The chapter titled "My Breaking In" is chapter 3 of Black Beauty. The chapter explores a number of themes that are developed throughout the book, and one such theme is courage.

Throughout the book, Beauty is confronted with a number of things that scare him, but he always courageously meets those challenges. While "My Breaking In" doesn't put anything life threatening before Beauty, he is experiencing things that he has never experienced before, and they are uncomfortable things. Beauty's master even says to Beauty that the point of the breaking in is to make sure that Beauty isn't frightened.

Personally, when someone tells me I am going to experience something in order to make it not scary, that makes me nervous and a bit fearful. Beauty doesn't shy away from the upcoming discomfort. He courageously learns to deal with how uncomfortable things like a bit and harness can be. Beauty describes in detail the entire process, and we realize that his master intentionally puts Beauty in situations meant to scare Beauty. For example, Beauty is put in a field near passing trains. The goal is to desensitize Beauty to the scary machinery. What's wonderful to watch is that Beauty steps into each new challenge courageously rather than with massive amounts of timid trepidation. Beauty knows that the training will be good for him, and he trusts his master, so he bravely moves through the uncomfortable training period.