All The Pretty Horses

In 1949 outside of San Angelo, Texas, John Grady, a 16-year-old who grew up on the family ranch, visits his grandfather’s body before the funeral. He tries to cope with the fact that the family patriarch has died and the fate of the ranch is up to John Grady’s mother, who wants to sell. At the funeral, John Grady sees his estranged father, then rides into the plains alone, thinking on his love for horses.

John Grady meets his father at a diner. His father is dying too, likely of lung cancer. They discuss John Grady’s mother, who has gone to San Antonio to appear in a play. John Grady’s father offers him money. John Grady declines and tells him selling the land isn’t his idea.

John Grady goes on a night ride with his best friend, Rawlins. They talk about Mary Catherine, the girl John Grady was seeing, who is now dating an unnamed older boy who owns a car. Rawlins says, “She aint worth it. None of em are,” to which John Grady replies, “Yes they are” (10).

John Grady takes to riding with his father, who tells stories of gambling away a fortune and shares that he and John Grady’s mother haven’t spoken in seven years. John Grady’s father loved and respected John Grady’s grandfather. John Grady shares that his grandfather never believed John Grady’s father died in the war and refused to hold a funeral. As John Grady leaves, his father tells him to go upstairs and get a gift he has for him—a new, expensive saddle.

Days later, John confronts his mother on her return from San Antonio. He offers to rent the ranch from her, and she thinks he’s being ridiculous. John goes to see Mr. Franklin, the family lawyer. Franklin wishes he could help, but there’s no legal way: John Grady’s father finally agreed to a divorce just before the grandfather’s death, and so has no right to contest the sale of his ex-wife’s family ranch. John pleads, but Franklin says, “Son, not everybody thinks that life on a cattle ranch in west Texas is the second best thing to dyin and goin to heaven” (17).

John Grady’s mother goes back to San Antonio after the holidays. One day, John hitchhikes and buys a ticket to his mother’s play. He looks for meaning in the story but finds none. The next morning, he goes to a hotel and waits for his mother to come through the lobby accompanied by a man. He asks the clerk if there’s a Mrs. Cole registered; there isn’t.

In March, John Grady and his father ride for a last time—they go to a diner, where his father says of his mother, “She liked horses. I thought that was enough. That’s how dumb I was” (24). He reveals that she left the family for several years after John Grady was born. He urges John Grady to make amends with his mother and tells him that thoughts of her saved his life when he was a prisoner of war.

One night, John Grady and Rawlins lay on the asphalt and talk—the ranch is sold, and the two have decided to leave San Angelo. After running into Mary Catherine and having a contentious conversation, John meets Rawlins before sunrise, and they ride together toward Mexico.

The boys ride through the wilderness and camp outside of Eldorado. Rawlins and John Grady have an easy, sarcastic banter throughout their ride and at a café the next morning. They look at a map that is blank south of the Rio Grande. John Grady fetches a new map, but Rawlins still says “There aint shit down there” (34). They stop at a grocery and buy several days’ supplies—the clerk is surprised that they’re riding horses to Mexico. As they keep riding, Rawlins grows uneasy, and John Grady realizes they’re being followed.

They wait to see who it is and encounter a young boy on a fine horse that they assume is stolen. He claims he’s 16, which they assume is a lie, and he insists he’s not following them. John Grady and Rawlins pretend to be outlaws and joke about who will kill the boy. He wants to ride with them, but they decline. Though the boy insists the horse is his, Rawlins expects someone is following him. As they leave, John Grady says “We aint seen the last of his skinny ass” (41).

They arrive at the river crossing into Mexico, where they hesitate. The boy rides up on them again. He tells them his name is Jimmy Blevins, the same name as a radio evangelist. Blevins wants to ride with them, and when Rawlins asks what he offers, he says “I’m an American” (45). Together, they cross the river into the Mexican state of Coahuila.

The trio makes camp and talk. Blevins reveals he has a unique pistol with him. To demonstrate his shooting ability, Blevins asks Rawlins to throw his wallet into the air; Blevins shoots a hole clean through the middle, which Rawlins doesn’t admit until they’re buying alcohol in Reforma.

That night, the three are fed by a family. When Blevins falls off a bench during dinner, he walks off in embarrassment and refuses to return and spend the night. In a back room, Rawlins and John Grady discuss finding work while Rawlins laments all the contents of his wallet that have been shot through.

In the morning, they find Blevins outside. After lunch, John Grady goes out to bathe in a cienaga (small marsh); Blevins notes that John Grady seems like an excellent rider, and Rawlins says “There’s a lot of good riders. But there’s just one that’s the best. And he happens to be settin right yonder” (59).

John Grady, Rawlins, and Blevins ride on through the mountains, headed for a place where they might find work. They run across a group of zacateros (hay farmers) who speak to them warily. That night, Blevins shoots a jackrabbit and cooks it under the fire, “the way the […] [Indigenous Americans] did” (62), which he later admits he didn’t know would work. While telling his story, Blevins claims to be 17—a year older than before—and says that he ran away once before to see an erotic show in Ardmore, Oklahoma, where he was bit by a dog and sent home. He ran away to Mexico this time because of his stepfather’s violence: “I told that son of a bitch I wouldn’t take a whippin off of him and I didnt” (64).

The next day they encounter a caravan and buy some sotol (alcohol made from sotol flowers) and get drunk while riding. A storm rolls in, which scares Blevins—he claims that many in his family have been struck by lightning, and he is destined for the same. He intends to outride the storm and gallops off, to the amusement of John Grady and Rawlins. They follow at a regular pace; John Grady picks up Blevins’s hat when he sees it. They find Blevins naked under a dead tree. He refuses to leave despite their warnings, so they seek shelter and continue to drink. In the storm, they hear Blevins’s horse run off. In the morning, they agree to go find Blevins despite Rawlins’s desire to leave him. John Grady finds Blevins in his underwear with one boot—his clothes washed away, and his pistol is missing. John Grady gives him a spare shirt, warning him that Rawlins is out of patience.

They ride until they find a camp of men making wax. The men feed the boys, and Blevins and Rawlins bicker. John Grady thanks the men for their hospitality, and one of them offers to buy Blevins. John Grady is shaken, as “They did not look evil but it was no comfort to him” (76). That night, Rawlins again expresses reservations about traveling with Blevins.

The next day, Blevins spots a man with his pistol in the town of Encantada and is determined to get it back. John Grady and Rawlins convince him to wait outside of town, and they find the horse in a mud hut. When they return to where they left Blevins, he’s gone. Rawlins says “This is our last chance. Right now,” to leave Blevins behind (79). John Grady can’t bring himself to abandon Blevins, and Rawlins is sure something bad will come of it. When Blevins returns, John Grady and Rawlins agree to get the horse back, but that’s it.

Near dawn, they head to the hut. Blevins sneaks in before they make a plan, and soon comes racing by on his horse pursued by dogs. John Grady and Rawlins ride after him and are fired upon. Away from town, Blevins tells the other two to split off into the wilderness as he leads their pursuers away. He rides off before they can respond. John Grady and Rawlins ride through the wilderness until they believe they’re clear of their pursuers. They camp out and eat cactus fruit. Though Blevins is gone, Rawlins is sure they’ll see him again.

They ride south, and Rawlins gets a lucky shot on a young deer. They field dress it and set up a smoker. While the meat smokes, they talk about death and God; John Grady is noncommittal, but Rawlins believes there must be a God, as “I don’t believe we’d make it a day otherwise” (92).

They ride on until they meet a group of vaqueros (cowboys), and help them with a herd of cattle. While riding, they spy a beautiful young woman, later revealed to be the rancher’s daughter Alejandra, riding in finery. She captures John Grady’s attention. The vaqueros are impressed with the boys and vouch for their work, so they are hired on with the ranch.