75 pages • 2 hours read
Geraldine BrooksHorse
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 1-9Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary: “Theo”
Content Warning: Horse contains depictions of enslavement and racism toward Black people, both historically and in the present, including racially-motivated violence and the use of racial slurs. It also depicts animal neglect and abuse. The chapters about the enslaved character Jarret adhere to the historical custom of placing the enslaver’s last name before the enslaved person’s first name, i.e. “Warfield’s Jarret.”
One afternoon in 2019, Georgetown University art history graduate student Theo Northam is working on an article he is writing for Smithsonian Magazine, his dog Clancy by his side. His attention is drawn to the house across the street, where his elderly neighbor is amassing objects on the curb beside a sign reading “FREE STUFF.” Theo assumes the items belonged to her husband, who passed away. The man had refused to acknowledge Theo when he introduced himself. Theo had tried to be kind and hospitable to the widow after her loss, but received a similar reception. Despite this frostiness, Theo is compelled to help when he sees her beginning to move heavy furniture. She doesn’t thank him, but gestures to the pile, and Theo pauses to look, not wanting to be impolite. The chapter closes with a cliffhanger: “And that was when he saw the horse”(4).
Chapter 2 Summary: “Jess”
In Maryland, Australian osteologist Jess rides her bicycle home from her lab at the Smithsonian’s Museum Support Center, a state-of-the-art research and specialty storage campus. There, Jess dedicates her time to the analysis, preservation, and articulation of skeletal remains belonging to animals of various species, dating from recent decedents to specimens thousands of years old.
At home, Jess is preparing to drive to Massachusetts to collect a specimen when her phone rings. Horace Wallis, from the Smithsonian’s Affiliates division, explains that a researcher from England has an appointment to view a 19th-century horse skeleton. Horace’s team can’t find it. He asks if it might be at Jess’s lab, but they have no articulated specimens at present. Jess promises to check her databases and the rest of the Support site.
Chapter 3 Summary: “Warfield’s Jarret”
One evening in 1850, 13-year-old Jarret, enslaved at The Meadows estate in Lexington, Kentucky, notices signs that broodmare Alice Carneal is in labor. Her foal, bred at his father Harry Lewis’s direction, is one of the last sired by the legendary racehorse Boston. Jarret finds Harry, and they return to Alice Carneal’s stall to help her. Jarret has spent his entire life in the company of horses; Harry purchased his own freedom but was unable to do the same for his son. Instead, Harry persuaded his employer, Dr. Warfield, to purchase then five-year-old Jarret’s enslavement. Jarret has lived at The Meadows ever since, benefiting from his father’s expertise and mentorship. Harry is celebrated for his successes as a horse breeder, trainer, and rider. Jarret, too, has already begun to distinguish himself, particularly in his ability to relate to and communicate with horses. Jarret had “been slow to master human speech, but he could interpret the horses: their moods, their alliances, their simple wants, their many fears. He came to believe that horses lived with a world of fear, and when you grasped that, you had a clear idea how to be with them,” this insight present from an early age (13-14).
Alice Carneal’s handsome bay colt is born without complications. Jarret decides to stay the night in her stall. From the barn rafters, Mary Barr Clay, granddaughter to Dr. Warfield and daughter of Cassius Clay, appears. She apologizes, explaining that she could not resist seeing the new foal. She promises as she leaves that she won’t say a word about having seen Jarret if she gets caught.
Chapter 4 Summary: “Theo”
Theo prints out his article to deliver in person, hoping Smithsonian Magazine will have more assignments for him. He looks at the painting of the horse he salvaged. It is badly damaged, the frame cracked and the canvas filthy, but Theo can appreciate the beauty of the bay horse rendered skillfully in oils. Theo is an equestrian himself, first learning to ride with his father as a child, and later becoming a star on the polo teams at boarding school and at Oxford. His familiarity with American equine art is not as robust as his knowledge of their English counterparts. Theo plans to bring the painting along to propose an article on how to determine the provenance and value of art, but forgets it at home.
Chapter 5 Summary: “Thomas J. Scott”
In the spring of 1850, aspiring veterinarian turned equine painter and racing reporter Thomas J. Scott is en route to The Meadows. He learns from fellow travelers that his host Dr. Warfield, now retired from obstetrics, maintains several businesses in the town of Lexington. The doctor’s son-in-law, the wealthy Cassius Clay, is a dedicated abolitionist, who freed the many enslaved people he inherited. While the men in his coach oppose the abolition of slavery, Cassius has earned the respect of many by living according to his convictions. Scott is opposed to slavery, but keeps this opinion to himself, especially while traveling in the South. Scott is given a warm welcome by Dr. Warfield and his wife. He has been invited to paint one of Dr. Warfield’s horses, but Mrs. Warfield reveals that her husband also hopes that, as a racing reporter, Scott might provide valuable information which would give their outfit an inside edge.
Chapter 6 Summary: “Warfield’s Jarret”
Jarret and Harry are in the stables when they see Dr. Warfield approaching with Scott. Harry recalls that he was once painted by a Swiss artist called Troye, posed, along with the horse’s jockey and his groom, with Willa Viley’s horse Richard Singleton. Dr. Warfield takes Scott to visit the new foal. Jarret is suspicious, but his opinion of Scott improves when Scott demonstrates his knowledge of equine anatomy.
The following day, Scott begins sketching out his canvas, and asks Jarret what Glacier is like. Jarret describes Glacier as “fly,” explaining that he possesses an understated intelligence, a depth of awareness and thoughtfulness not present in every horse. These qualities can make Glacier a challenge to a jockey because he is not blindly obedient, but his independence and critical thinking are actually assets. Jarret is offended when Scott wonders why enslaved horsemen do not ride off with those horses in their care, thinking him ignorant for not considering the families left behind or the deadly consequences if they were caught. Scott shares that Dr. Warfield is thinking of offering the new colt, Darley, to Harry as his wages for the year. He asks Jarret to help him measure Glacier, promising to gift him a painting of Darley in the future. Jarret holds steady with his attention engaged while Scott begins to paint.
Chapter 7 Summary: “Jess”
Jess arrives at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute to pick up her specimen: a whale skull. Exposed by erosion secondary to climate change, carbon dating revealed the newly discovered “Pilgrim Whale” to be centuries old. With the skull carefully packaged, Jess drives back to the Support Center. When Horace Wallis calls about the horse skeleton, Jess, who had forgotten to look, promises to call him back. She finds that the skeleton was acquired November 7, 1878. Due to the age of the specimen, she goes to the Smithsonian’s “Castle,” where records indicate that it was displayed for 80 years, crated in 1956, and then loaned out in 1974. It had been on exhibit in the American History Museum, but when that exhibition closed, it was relegated to the building’s attic. Horace, whose department is focused more on liaising than collections management, asks if Jess would take their visitor to see the horse.
Chapter 8 Summary: “Theo”
Theo decides to take Clancy for a run. He consciously dons his Georgetown Hoyas sweatshirt, the one he always wears running in the predominately white neighborhoods he traverses. It identifies him as a member of the academic community, a kind of armor against suspicion and unwanted attention. Stepping outside, he notices his elderly neighbor struggling to lift her grocery cart into her house. He jogs over to help, and she is startled; when he identifies himself, she says she doesn’t hear well and quickly brushes him off.
Theo delivers his second article to Lior, his editor at Smithsonian magazine, bringing the horse painting with him. Lior suggests that he visit the nearby American Art Museum’s Visible Art Storage and Study Center. There, Theo finds many 19th-century equestrian paintings. He is struck by one featuring a Black man holding a horse’s lead, resplendent in fashionable clothing. Learning the painter’s name is Edward Troye, Theo seeks out Troye’s other works on hand. Seeing a painting entitled “Richard Singleton with Viley’s Harry, Charles and Lew” (56), Theo is fascinated not only by the fact that Troye painted the horse along with his trainer, groom, and jockey, but by the detail and care with which the three Black figures are rendered. Theo’s thesis examines the way people of color are painted in English artworks as accessories to and evidence of the wealth of white elites. He finds the figures in the Troye painting a distinct contrast, yet the title subsumes the men in the image into the same category as the horse they surround. Intrigued, he decides to delve deeper into the subject.
Chapter 9 Summary: “Warfield’s Jarret”
Though Dr. Warfield must remain Darley’s legal owner, Darley has been offered to Harry in payment of his wages. A talented horseman in both experience and instinct, Jarret has already begun implementing techniques to positively influence Darley’s early development. Aware of the notoriously bad temper of Darley’s sire and dam, Jarret is dedicated to ensuring that his own nurturing will overcome any predispositions genetically instilled in Darley. Boston, Darley’s sire, was particularly known for his hostility; the stallion had gone blind and suffered mistreatment. As Darley is weaned from his mother, he distinguishes himself among the other young foals with whom he shares a paddock, demonstrating tenacity and insight even at play. Darley is already deeply bonded to Jarret and constantly seeks him out. As is their custom, Harry habitually tests Jarret’s memory of the bloodlines of each of the horses of The Meadows.
Harry has begun spending time with Beth, an enslaved woman who works in the kitchen. For years, Harry has promised Jarret that he would purchase Jarret’s emancipation as soon as funds allow. Jarret worries that his father might spend what he has been saving on Beth’s emancipation instead so that Harry can marry her. That night, Jarret dreams of a large tree, “its twigs fingering upward, filling the sky. And at the end of every twig, the most magnificent fruit: thoroughbred horses with gleaming coats and flowing manes, their mighty hooves pawing the air” (64-65). In his dream, he plucks Darley from the tree.
Chapters 1-9 Analysis
Each of the characters in these introductory chapters of Horse is an expert in their respective fields. Their knowledge and insight are integral to each of the plotlines of the novel, as their actions and conclusions are rooted in their ability to make insightful observations and assessments. In establishing these characters—including Martha Jackson, introduced later—as authorities in their subject matter, Brooks conveys through each of them the meaningful elements of what they uncover. Theo, as an art history PhD candidate, has the referential knowledge and discernment to appreciate the portrayal of Jarret—and other Black horsemen—in 19th-century equine portraiture, and compare it to the portrayals of people of color in historical British paintings. Jess has an appreciation for the art of skeletal articulation, a reverence for the original articulators who polarized the practice during the Victorian period, and a fascination with physical structure which has given her a keen eye for detail and proportion. The two of them use their expertise to discover The Lost Stories Within American Racing History, which ties directly into the theme of Legacy, Heritage, and Inheritance. Scott is the expert of Jarret’s era. As a once-aspiring veterinarian turned equine painter and racing reporter, he can keenly analyze a horse’s personality, performance, and behavior. His candid observations of Jarret’s talent and insight as a horseman show how exceptional 13-year-old Jarret is.
Jarret, the primary protagonist of the novel, is one of the characters who is not based upon a historical figure. The theme of The Lost Stories Within American Racing History centers around the roles that Black men played in advancing the sport of Thoroughbred turf racing. Through Jarret, Brooks evokes and personalizes the contributions of Black horsemen; though Jarret himself did not exist, someone very much like him did. Jarret’s work as a horseman reflects the historical reality that horsemen like him—usually free or enslaved Black men—had highly specific and valuable skill sets. Jarret’s decisions in these early chapters, illustrated through his approach to Lexington’s early socialization and training, are informed by his interactions with Dr. Warfield’s horses and his father’s tutelage, and Jarret represents Legacy, Heritage, and Inheritance by following in his father’s footsteps. However, Jarret is unique in his inherent talent as a horseman. Brooks imparts the presence of a natural, innate instinct unmatched by even his legendary father. Jarret and Harry’s expertise is invaluable, but it is Jarret’s bond with Lexington, and the trust that horse and boy share, which enables Lexington to become great.
Despite this, Jarret (and the real-life Black horsemen he represents) faces the Characteristics of Racism in Various Historical Periods throughout his life. While white spectators attempted to catch a glimpse of famous horses, these Black horsemen worked closely with them on a regular basis. Yet white people of the time failed to give them deserved recognition and robbed them of equine ownership and participation in horseracing. Particularly in Lexington’s case, a real-life legendary Thoroughbred racehorse, there must have existed one or many Black grooms, trainers, and jockeys who worked diligently to facilitate his success. Jarret and Lexington are equally remarkable; Brooks suggests throughout the novel that Lexington would not have been the horse he became without Jarret. The constant reminder that a talented racehorse can only realize its true potential in collaboration with a person who values them evokes the memory of the Black contributors like Jarret. However, most stories like theirs have been obscured and ignored by history.
Jarret’s early life is significantly different from that of other enslaved children and adolescents in the American South. Thoroughbred turf racing was an extremely lucrative pastime for wealthy landowners in the South, and many of these “gentleman farmers” relied upon the skills of enslaved Black horsemen. Though these horsemen’s talents could be appreciated and they could become famous, these men were still enslaved, or otherwise treated in accordance with the societal norms of the pre-Civil War American South. Harry, as a highly successful trainer, is able to purchase his emancipation, but he cannot afford to do the same for Jarret. He must ask his employer, Dr. Warfield, to purchase Jarret’s enslavement so that he can keep Jarret close and protect him. Though Dr. Warfield treats them well, he is still an enslaver who prioritizes himself and his reputation over their well-being.
The Meadows, as a Thoroughbred training and breeding farm, comprises a dramatically different culture than the plantations at which other Black Americans were enslaved. The Meadows does not rely on the production of crops for profit, so while Jarret experiences the injustices of slavery through his vulnerability, lack of autonomy, and dehumanization, he has not yet been exposed to the full spectrum of horrors many enslaved Black people faced. Harry’s hope, in ensuring Jarret’s enslavement is purchased by his relatively kind employer, is that Jarret will not have to experience the trauma he himself underwent. Jarret’s concern that his father might spend his savings to purchase Beth’s emancipation instead of his own foreshadows future events; one of the most difficult lessons Jarret will learn over the course of Horse is that all people possess the ability to change their minds, and that those in vulnerable positions are habitually in precarious circumstances.
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