Gib and the Gray Ghost

Gib and the Gray Ghost by Snyder, Zilpha Keatley. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780385326094.

Gib Whittaker is leaving the Lovell House Orphanage and going back to live with the Thornton family, who take him in again after Mr. Thorntons death. Gib is now sent to school, but hes still doing all the barnyard chores. Hes not exactly farmed-out labor anymore, but will he be adopted for real this time? One day a horse appears, a terrified dapple-gray that has been severely whipped and starved. Gib knows he must find some way to save this magnificent horse--and in the attempt, he finds one place where he will always belong.