Corey bonds with a beautiful but lame Arabian horse she names Handsome. He not only helps alleviate her loneliness, but is able to encourage the autistic brother of Corey's school friend to speak. When Corey's parents separate, her father moves her to a small house on the outskirts of Tucson, Arizona where she must attend a new school for the last weeks of eighth grade. Corey finds making friends difficult. However, there is a small pasture behind the fence in her new backyard. There she could keep Handsome if she could persuade the old man who owns the pasture to let her use it. Her parents reunite, and just when it seems Handsome will become the birthday present Corey longs for, another obstacle appears. Handsome damages himself futher when he balks at climbing into a horse trailer. Only Corey's determination makes a happy ending possible .