Season 3 episode 4 -- The Race

Day 4

This is the one where Laura and Nellie race in the 3rd annual Hero Township horse Race.

This episode begins with Laura's horse Bunny throwing a shoe while she is exercising him for the Big Race in two weeks. When she goes to get him re-shod she finds out that - even at Mr. Dorlfer's lowest price - it would cost an amount of money that she could not possibly afford, because her family can't even afford to get their own children's shoes. The next day, however, Laura asks Mr. Dorfler if she can work for him to pay it off. While she is working, Nellie and Willie come in chanting 'Laura smells like a dirty horse' but she deals with that by covering them both in poopy straw. After a breakdown at her dinner table, Nellie says that she wants a new horse. So her disgustingly doting mother goes to Minneapolis to buy her a thoroughbred horse. After a very inexperienced test ride, she picks a very pretty bay horse, named Sparks. There is a lot of drama about how Nellie will lose because of her extra weight, so Willie is going to race, but Willie eats 6 candied apples so Nellie has to race, but Bunny just ran a long ways very fast, so Nellie will win, but Bunny is a natural-born competitor, so Laura will win.... In the end, Bunny wins the race, but Laura gives Mrs. Olsen the cup back, so Nels makes Mrs. Olsen give them new shoes.

LHOP Trope Tracker

Doc Baker looks grim: NO
Pa broke a bone: NO
Somebody cries: YES ( Laura, Mrs. Olsen, Nellie)
Pa cries:YES (When Laura wins the race
 Crop failure: NO
 Runaway Wagon: NO
"Oh, Pa!": YES (Bunny can't possibly race!)
Pa punches someone; someone punches Pa: NO (Laura came very close to punching Nellie)
Reality Check: Only about one in a million horses could possibly run about five miles going maximum speed and then sprint two miles and win a race without ever getting passed by a well-exercised Thoroughbred, even if his load is 5 lbs lighter.
Mr. Olsen bullies Mrs. Olsen into behaving like a human being: YES
Unexplained absence of a main character: NO   

Quote Of The Episode:
OK, Willie and Nellie have just walked into the barn chanting 'Laura Smells Like A Dirty Horse'. Laura pitches hay onto them. Laura:
 "Don't We All?"

My Personal Thoughts About this Episode:
Um... I like this episode because it has horses in it... and also, Mrs. Olsen gets bullied out of being a bully, but it is a little tiny bit crazy... There is a recurring thing on this show where once there is a streak of things being nice, they are all the way nice. Like in the race, Bunny never gets passed, even though he just ran a five-mile stretch at top speed about half an hour ago (That sort of thing would be good in real life, but it never hardly ever happens).