Hidalgo

Hidalgo is a 2004 film based on the life and tales of former horse rider Frank Hopkins and his endurance horse Hidalgo, a mustang. The movie was written by John Fusco and directed by Joe Johnston. It stars Viggo Mortensen, Zuleikha Robinson and Omar Sharif.

Plot
Held annually for centuries, the Ocean of Fire-a 3000-mile survival race across the Arabian desert--was a challenge restricted to the finest Arabian horses ever bred of the purest and noblest lines and owned by the greatest royal families. In 1890, a wealthy sheikh invited an American, Frank T. Hopkins, and his mustang horse to enter the race for the first time. During the course of his career, Hopkins had been a cowboy and dispatch rider for the United States of America (U.S.) government. In this capacity he had carried a message to the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment, authorizing what became the Wounded Knee Massacre. Currently working as a stunt rider in Buffalo Bill's Wild West shows, Hopkins is advertised as the greatest rider the West had ever known. The Sheikh puts this claim to the test, pitting the American cowboy and his mustang against the world's greatest Arabian horses and Bedouin riders, some of whom are determined to prevent a foreigner - and especially an "impure" horse - from finishing the race. For Frank, the Ocean of Fire becomes not only a matter of pride and honor, but a race for his very survival as he and his horse attempt the supposedly impossible desert crossing.

Throughout the story, there are many who attempt to kill Hopkins and Hidalgo; some of these are working for the Sheikh's treacherous nephew, who wishes against his uncle's decree to marry his cousin, the sheikh's daughter Jazirah. A spirited girl and a horse-rider in her own right, who had been somewhat indulged by her father because he has no sons, she is rescued from raids by Frank and Hidalgo, whom she grows to trust. Eventually, Hopkins wins the race and travels home to America, later to buy many mustangs who had been sentenced to death by the Government. These he releases into the wild, allowing Hidalgo to go with them.

A recurring theme in the film is the fact that Hopkins' father was White American and his mother a member of the Native American Lakota tribe. The tribespeople refer to him as "Blue Child" or "Far Rider". As a half-breed, he feels sympathy and pity for his mother's people, who are being driven to extinction by the settlers. However, he does not generally reveal his heritage, especially after the Wounded Knee massacre for which he feels partly responsible. Jazirah, who has become his friend, compares her desire not to wear a veil with Hopkins' heritage; that he mustn't "go through life hiding what God made you... like me." In the end, he casts in his lot with the tribal ways and rides bareback for the final length of the race.