[1] It was started in 1863 and left unfinished until 1886, when it was reworked and published as "Kholstomer: The Story of a Horse".
This story prominently features the technique of defamiliarization by adopting the perspective of a horse to expose some of the irrationalities of human conventions.
[2] Strider's altruistic life is recounted parallel to that of his selfish and useless owner.
At the end of the story Strider dies but his corpse gives birth to a new life - that of wolf cubs: At dawn, in a ravine of the old forest, down in an overgrown glade, big-headed wolf cubs were howling joyfully.
A lean old wolf who was shedding her coat, dragging her full belly with its hanging dugs along the ground, came out of the bushes and sat down in front of the cubs.