The Red Pony
First book edition
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| Author | John Steinbeck |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Regional slice of life |
| Publisher | Covici Friede |
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Publication date
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1937 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
The Red Pony is an episodic novella written by American writer John Steinbeck in 1933. The first three chapters were published in magazines from 1933–1936, and the full book was published in 1937 by Covici Friede. The stories in the book are tales of a boy named Jody Tiflin. The book has four different stories about Jody and his life on his father's California ranch. Other main characters include Carl Tiflin - Jody's father; Billy Buck - an expert in horses and a working hand on the ranch; Mrs. Tiflin - Jody's mother; Jody's grandfather - Mrs. Tiflin's father, who has a history of crossing the Oregon Trail, and enjoys telling stories about his experiences; and Gitano - an old man who wishes to die at the Tiflin ranch. Along with these stories, there is a short story (taken from one of Steinbeck's earlier works, The Pastures of Heaven) at the end of the book titled "Junius Maltby." However, this last story is omitted in the edition published by Penguin Books.
The book's action begins when Carl Tiflin gives his son Jody a red pony colt. Overjoyed, Jody quickly agrees to all of the conditions his father places on the gift (to feed the pony, to clean his stall, etc.). Jody is so awed at the pony's magnificence that he decides to name him Gabilan, after the grassy and oak-dotted Gabilan Mountains that border the Salinas Valley ranch.
After several weeks of training and getting to know Gabilan, Jody is told by his father that he will be allowed to ride the horse by Thanksgiving. Though the ranch hand Billy Buck assures him there would be no rain, the pony is caught in a downpour and catches what appears to be a cold after being left out to corral. Billy tries to cure the horse of its illness to no avail and finally diagnoses the illness as strangles, placing a steaming wet bag over the pony's muzzle and entrusting Jody to watch the pony. In the night, Jody becomes sleepy in spite of his constant worry and drifts off to sleep, forgetting about the open barn door. By the time he awakens, the pony has wandered out of the barn. When Billy arrives, he deems it necessary to cut a hole in the horse's windpipe so he can breathe. Jody stays by his side, constantly swabbing out the mucus that clogged the windpipe.
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