Florian, a foal in the Lippizan breeding stable of the Emperor Franz Josef of Austria, is the pride of the stable groom, Anton Ervan. Anton asks his childhood friend, the Duchess Diana, to bring the colt to the emperor's attention, and together, the two friends begin to train the prize colt. As Florian emerges as a champion of the royal stables, love blooms between Diana and Anton. Their different classes prevent them from their expressing their feelings, however, and the emperor has other plans for Diana and arranges a marriage between her and the profligate Archduke Oliver. The advent of World War I disrupts the wedding plans, and Oliver is killed on the battlefield while Florian and Anton join the fight for their country. The Austrian Empire topples when the end of the war is followed by revolution, and Anton smuggles Diana across the Swiss border to safety. Upon his return to Austria, Anton is imprisoned, and Florian is sold at auction to Marco Borelli, an American carnival barker who ships the horse to New York. Diana, meanwhile, is told that Anton is dead. Finally freed by the revolutionaries, Anton and his friend, the veterinarian Hofer, set off to America with Hofer's savings to find Florian and build a new life. Meanwhile, Florian is brutally mistreated by Borelli and becomes unmanagable, and Borelli sells him to a junk dealer. After arriving in New York, Anton takes a job teaching riding at an academy and continues his search for Florian. On the night that the horse is to be shipped overseas, Anton finally tracks him down at the freight yard and then guides the horse back to his former greatness. Soon after, Diana, now living in New York, sees a notice of Florian's performance, and rushes to the academy, where the three are joyfully reunited.