The tale is a version of the Golden-Maned Steed fairy-tale motif, about a horse with wondrous abilities.

[4] The plot of this story uses a combination of several motifs used in a number of folktales, such as Tsarevitch Ivan, the Fire Bird and the Gray Wolf (a tale classified in the Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as type ATU 550, "Bird, Horse and Princess")[5][6] and some others.

The older brothers got lazy, but Ivan catches the culprit: a white mare with the golden mane.

She promises to bring three foals for Ivan, two for sale and a small one, but with magic powers, to keep.

During his adventures, Ivan captures the firebird for the tsar, keeps his magic horse, and finds his love, Tsar-Maiden, and they live happily ever after together.