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.

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.