That night, as John Grady is drifting off to sleep, he thinks about horses and the open country, especially wild horses. He thinks about these horses who have never seen a human being and "yet in whose souls he would come to reside forever."
He and Rawlins and two vaqueros go into the mountains to look for horses again, and they talk on their journey. Rawlins thinks the girl is a fancy sort and John Grady tells him she's not. John Grady has "readyrolls" he has gotten from La Vega, the nearby town. These rolls are a treat, because they are yeast rolls from a bakery, ready to eat or ready to reheat. Most of the time, they have been eating flat tortillas. After returning from the mountains, they go into the town on Sunday, riding horses they've been working on. They race each other on the horses, and, even when they exchange horses, John Grady wins. Their hair has been cut with sheepshears at the hacienda, and now they go to a store to buy some new clothes. John Grady convinces his friend to buy some black boots. They also get gloves, which they need in order to protect their hands.
The second half of Chapter II begins with a dance at a grange hall, which John Grady attends with Rawlins and a boy named Roberto from the ranch, at Alejandra's invitation. They share a small bottle of mescal. Alejandra is dancing with a tall boy from the San Pablo ranch. When she dances with John Grady, he finds her hands small and her waist slight. She speaks schoolbook English.
He rides home from the dance alone, and a fast-moving car passes him, causing his horse to get skittish. Left in the dust, he thinks the horse has done well, and he tells it so.
The stallion from Kentucky arrives after a long and complex trip made by Antonio, Armando's brother, who speaks no English. John Grady inspects the horse with Rocha and asks permission to ride the stallion. Then, for several days the two of them discuss the mares in the corral, John Grady arguing certain horses' merits. Rocha is the one who makes the final decision on which horse to breed with the stud, but he listens to John Grady's opinions. John Grady works with Antonio to breed the horses and conspires with him to tell Rocha the stallion needs to be ridden to keep it manageable, when in truth John Grady likes the girl to see him riding the powerful chestnut. He rides it to the end of the laguna and talks to it in Spanish, telling it he is the commander. Sometimes, on these early morning rides, he sees Alejandra riding.
