The Red Pony tells the story (in 4 short stories) of a young boy, Jody Tiflin, living on a Californian ranch in the 1930s and follows him, his family and two ponies, through Jody's childhood as Jody learns diligence and perseverance in learning to care for, and ride, his first pony and deals with the shock of losing it when the pony dies following surgery. The difficult relationship between Jody and his father is explored and contrasted with that of Jody and the ranch hand, Billy Buck, who seems to understand Jody better. We see how similarly they think when the old Gitano comes to visit the ranch and is welcomed by them both, while scorned by Mr.Tiflin (Carl), Jody's father. Billy also keeps a promise to Jody, in that he ensures that Jody's young foal is born safely. Jody's relationship with his grandfather is also explored and general themes of conflict within the family, loss of innocence, conquering fear and human fallibility are all here. Interesting themes for study in the classroom but graphic scenes of cruelty to animals and their subsequent/violent death are present in three of the stories and this could potentially be an upsetting subject for first year students. These graphic scenes involve Billy hitting a horse on the head with a hammer with intent to kill, and the horse's belly being sliced open and Jody killing a bird with a slingshot and then dismembering it to hide the evidence.
Verdict: Teacher/parental discretion needed. Perhaps more suited to students in 3rd year....