The book features legendary and never before-written stories like the cavalry tale of the fixing of a polo match in the erstwhile Raj era and the titular Black Horse Down, a tale about horses that unfolded in the wide, verdant bowl of the National Defence Academy at Khadakvasla, and other stories of soldiers whose existence was brushed by singular incidents of their associations with India's revered Field Marshal.

There are war tales of two of the author's Lawrence School, Sanawar, school friends, who found themselves as officers in the same battle (Give Me Your Black Scarf). There is also the searing tale of tank destruction by an ace tank gunner of the Deccan Horse, a cavalry regiment of the Army during the 1971 war with Pakistan (Till My Eyes Can See).

The tales in the collection will keep you turning the pages and engrossed till the end.