 Although he really wants one, Eddie is OK when Tom won t buy him a horse. However when Tom refuses to let Eddie have a horse purchased by Norman, Eddie is mad. Norman and Tina figured they would do this good Samaritan gesture since Tom said that he wouldn t buy one due to cost, whereas Norman, a bachelor, can since he has no one to spend his money on. However, the expense is only one and least important in a long line of reasons why Tom won t buy Eddie a horse, the biggest reason being that Eddie is not yet old enough for the responsibility. Eddie is so mad, that he doesn t want to do anything with Tom anymore, and he also doesn t want Tom to use their favorite pet name for each other, "Sport", anymore. Tom allows Eddie to vent his anger since he wants to let Eddie know that first it s all right to express anger, and second that Eddie need not spend every waking moment of life with Tom. After Norman replaces Tom on an outing with Eddie, Eddie comes to a better understanding of his feelings of brief anger and of overwhelming love for his father, and that they need not be mutually exclusive feelings.