Nell McLaughlin

Nell McLaughlin is Rob's wife and mother of Ken, Katy and Howard. She is portrayed by the late Rita Johnson and Geraldine Wall in the original films and Maria Bello in the 2006 remake.

History
Katherine "Katy" McLaughlin (Alison Lohman) has big dreams of administering her father's Wyoming horse ranch one day, but her father, Rob (Tim McGraw), has other plans. He is currently grooming her older brother, Howard (Ryan Kwanten), to take over the ranch and sends Katy away to an exclusive private school where she constantly feels like a misfit. Being a similar, independent spirit to Katy, Rob has a hard time understanding his daughter as she continually defies his authority to follow her own path. When she comes home for the summer, Katy is picked up from the bus stop by her father. Nell is 1st seen finishing a cake she made for Katy, she asks her other chiled Howard's opinion on the plastic horses she puts on the cake and he says "mom" and then she tells him to be cool be cool. when Rob arrives home with Katy Nell and her son run outside to reunight with her daugther.

Norbert is at the farm the next day and Rob trys to sell him some horses, Norbert says no cuse he douse not need any mor horses unless they happen to have mustangs and then comments "more loco the better" Rob then protests and after a few words Rod starts to get a bit worked up but Nell gets him to calm down. Afterwords the head master at the boarding school sends a letter to Nell and she gives the letter to Rob he asks whar Katy is and is told that she took one of their horses out for a ride. While they are having brakfest Katy comes in and trys to tell them about what happend. Rob then brings up the fact that she did not finish her paper, Katy is met with her father's disapproval because she did not finish a writing assignment at school. He then rants about how the family has to go without many thing so that she can attand her boarding shcool and says he gos along because Nell wants her to go to collage, but Nell tells Katy that Rob wants it to and he says know they have to worrie if she will even graduate.

Earlyr that day Nell is cutting Katy's hair. Katy just wants a trim but Nell ask to cut just a few inches for the summer but Katy refuses. Nell tells Katy to calme down and that she gets better reasond argumants from the chickens. Katy says she dous not want short hair because it makes her look like a boy but Nell says that's impossibal cause she is so beutifale. She then calls Katy a Flicka, Katy did not understand what a flicka was and her mother told her it ment pretty girle. Nell then asks Katy how her friend Staphine was, Katy responds by saying shallow and vain the usual. Then Nell tell Katy that people can surprise her, she then jokingly dumps the container of water on her daugther and Katy then starts to playfuly chase her mother around the field they were in.

Later on, Flicka is captured during a roundup. Nell hears that Rob is not thair, She is asked if it was something Katy did and Howard says yes, she then asks how bad abd to give her a catagory and Howard responds by saying he dous not think Rob made a catagory for this one. After Flicka is put in her pen Nell says thet she is somethin and that the mustang looks about 2 years old. Rob still does not want a wild horse running amongst the saddle horses and tells Katy not to go near Flicka and that nobody go nears the mustang without his permission. While they are sitting down to dinner Rob asks Nell how much the vet bill costs while everyone trys to avoid telling him, Nell ends up haveing to tell him and he becomes fustrated and rants about how when his father owned the ranch the horses were fine and took care of them selfs, Katy then shouts to him to not call Norbert to take Flicka away.

Nell then gos into Katy's room to talk. Katy says that she dous not care what her father says cause Flicka is her horse, Nell asks Katy to let her talk to him but Katy says he dous not listein when he is this mad, Nell then tells her dautgher that anger is just fear on the way out but Katy says he is not scard of anything and Nell tells her how when she was a 3 she wonderd outside the house and that she was found by Rob in lighting's stall, she says that horse could have killed her and she was laghing when Rob found her, she then tells Katy that you gotto understand what it feels like to be responsibal for something you love so much. Nell tells Rob to give her the horse and after Rob says no she says that Katy haveing her own horse would make her responsibal and she would feel proud of herself, Rob calls it pcyco babble and says it's about dicipline not pchycologe and that he won't reward bad behavor wich Nell says sounds like pyhcologe to her, Rob refuses to let Katy have Flicka.

Katy defies Rob and starts training the mare at night. One night after falling off of the mustange the entire family finds out and rushis over to make sure she is ok, Rob says that Katy could not have planned a better way to get herself killed, Nell trys to keep him from getting mad but he tells her that she's not protacting her shes crippling her and then Rob and Katy argue about Katy and Flicka's relationship. Nell trys to tell Rob that their's gotta be another way but Rob says their is not.

The next day Rob sells Flicka to Norbert who owns the rodeo, leaving Katy devastated. Nell tells Rob to unload Flicka before he looks like a damn fool, he than asks what is wrong with her and she says that he made the decision without her was because he know it's wrong but he says he is done dicussing it. Seeing his sister heartbroken over losing her beloved horse, Howard finally stands up to his father and says that Katy found Flicka so she should decide what happens to the horse. Rob says he will make the decissions around hear untill he is running the ranch then Howard finaly tells his dad that he does not want the ranch. Nell asks Howard why he did not tell them this before and he says because its what they wanted him to do, he then says to them that Katy wants the ranch and that he dous not want any part of it. The family becomes even more divided when Rob refuses to take Flicka back. Howard and Nell refuse to help Rob with the ranch, which he is now considering selling since Howard does not want it.

While he is working Nell rides by and tells him to  get on a horse and come for a ride with her so they can have a talk about their kids. Nell tells Rob that Howard dous not need saveing and that he will be fine whar ever he goes but they could loss Katy cuse she is smart and strong but can't survive out their. Rob then says that their dautgher livs in a dream world and Nell says so douse he and asks him when he is going to look at Katy and relize that she is him and that is why she loves her so much. She tells him that Katy wants to go to the rodeo and they both knows that she wants to see Flicka and he decids to say yes. Rob and Nell then race back to the ranch on their horses.

At the rodeo Nell is danceing to a country rock song and Rob is watching her. When the song changes they start to slow dance togather. At the wild horse race Howard and Katy (disguised as a cowboy) enter the competition that Flicka is being used in, hoping to get the horse back. Rob and Nell, however, catches onto their daughter's plan and tries to intervene. Katy freezes at the sight of her father, but Howard boosts his sister onto the mare's back and lets the two escape. Back at the rodeo, the family reconciles and begins searching for Katy as a fierce thunderstorm moves in. After hours of searching, Rob finds the two and brings a delirious Katy back to the house. As her fever spikes dangerously high, Katy calls for Flicka as Nell tends to her. Rob thinks Flicka is mortally wounded and believes she should be put down, thouge Jack and Gus disagree. Overhearing the argument, a dazed Katy stumbles into the room and gives her father permission to "shoot us." Nell then comes down to bring Katy back to her room

Heartbroken by her words, Rob goes outside and begins to cry as he finally understands his daughter's feelings and her pain. Later, a gunshot is heard and Katy bursts into tears, thinking Flicka is dead Nell comes to her daughter side to comfort her. The next morning, Nell finds Rob walking back to the house, supporting the injured Flicka. She runs outside to help and finds out that the gunshot was him shooting at the mountain lion. Rob are stunned that the mare is still alive and Nell says that the reason Flicka is alive is because she has mustang blood and that she is a fitgher just like their daughter and they decide not to put her down. Katy's fever breaks and over the next couple of days, she begins to recover. When Katy wakes from the fever, she and Rob reconcile and he takes her to see Flicka, whom Katy is shocked to see is alive Rob tells Katy that Nell has been talking good care of Flicka but when she gets better he expacts her to take care of Flicka herself. Rob also apologizes to Howard and gives his son his blessing. Thrilled, Howard begins preparing for college. As a family, they decide to not sell the ranch, making it both a working ranch and a refuge for wild mustangs.