These two symbols are juxtaposed in the book, representing two competing forces in Tex’s life: the horse represents tradition and the natural world to which Tex is attached, while the motorcycle symbolizes a creeping modernity that competes with small town life. Tex is introduced while riding his beloved horse, Negrito, out on an early morning ride before school. He speaks with the horse as if he is a friend—which, naturally, he is—and asks him if he wants to jump rather than telling him to do so, then complimenting him: “You’re a great jumper. A really great jumper [...] Next year we make the Olympics” (2). Then, he is concerned that he may have insulted the horse, so he soothes him—and, in doing so, anthropomorphizes the horse. Later, in the same scene, Tex mentions that “[f]all always made [Negrito] feel good” (2-3) and that he feels guilty for not riding him more often. Tex mentions why: “I’d been spending a lot of time dirt-biking with [Johnny]” (2-3). Using both symbols in the same paragraph is striking: the pull of the motorcycle takes Tex away from the horse he adores—and which he will soon lose.

After his horse his gone, and he has a spat with Johnny, Tex tries to make it up by joining the kids with dirt bikes out at the gravel pit.