BLACK BEAUTY: Widower Squire Weldon (Charles Evans), trying to raise his motherless daughter, Anne (Mona Freeman) presents her with a colt, Black Beauty (Highland Dale), in the hope that by disciplining the horse, she may learn to discipline herself. Passing through Birtwick Farms, Bill Dixon (Richard Denning), a young American, arouses Anne's interest when he expresses his hope of finding a "Very beautiful young colt" when he returns to England in two years. When he returns, however, his attitude brings Anne to the realization that she is still considered a "child."

COURAGE OF BLACK BEAUTY: Feeling alienated from his rancher father (John Bryant), Bobby (Johnny Crawford) invests all his affections in his pet foal. Through his love for the horse (who of course grows up to become Black Beauty) Crawford learns to better appreciate his own lot in life. For a while, it looks as though the horse will be destroyed, but when this doesn't happen, Crawford draws even closer to his dad.