Dora Maddocks goes to live with her uncle Geoffrey on his rural estate, Follyfoot, a sanctuary for old and mistreated horses.
Dora comes to stay with her Uncle, the Colonel, who owns Follyfoot farm. While out riding she sees some thugs terrorising the horses of a neighbouring farm. Steve, a young man working on the farm tries to stop them. Two of the horses are injured and must be shot. Despite Dora's testimony, Steve is under suspicion as being one of the thugs.
Steve is hiding out at Follyfoot. The neighbouring farm is on the lookout for a missing horse. Steve and Dora find the horse and try to rescue it as it is lame and know it will be shot. They are caught with the horse and Steve is blamed. He is fired from his job, but the Colonel steps in and takes him on at Follyfoot.
A gypsy who has just been released from prison comes to collect his horse. Two local farmers capture his horse and threaten to shoot him if he comes onto their land again. Steve steps in to help, but gets caught and locked up by the farmers. Posing as a gypsy he threatens to curse them and they let him and the horse go.
Dora agrees to take on a show-jumping horse that needs training. As she makes progress, co-worker Ron takes the horse to run in a local race. He aims to make a lot of money by betting on it, but the horse is not ready and refuses to jump, landing Ron in trouble with the bookmakers - and Dora.
Thug Hammond is riding a lame horse. In disguise, Dora manages to trick her way into his stables and rescues the horse. Meanwhile, an old miner tracks down Follyfoot to visit his 30-year-old horse, Charley.
A local rag and bone man has died. The son endeavours to keep the business going but the horse is killed in an accident. His plight is reported in the local newspaper and another horse is bought for the family. It turns out that the horse is unable for the job and they take it to Follyfoot. However as the youngest son, Gip is devastated at losing the horse, the family decide to keep it.
Gip continues to look after their horse but as Steve becomes involved, he is worried that the family don't know how to properly care for it. The older brother wants rid of the horse so Gip runs away with it. Steve finds them and persuades him to give up the horse to Follyfoot where it can be properly looked after.
Local girl Callie is upset at the treatment of one of the horses while at the Circus. Appealing to the Colonel, she tries to get help, but to no avail. Undeterred, she steals the horse and with the help of Steve, hides it away. As the Police investigate, the horse is discovered, but by then the Colonel has agreed to buy the horse from the Circus.
Ron takes a horse back to Follyfoot after its owner hs fallen ill. Unknown to them, the boy Gip had agreed to look after it, but the horse runs away. In attempting to catch it, Dora falls off her horse and is injured. The horse returns to the man's house and Gip agrees to take care of it until its owner is well again.
A mysterious old man arrives at Follyfoot and sits silently with one of the horses. Ron taunts the old man into getting him to leave but the Colonel is angered by Ron's behaviour and sacks him. The old man has recently lost his wife and the horse used to be his. To make amends, Ron's father agrees to pay for a stable to be built at the man's house for the horse.
The Night riders are back to their old tricks and upset a horse ridden by a crippled girl. Steve warns them off, but they come back later and kill the horse. Dora trains one of her horses to accommodate the girl as a present. Her father, although angry at the situation, agrees to let her ride again.
Ron and Steve argue over who gets to host Dora's birthday. Unable to come to an agreement, they enter a jousting contest. When neither of them wins, Slugger tells them that he and the Colonel already have a party planned.
In search of his mother, Steve visits his grandmother. While there, he is told of a badly injured horse and he takes it back to Follyfoot. The horse is so ill it has to be shot. Steve leaves Follyfoot to continue searching for his mother, much to Dora's distress. She collapses against the lightning tree and is dragged away sobbing by Slugger.
