Vickie Koob, a social worker who is hunting for Buddy says, "I want to find that boy and salvage him." (383).  Koob even called out to Albertine, Buddy's mother, "It's better this way, Albertine. We're going to help you." (387). However, the social worker's understanding of the term "help" is far different than the American Horse's understanding. From the government's position, the reader can recognize Vickie's motive for wanting to "salvage" Buddy. Reading the paragraph dedicated to the descriptions of the American Horse home, it is not the typical best environment for a growing boy.  Inside the shack of a home was a rusty old and basically empty refrigerator, a washstand, and Albertine's mother's home- made quilts of old wool pants and coats.  Koob, describing the American Horse home said it had all the “benchmarks of alcoholic dependency within the extended family.” (384).  

America has been held responsible for creating rampant alcoholism within the Native American culture resulting in poverty and deprivations.  “Indebted” to American for their “freedom", the Indians already paid a high price but now America wants to buy back the children of this culture and this redemption will also come at cost.   

“Lay low. They’re outside and they’re gonna hunt.” (379).  With these words, the reader recognizes that Buddy and Albertine are prey and the government is the hunter.   The mission was to capture the boy and tame him, thus the author ties in the title of her story with the goal of the government.   The wild horses which ran free on the prairie were captured, reined in, and tamed by men who wanted to throw saddles on them.   Buddy was an American Horse, young enough to be freed from his herd and retrained in a better environment. 

Through third person omniscient point of view, used in "American Horse," a writer has the ability to bring to life an entire world of characters. The particular point of view allows the reader to understand the motives behind Vickie Koob but still sympathize or root for Albertine and Buddy American Horse. 

The closing paragraph begins with, "There was no blood on Albertine, but Buddy tasted blood now at the sight of her." (388).  “He ate the chocolate, every bit of it, tasting his mother’s blood.” (388).   Chocolate is a luxury treat and, as a follow-up sweet, can usually erase the bitterness of something previously tasted however, that was not Buddy’s experience.  For Buddy, the sweet taste of chocolate would forever be linked to being ripped from his mother, his eccentric Uncle Lawrence, and home.