The tale of the extraordinary life and times of Lucky, a horse that was born in captivity but achieves his dream of running free with the help of a stableboy.

In 1914, a German supply ship is en route to Africa with a cargo of work horses when one of the mares gives birth to a foal. The colt is soon separated from his mother when the ship docks in a mining community, and he has a hard time getting along, but an orphaned boy who works at a stable takes a liking to the little horse and looks after him. When war breaks out, the stable is abandoned and the pony escapes into a nearby desert, where an Oryx antelope and a native girl become his companions and teach him how to survive on his own.—Mark Deming