When a young girl is crippled in a riding accident, her father seeks the help of a beautiful and dedicated doctor to help her overcome the disability ; a teenage girl travels across the country to visit her troubled uncle, and meets the love of her life while learning to race horses ; young brother and sister Paul and Maureen Beebe are determined to buy the filly of a wild Assateague mare at the annual Pony Penning Day ; a wealthy newspaper editor recalls the last year of his daughter Mary's life, in which she sets out to find her own identity and place in the world.