Thrilled by a performance she sees at a fair, Sonora (Gabrielle Anwar) tries to land a spot as a daredevil who rides horses off of high dives. With the help of Al Carver (Michael Schoeffling), whose father runs the show, Sonora works toward her goal. An injury to star rider Marie (Kathleen York) paves her way, and Sonora finds herself on the diving platform. Her life looks complete now that she and Al are in love, but Sonora is about to be thrust into the most trying time of her life.
Written by
Kacey M.
Plot Synopsis:
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Sonora Webster lives with her sister and abusive aunt during the Great Depression. She learns that because of her accidentally letting the cows loose and her suspension from school, her treasured horse Lightning has been sold and she will be placed in an orphanage. Instead, Sonora slips out of the house during the night. She ends up at a county fair and sees a performance by Marie, a diving girl who rides a horse off a platform, and aspires to do the same. Doc Carver, Marie's employer, tells her she is too young but gives Sonora a job as a stable hand due to her ability with horses, and she begins traveling with them. Doc's son Al wins a wild horse in a card game and Sonora names him Lightning. She later surprises Doc by taming and riding Lightning, so he promises to train her as a diving girl if she can mount it while it's moving, which she succeeds after multiple attempts.

Marie falls and dislocates her shoulder, leaving her unable to perform, and Sonora steps in. Although she has never dived with Lightning, their first jump is successful. Marie becomes jealous, and as Doc tires of her diva-like behavior, she quits rather than share billing with Sonora. Al develops a romance with Sonora that strains his relationship with his father, leaving after a particularly bad fight. Al promises to write to Sonora, but Doc hides his letters. As Doc and the new stable hand Clifford leave the farm in search of work, Lightning falls ill with colic. Al returns, and he and Sonora work together to heal Lightning. Doc fails to find any jobs, but Al announces he has arranged a six-month contract to perform at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey, reconciling father and son. Doc passes away en route from a heart attack, and Al assumes his father's role as show presenter. Sonora searches for Doc's jacket to give Al confidence on his first show, and finds one of Al's letters inside, confessing his love for her, letting him know she feels the same.

Al proposes to Sonora just before a performance in front of their biggest crowd, which she accepts. The horse is a jittery stallion instead of her usual partner Lightning, who falters and trips due to a cymbal crash below. Sonora keeps her eyes open as they fall into the water. Both of them make it, but her vision is impaired, yet she hides this from Al. Sonora wakes the morning after to discover she is permanently blind from detached retinas in both eyes. To avoid a breach of contract lawsuit, Al must find another diving girl within a week, calling Marie, who returns. Meanwhile, Sonora misses diving terribly. She tells Al of her desire to dive with Lightning again, and they work together to try to train her to mount him again, but it proves fruitless and Al gives up. Sonora spends some quiet time with Lightning that night.

The next day, with Clifford's help, Marie is locked in her dressing room, and Sonora performs in her place with Lightning. Al shouts at her to come back down, but she continues and the jump is successful. Her voiceover tells us that she continued diving for eleven more years with the audience never learning of her blindness, and of her happy marriage to Al.

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