping. Then one time the owner’s son slapped the horse I was riding on its rump. The horse ran to the barn, and just as he was entering it, I ducked. What a brat this kid was, even in his cowboy boots and hat.
I went to a Baptist Church camp one summer and made a new friend, and she and I rode horses every day instead of going to Bible classes. One day a dorm mom sat me down and asked me if I were a Christian. I said Yes. My horse days there were over. I now had to sit in their boring classes.
Then around 16 years ago a woman I met, Linda, wanted me to work on her horse ranch. I didn’t need the job, but it sounded interesting, so my husband and I moved on to her property. He had his own job in construction work, so was on my own. I cleaned out the stalls, fed them, and had to put blankets on them in the winter. It didn’t matter how cold it was either; I had to be out there.
When one of Linda’s horses, Lumpy, came down with colic, I was blamed because I must have given him moldy hay. Who can see the color of hay in the dark winter mornings? I walked Lumpy around for hours in the dark until the vet came. I watched her stick her whole arm up his rear end to get the impacted manure out. Aren’t we having fun now. Poor Lumpy.
Linda had noticed that Lumpy never tried to bite me, and she thought it was because Lumpy knew that I was a kind person. Linda was always getting bitten by him. Well, Lumpy liked me, but I can’t say for two of the other horses.
Sugar, a thoroughbred, stepped on my foot once and would not get off. By now I knew to just lift up his foot. He also tried to push be into the fence, squeezing me up against it, but I was somehow able to push him off me, but I don’t recall how.
Then for a while Linda was boarding some woman’s mare, and one day when I was putting a blanket on her she made a 45 degree turn and kicked me between the legs. I backed out of the corral fast. Due to liability, Linda told the owner of the horse to come and get her. I hate mares, and if I remember correctly, Sugar was also a mare.
My husband knew all about pain. When the horse stepped on me he told me to not favor it, and when I was kicked he told me the same thing. As a result, I was able to walk without a limp, both times. Cowboy up was becoming a term that I heard a lot while working there.
That is about it for me and horses. Of course when we lived in Creston, CA there were two horses grazing on the land, and I petted them and gave them lumps of sugar. They weren’t ours to ride, but my husband named them Kal Can and Skippy. Not really. He named one Red, and I am not sure what he named the other.
But now I can always say that I got to work with horses, and I got to marry a man who wore cowboy boots and a cowboy hat and who drove a pickup truck.
But if any child thinks that owning horses is a dream, then they haven’t tried to run them down when they got out of their corral and off the property, nor have they had to get up in the cold to take care of them. But I must say this, I miss Lumpy. Linda was an outrider at the Del Mar race track, and that was her horse. And then she boarded old race horses. I miss old Charley too, as he was a sweet race horse that was getting old, and I am sure by now he has died, and I am just glad that I wasn’t there when it happened.
I don’t know what happened to Linda either. She quit being an outrider because they grew tired of her being an activist. She kept getting into fights with owners who abused their horses, and who knows what all. If you love horses and can’t own one, become an activist.
May 8, 2022
Old and dated, sure, but I reread this recently and the big race is still compelling. Farley describes the emotions behind a race - almost characterizing it, or imbuing it with his own characters to the point where it’s alive itself.
And I always liked that idyllic interlude when they’re training the Black (…in Queens) and when an intrepid newspaperman brings about that denouement. There’s something so charmingly uncommercial and haphazard about it.
First published 1941. There isn’t the slightest hint of a world war.
And I always liked that idyllic interlude when they’re training the Black (…in Queens) and when an intrepid newspaperman brings about that denouement. There’s something so charmingly uncommercial and haphazard about it.
First published 1941. There isn’t the slightest hint of a world war.
March 31, 2023
For several decades, this was my favorite novel. Although I have now admitted that there are a few other books I now love more than it, this remains in my top ten of absolute favorite books. I read it aloud to my kids this winter and, although none of them loved it, they did enjoy it.
As an adult, I can see a few flaws in this book. Alec happens to have learned about edible seaweed the year before in school, so he knows he and The Black can eat what he finds. Their neighbor happens to be a former jockey. Alec's mom happens to take a trip to Chicago around the same time as the race, and happens to get tickets and be in the stands.
You know what, though? None of that ruins the book for me. It's still a rousingly good yarn of overcoming steep odds, trusting your friends, and using your skills and talents to the utmost. I still love it.
As an adult, I can see a few flaws in this book. Alec happens to have learned about edible seaweed the year before in school, so he knows he and The Black can eat what he finds. Their neighbor happens to be a former jockey. Alec's mom happens to take a trip to Chicago around the same time as the race, and happens to get tickets and be in the stands.
You know what, though? None of that ruins the book for me. It's still a rousingly good yarn of overcoming steep odds, trusting your friends, and using your skills and talents to the utmost. I still love it.
May 15, 2018
Now this is one horse book that I loved! I watched the movie a long time ago and really really enjoyed it, so I was glad to finally read the book. The action is so intense sometimes that I really had to hold my breath. I loved the descriptions of the horse; I could almost feel his silky mane and glossy coat, and hear his thundering hoofbeats and piercing cry. I look forward to reading more of the books in this series!
February 22, 2021
A re-read from my childhood. Holds up very well and would serve a young reader of today nicely. I read the first three in the series back then, but now I've bought the whole set. Really looking forward to them!
March 23, 2020
The Black Stallion is about a boy and a horse coming together to stay alive after there ship crashed and left them stranded on an island. This event helps the boy realize what he has to do to survive on this island which means him and the horse forming a bond and working together to get food and water. They were stranded on this island alone for two months before being rescued. After being split up the boy tries to form his bond with the horse again which leads to everyone thinking that the horse has gone crazy and is too dangerous to be around.
March 13, 2010
You know, no words can really express how much I absolutely adored this book. The beginning made me laugh until mine eyes watered, the ending made me cry until no more tears would come. This book really is iconic and glorious. It was almost like that black stallion who was written about on each page was galloping about my presence, neighing and whinnying until the cows came home. This horse became my best friend, even more so than any person I have ever known. As I read, I could see his black coat, and I lost myself. I would often sit and pour out the desires of my heart unto that horse, although he was not there physically. I could feel his glorious spirit, and that was enough for me. I had long conversations with him about the purpose of life, and where we might go after this life. It was truly an enlightening experience. This book has taught me that it is ok to take a risk, and it is ok to love again. My very core heart soul strings just pulled and plucked like that of a harp, and the harpist was the horse. Throughout the whole book I really just wanted to KILL Alec. Alec was honestly the most stupid and uneducated character I think I have ever read about. He didn't deserve to be with that horse. It should have been ME who was written about. What the heck was the author thinking? Its just not right. Anyway, I am going off on a tangent now, when really I should be focusing on the marvelous black stallion. With every flip of the page, my heart melted more and more, revealing nothing more than a pure diamond out on the table. While I read this book, I was not even so inclined to go to Disneyland, for I could not put it down. It was just a very enlightening, wonderful experience that I will cherish for time and all eternity. Each page seemed to contain a different emotion: jealousy, pride, love, hope, friendliness, enlighteningness, joyfulness, funness, musicalness, kierstiness, magincallness. Really, if you want my honest, straight out opinion, this book should be read by everyone who has a heart. Everyone who wants to feel whole again, or thinks they are missing something, because I gaurentee you, this book is the sure fire key to your happiness. I was an empty shell of a person before reading this book. A shell of hardened mud that could not be broken by the outside world. But you know what, I read this book, and the horse who has warmed my heart so much lead me out of that shell, and brought me back to who I once was, which is a beautiful person. So don't judge me! But anyways, back to the point. The Black Stallion is a work of pure and uncut artistry. Another good horse related thing is the movie Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmaron. I bet you that in heaven they were best friends. I am sure I was there best friend too, and I was a horse. My horse was white with a hot pink heart on the eye, with big blue deep eyes that simply no one could resist. Well, finally, in conlusion, I would exhort you that you should read this great and marvelous work, and see if these things are true.
Yours forever and always,
Callie
Yours forever and always,
Callie
August 12, 2015
My paternal grandmother gifted this to me over thirty years ago and I, shamefacedly, never read it. "A horse book? This is for girls," I remember thinking, still so carefully trying to puff up my masculinity, lest anyone find out I was gay.
clearly horse books are not just for girls. My grandmother was a very perceptive, prescient lady, so, as an adult, I find myself wondering: what's here that she thought I needed all those years ago? I aim to find out.
Resilience...self-reliance...the wild exterior does not reflect the horse/ person's true character...loyalty...
clearly horse books are not just for girls. My grandmother was a very perceptive, prescient lady, so, as an adult, I find myself wondering: what's here that she thought I needed all those years ago? I aim to find out.
Resilience...self-reliance...the wild exterior does not reflect the horse/ person's true character...loyalty...
July 24, 2021
I would highly recommend this book for kids, ages 8-13, depending on reading level and interest. It is dated, to be sure, and I actually prefer the movie to the book (which is almost never the case with me), but, if you know of a young, avid reader who loves horses, this is a page turner, filled with adventure.
April 2, 2015
The story was very simple but good. I really liked the ending! :)
June 19, 2017
I read this when I was about ten on a horse-book spree. :P
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