Tanabay is a proud Kazakh war hero and loyal Communist who is pressured into taking a position as a herdsman in a collective farm in the Stalinist era after WWII. The pride and joy of the collective is a beautiful stallion named Gulsary. After Gulsary wins a race, the new commissar of the collective lays claim to the beloved and headstrong horse, which leads to a battle of a wills. Tanabay and Gulsary are both punished and separated for their refusal to bend to the rules of the Stalinist era.
The story of the fate of Kunanbai, who was born in 1804 in the village of Shyngystau, Semipalatinsk region. He was a fair volost judge, whose son Abai glorified his homeland and the Kazakh people with his works for centuries.
