Moonshine

“Moonshine was a throwaway, ruined off-the-track racehorse who had been abused and then abandoned. I was a horse-crazed 13-year-old girl, and the barn was my escape from my own abusive, broken home. My trainer put me on Moony declaring, “if you can ride this horse, you can ride any horse.” He was the angriest, most vicious horse I had ever encountered, attacking passing horses and even my trainer’s dog. But no one else wanted him, so he became mine. Two years of fighting with him even made me question my own commitment to the sport of dressage. Our world changed when my trainer said, “ask him, don’t tell him.” When I finally understood that we were partners, we soared through the levels of dressage. We even qualified for the National Junior Dressage Team Championships where we won team silver. Moony retired after that show, having learned all of the Grand Prix movements. He changed my life for the better, always giving me a goal, hope, and a future. I bought a farm where he was retired until he passed away, recently, at the age of 34. His story is chronicled in “The Tale of the Dancing Slaughter Horse.” He was the horse of a lifetime.” —Victoria S.