At dawn, horses were driven out of the master's horse yard into a meadow. From the whole herd stands out a serious, pensive look of an old pied gelding. He does not show impatience, like all the other horses, humbly waits until old Nester saddles him, and sadly watches what is happening, knowing every minute in advance. Having driven the herd to the river, Nester cuts the gelding and scratches it under the neck, believing that the horse is pleased. Merin does not like this scratching, but out of delicacy she pretends to be a grateful person, closes her eyes and shakes her head. And suddenly, for no reason, Nester painfully hits the gelding with a buckle of a bridle on a dry leg. This incomprehensible evil act upsets the gelding, but it does not give a view. Unlike humans, the behavior of an old horse is full of dignity and calm wisdom. When young horses tease the gelding and make him in trouble - a brown filly stirs up water in front of his nose, others push and do not allow passage - he forgives his offenders with unchanging dignity and silent pride.
Despite the repulsive signs of decrepitude, the figure of the piebald gelatin keeps calm of its former beauty and strength. His old age is majestic and nasty at the same time. And this causes indignation and contempt in horses. "Horses pity only themselves and occasionally only those in the shoes of whom they can easily imagine themselves." And all night in the horse yard, obeying the herd instinct, the whole herd drives the old gelding, the blows of hooves on thin sides and heavy grunting are heard. And the gelding does not stand up, stops in powerless despair and begins the story of his life. The story lasts five nights, and during the breaks, during the day, the horses already respectfully treat the gelding.
He was born of the Amiable First and Baba. According to the pedigree, his name is the First Man, and in the street - Holstomer. So people call it for a long and sweeping move. From the first days of his life, he feels his mother’s love and the surprise that is surrounding others. He is piebald, unusual, not like everyone else. The first grief in life is the loss of the love of a mother who already carries a smaller brother. The first love for the beautiful filly of Vyazopurikhe breaks off, ending with the most important change in the life of Holstomer - he is emasculated so as not to continue in the family of rot. Its difference from all generates a tendency to seriousness and thoughtfulness. The young gelding notes that people are guided in life not by deeds, but by words. And the main thing among the words is "mine." This word changes the behavior of people, makes them often lie, pretend and not be what they really are. This word was the fault of the fact that the gelding is passed from hand to hand. Although he bypasses the famous trotter Swan, Holstomer is still being sold to a young lady: due to the fact that he is piebald and belongs not to the count, but to the equestrian.
It is bought by a hussar officer, with whom the gelding spends the best time of his life. The owner is handsome, rich, cold and cruel - and dependence on such a person makes Holstomer’s love for him especially strong. The owner needs just a beastly horse to stand out even more in the light, ride to his mistress, rush along Kuznetskiy so that everyone avoids and looks around. And Kholstomer serves wholeheartedly, thinking: "Kill me, drive me, <...> I will be happier there." He admires the owner and himself next to him. But on one rainy day, the mistress leaves the officer, leaves with another. The hussar, in pursuit of her, drives the Halstomer. He trembles all night and cannot eat. In the morning they give him water, and he forever ceases to be the horse that he was. The holstomer is sold to a young lady, then to an old woman, an oratory, a peasant, a gypsy, and, finally, to a local clerk.
When the herd returns from the meadow the next evening, the owner shows the best, most expensive horses to the guest who has arrived. Guest reluctantly praises. Passing by Halstomer, he slaps it on the croup and says that he once had the same "painted" gelding. In a flabby old man, a holstomer recognizes his former beloved hussar master.
In the master's house, in the luxurious living room, the owner, hostess and guest are sitting at tea. Former hussar Nikita Serpukhov is now over forty. Once very beautiful, now it has descended "physically, both morally and financially." He squandered a fortune of two million and still owed a hundred and twenty thousand. And therefore, the sight of happiness of the young owner humiliates Serpukhov. He tries to talk about his past when he was handsome, rich, happy. The owner interrupts him and talks about his present life, boasting of what he has. This boring conversation for both, in which they do not hear each other, continues until the morning, until Serpukhovskaya gets drunk and staggers off to sleep. He does not have enough strength even to undress to the end - in one unbooted boot he falls on the bed and snores, filling the room with the smell of tobacco, wine and dirty old age.
At night, the herder Vaska on the Kholstomer rides into the tavern and holds him until the morning on a leash next to the peasant horse, from which the scab passes to the gelding. Five days later, Holstomer is not driven into the field, but is led outside the barn. When his throat is cut, it seems to him that together with a large stream of blood, the whole burden of life comes out of him. They are skinning him. Dogs, crows and kites pull horsemeat, and a she-wolf comes at night; after a week, only bones are scattered around the barn. But then these bones are carried away by the peasant and put them into business.
"Walking around the world, eating and drinking the dead body of Serpukhovsky was removed to the ground much later." And to hide there a rotting, worm-infested body in a new uniform and scrubbed boots was an unnecessary, unnecessary difficulty for people.
