I just saw this movie at the Museum of Modern Art in the context of a series of films on childhood, presented under the title "Winner's Circle." Truffaut said that he was influenced by the film and it is easy to see the connection. It is a sensitive portrait of a Parisian 14 year-old shipped off by his father to a horse farm in Provence to be trained as a jockey. There he undergoes various forms of ill-treatment from the other would-be jockeys and those charged with his training. The movie also explores the themes of childhood friendship, misplaced adoration and sexual longing. Though filmed in a neo-realist manner, certain scenes of hazing seem to have been cut or intentionally omitted and the issue of homosexual child abuse is not treated squarely--but the film should definitely be seen nonetheless by those who enjoy the genre or the period. The title comes from the French expression "faire ses premieres armes" which means to experience combat for the first time or undergo a baptism of fire.
