War Horse: Chapter 17 Summary & Analysis

The British troops load Joey into a veterinary ambulance for his trip to the animal hospital. As it rattles over the rough terrain, he loses his footing and doesn’t even have the strength to stand back up when the ambulance turns onto a smooth road. When he finally arrives at the hospital—a grand house with a magnificent set of stables full of friendly horses—gentle hands help him stand up and exit the vehicle. An admiring crowd gathers around Joey until a large, commanding man with a giant red moustache and an immaculately pressed uniform (who the soldiers call “Sergeant Thunder”) yells at them to get back to work. Joey may be famous—the only one that’s ever been retrieved alive from no-man’s-land—but are only a dozen men to care for more than a hundred sick and injured animals. Only the “young lazybones” who’s been assigned to this case should still be with Joey.

Sergeant Thunder tells the soldier charged with Joey’s care to clean him up; the chief veterinarian, Major Martin, wants to examine him in ten minutes. When the soldier replies “Yes, sir,” Joey thinks he recognizes his voice, but he cannot get a good look at the young man’s face. But the young man begins to talk gently to Joey, wondering how on earth he ended up in the middle of no-man’s-land, promising to have him cleaned up soon, and apologizing for being unable to offer him food and water—Major Martin won’t allow it until he’s certain he won’t have to perform surgery on the animal. The longer he talks the surer Joey becomes, and he tries to whinny a greeting to his first friend, Albert.

Albert doesn’t recognize Joey, but he does reach out to calm the excited animal. Just then, another soldier, David, joins Albert. He gently mocks Albert for talking to horses as if they understand, although Albert maintains that some of them do. He promises that one day he’ll prove it to David. David asks if Albert means when “[his] Joey” shows up. He can’t believe that Albert joined the Veterinary Corps in hope of reuniting with his old horse. With half a million horses in the British Army from northern France to Palestine, David doesn’t know how Albert could possibly find his own, even if he’s still alive. Albert tells David that when he sees Joey, he’ll understand. And then he launches into an oft-repeated catalog of Joey’s features—a red-bay coat, black mane and tail, four exactly equal white socks, and a white cross on his forehead.

David gently cleans the mud from Joey’s legs, discovering four exactly equal white socks. He reports this to Albert; Albert thinks David is mocking him. Then, David gently brushes the dust and dirt from Joey’s face—uncovering his white cross. In a quiet voice, he tells Albert that, although he can barely believe it, this fits Albert’s description of Joey exactly. At first, Albert doesn’t believe David, but then he stops what he’s doing and circles around to look at the horse’s face. Joey looks into Albert’s beloved, slightly older face. To determine once and for all whether this is his Joey, Albert removes the harness from his head, walks a few paces to the gateway and gives his distinctive, owl-like whistle. Without hesitation, Joey trots to him as he used to do, and Albert embraces his long-lost friend.