Chapter II begins with Rawlins and John Grady working at La Purisima, and it appears they've found their paradise: jobs they love, a beautiful setting, a hacienda owner who is enlightened and loves horses, and a beautiful young girl who rides around on her black Arabian saddlehorse. John Grady is quickly promoted to breeder after their amazing feat of breaking sixteen wild mustangs in four days. The great-aunt of the girl invites John Grady to play chess, and he excels at that, too. Then the inevitable love affair, initiated by the dark, passionate girl, begins. But at the end of the chapter the two young men are dragged away at daybreak in handcuffs.
What happened to their almost perfect world? In the interview with Rocha, after the breaking of the horses and when John Grady is being considered for the horse breeding position, John Grady is asked if it was just the two of them who rode from Texas. For some unknown reason, John Grady, who is so honest about his abilities and in general very honorable, lies. He denies that Blevins had been with them. In the first chapter, Rawlins repeatedly warned John Grady that Blevins was trouble and that he would always reappear, but they have not seen him since the split-up after they retrieved Blevins' bay horse. So the chapter ends on this terrible unraveling, and the reader is eager to read on to find out for sure what has gone wrong and why Rawlins won't even look at his friend, John Grady.
But in the middle of the chapter is the heart of what the novel is really about — horses. The adventure, the love interest, the family histories, even the Mexican Revolution play second string to the horse lore and stories.
First, we read long scenes in which John Grady and Rawlins break the sixteen mustangs. The animals are so wild that John Grady says they do not smell like horses, they smell like wild animals. The horses are a varied lot in color, and some are spotted horses, or paints, which is reminiscent of Faulkner's short story "Spotted Horses." But here the boys are not pulling a con to sell the ponies; they are going to make them into decent riding or work horses for the ranch.
