Based on the Don stories by Mikhail Sholokhov. Soviet power was only established on the Don, and a conflict broke out in the first commune: the wife of the commune’s leader Arseniy Klyukvin, having believed the promises of the white officer, fell in love and went to live with him with the child. She doesn't want to hide her feelings, but unable to withstand the bestial attitude of a white officer, she returns back to the Bolshevik.

During the heat of battle in the midst of the Civil War, a beguilingly innocent colt is born to Union Jim Rabb's beloved mare. Refusing the orders to shoot it, lest it prove a hindrance, Rabb keeps the colt as a consolation in these desperate times-a symbol of hope that leads the men of the First Cavalry on a journey of self-discovery and newfound brotherhood.