Reading this book brought me back to the horse crazy girl I had been as a child.. This book made me laugh and cry. Horses are one of my favorite things. It was very well written and descriptive. I have always been interested in dressage and this describes it so well, I felt like I could see it.

4.5 stars! Very well written book takes us on the journey of a young girl in the equestrian world of dressage. Full of life lessons, triumph and defeat where determination and love of her horse overcomes the obstacles in her way. Thoroughly enjoyed this book from beginning to end.

This is a brilliant book. I am not a horse lover but really enjoyed the story of the young rider and her love for all horses but especially Moondance.

This book was a great read but could have been shorter as alot of the same stuff

I enjoyed this book of a rider and horse overcoming obstacles and being successful after much practice and hard work. The writing was a little uneven, but who would not cheer for moonshine, the slaughter horse.

This is a lovely book, not only for horse fanciers (and anyone who has ever been one) but as a simply told, heart-felt memoir of an extraordinary young woman and the healing power of horses. Like many other teenaged girls, I fell in love with horses, and although my own mare was nowhere near the stature of Victoria Shade's Moonshine, her tale of how dressage helped her to grow, and learn patience, diligence, and honesty, had me nodding in agreement every step of the way. The simplicity and directness of her prose transforms what could have been a melodrama into an inspiring, utterly truthful story. Well done!

An interesting story written from a young girl's viewpoint. Not quite what I expected but, as a horse lover, I enjoyed it. Thank you Net Galley for my copy. I reviewed on Goodreads.

Victoria is learning about .riding horses. When her first teacher leaves, Victoria has a new teacher named Carol. Carol assigns her a horse named Moonshine. He was rescued from going to the slaughterhouse. Moonshine has been neglected which has made him a difficult horse to work with. Victoria and Moony learn to work through the problems and develop trust between them. Victoria discovers dressage and learns she is a natural for it. She does get discouraged as Moony is not a "dressage born" horse. Moony is an ex-racehorse. However Victoria competes with Moony and discovers that he loves the attention he gets at the competitions.

The author has written an exquisite memoir. I fell into the excitement, happiness and unhappiness of Victoria . I also now understand dressage better. I didn't really know what was looked for at the Olympics. It was a mystery to me--I just like watching the horses performance. This is a heartfelt story. I recommend everyone to read this story.

It's no secret that I love horse books and read them every chance I get.

So it should also not be a surprise that I loved this book. It's such a great feel good book. Moonshine is rescued from the slaughter house and turns into this amazing dressage horse. But it was never easy to get there. Many would have given up on this horse, so it's really special to read how Victoria and Moonshine connected, started to trust and respect each other. This is a book that any horse lover will enjoy

I started reading this on a four hour flight and next thing I knew we were landing. Apparently it was a very noisy flight with several big groups shouting and running up and down the aisle - I didn't notice.

This is brilliantly written. The characters (human and equine) are fully developed, and there is just the right amount of horsey detail to give it a real context, but not so much as to overload a non-rider. I felt all the emotional highs and lows, and cried at several points.

Victoria and Moony make such a great team. The story of her rescuing him, and her skill and stubbornness in managing to ride him and rebuilding his trust in people is heartwarming. What they then went on to achieve in the tough dressage world is the icing on the cake.

I would have loved the story to continue, although the epilogue was good.