the west

The 2006 film Flicka is one of many interpretations of Mary O’Hara’s 1941 novel My Friend Flicka, telling the story of a girl named Katy who finds a wild mustang and trains her in the dark of night against her father’s wishes. When her father finds out, he is furious and sells the horse to a local rodeo. The story that follows is one of connectivity and identity; one of power and freedom. 

But in the novel and early television and film versions of Flicka, the protagonist was a boy.

How does the message change when we swap the gender of Flicka's protagonist? Does the modern version provide space for a more meaningful narrative?