A Man and His Horse is the story of a young man who is forced to flee Beijing during the Cultural Revolution. Coming from an intellectual family that is being torn apart by political campaigns, Wen Bo is barred from signing up with the Inner Mongolia Production and Construction Corps that he desperately wants to join in order to avoid the fate of being sent to an even poorer and more remote rural area. He decides to take a chance by sneaking aboard a train carrying new recruits bound for Inner Mongolia. Once there, deprived of the love of the girl who helped him escape, Wen Bo finds solace in a unique kind of love that he establishes with a feisty black horse.

This autobiographical novel is based on the real-life experiences of a physician in Beijing. It shows how love, even one between a man and his horse, can compensate for what the Cultural Revolution tried to destroy.