SALLY'S PRIDE

Synopsis


A small run-down horse packing plant, dusk. A raging sandstorm batters down over a row of slumped, aging horses making their way toward a narrow doorway. Their faint shrieks and whinnies are almost drowned out by the punishing wind as they look for a way out. There is none.

A shiny horse trailer appears and delivers a A BEAUTIFUL BLACK THOROUGHBRED with a distinctive white crescent-shaped marking just above his forehead. He has been tossed off by his owners for a mysterious reason. But when the plant workers attempt to take him in with the other horses, he crashes down through the fence and escapes, making a spectacular jump to the freedom of the open fields.

Months later, at the Valledale School for Young Women, SALLY MERRITT, a bright but stubborn 15-year old, has just received the highest grade in the school for her essay on JANE EYRE. Running home to show her mother, she meets GRAEME DAVIES, a ruggedly handsome English boy taking his Arabian through its paces in a nearby field, whose friendly advances she spurns in spite of her attraction to him.

At home Sally finds her mother, MRS. MERRITT, totally preoccupied with getting her younger sister LYNN ready for a major horse show the next day. Sally's father, MR. MERRITT, a lawyer with eccentric clientele, is closer to Sally, but is blind to his wife's obsession with Lynn. Sally is crushed when she accidentally discovers their plans to buy Lynn a new horse, while telling Sally a horse is out of the question.

Lynn wins easily and is the center of attention at the show, but oddly takes little pleasure in it. She complains that her horse, HIGH VOLTAGE, isn't quite up to her expectations. WAYNE BARKER, her coarse English trainer whose black humor hides a spirit broken by a past equestrian accident, senses Sally's jealousy and asks her to 'hot walk' Voltage a bit, knowing the horse is too much for her limited ability.

Voltage almost throws Sally, but as she struggles to get him under control, she sees Graeme in the audience, and vows to never face such humiliation again.

A few days later, Sally goes with Wayne to an old horse farm run by HARRY, who brokers horses. The thoroughbred, now a run down nag 'ready for the knocker,' catches her eye. In spite of Wayne's protests, Sally trades her prize saddle for him. She calls him SALLY'S PRIDE.

At first Pride is the object of scorn and derision, particularly from KATIE, Sally's rival at school. But one day when Sally attempts to take Pride through a jump, she is thrown to the ground as Wayne and Lynn watch in astonishment as the horse flawlessly continues over the huddle. For Lynn, the object of derision is suddenly an object of desire.

But JESSICA BARKER, Wayne's wife and Sally's surrogate mother, tells Sally of Wayne's past accident, and his secret fear of ever riding again, warning Sally not to take on more than she can handle. Sally ignores Jessica's advice and continues to push forward.

One day, Pride bolts loose and causes a commotion at a local track, knocking Sally down as she desperately attempts to control him. As she rises, she sees Graeme coming to her aid from the crowd, and once again feels completely humiliated. When Graeme invites her to come riding with him, she puts him off brusquely. Graeme is bemused at her awkward social skills, telling her she doesn't have to prove anything to anyone.

Sally retreats to Jessica's house the next day to recoup from her embarrassment, but finds no comfort there. She learns that Wayne and Jessica have lost their only clients, HAROLD and BILLY, whose horse COLONEL Jessica has been riding. She tells Sally she should give up Pride and move to more productive things. Sally feels betrayed and leaves quickly.

As she walks home that evening, she hears the sound of hoof beats and laughter from across the field. It is Graeme and Katie, riding together perfectly across the skyline, blithely unaware of Sally's presence. Sally bursts into tears and runs home.

But Sally finds no comfort there either. As she enters, Mr. and Mrs. Merritt and Lynn are arguing about whether to give Sally's Pride to Lynn, who is clearly the better rider. Sally bolts out of the room.

Later that evening, one of the girls, whose face is indistinguishable in the heavy rainstorm, appears in the ring and mounts Pride, spurring him on to charge out of Wayne's ranch at furious speed in the storm. The rider is thrown from the horse, and lies face down in the mud, motionless.

Pride charges on, out of control, and jumps onto the busy freeway. Brakes screech and headlights blare, surrounding him on the freeway as he rears up defiantly one last time.

In the emergency room, Sally regains consciousness. Her parents and sister are there. Sally tells Lynn she can have the horse. Lynn, wanting to avoid the subject, leaves on the verge of tears.

Back on the freeway, the police are about to shoot Pride when Wayne arrives with Jessica in their trailer and stops them. Wayne is suddenly drawn to this wounded animal, and whispers to him, telling him 'we're not done for yet.'

Lynn returns to the Merritt home alone, walking through the empty house, trying to remember what it was like before this horse came nto their lives. She puts her saddle on Sally's bed as a peace offering.

Weeks later, Sally, arm-in-cast, is watching a horse at the track with Jessica and Lynn. They smile proudly as Wayne takes Pride through his paces flawlessly, their wounds healed. As Pride rises up before them gracefully, Wayne tips his hat to the ladies, beaming broadly.

As Sally watches, she recalls the last line of her essay:
'…sometimes, in order to appreciate that which is most dear, we must give up that which we love most, and sometimes only the blind can truly see.'

We cut to her weeks later, reading her paper at the "National Literary Competition" to great applause, as Mrs. Merritt, sitting with her husband and Lynn, finally recognizes her daughter's real talent.

Graeme Davies appears to congratulate her, but she treats him coolly once again. As he starts to walk away, Sally has a sudden moment of dawning realization of her place in the world. Putting her pride aside, she smiles, and extends her hand to him in friendship.

Later, Graeme and Sally walk with Pride in the fields where they first met, and a sense of peace is restored to the family.