Large lesions produced by stroke to the forelimb region of motor cortex of the rat feature post-stroke improvement that in the main is due to compensation. The present study describes both recovery and compensation of forelimb use in a reach-to-eat (skilled reaching) task following small photothrombotic stroke. The rats were pretrained before stroke, and then assessed using endpoint measures and biometric movement analysis during rehabilitation in the acute and chronic post-stroke periods. Histological and MRI analysis indicated that the stroke consisted of a small lesion surrounded by cortex featuring scattered cell loss, likely of the large pyramidal cells that characterize the forelimb region of motor cortex. The stroke reduced reaching success, especially on the most demanding measure of success on first reach attempts, in the acute period, but with rehabilitation, performance returned to pre-stroke levels. Reach movements as assessed by biometric measures were severely impaired acutely but displayed significant recovery chronically although this recovery was not complete. The results suggest that not only do rats show post-stroke compensation in skilled reaching but they can also display functional recovery. It is suggested that recovery is mediated by the spared neurons in the peri-infarct region of forelimb motor cortex. The results demonstrate the utility of a small lesion model for studying post-stroke neural and behavioral change and support the view that optimal post-stroke treatment should be directed toward limiting tissue loss.