Matty and the Moonlight Horse by Jane Ayres was first published in 1998 in Finland and 2005 in USA. The revised 2012 edition sent to me for a review is dedicated to Redwings Horse Sanctuary to whom all profits are donated.
Matty Mathews is a thirteen-year-old horse lover and spends her free time with her best friends, Ronnie, Spike and Gina, at a nearby riding school. They work there doing daily chores and sometimes are allowed to ride for free. They have their favorite mounts at Miss Pugh's stable. Of course, they all long for their own pony. Matty falls in love with a gorgeous grey named Snowstorm who she rides without permission, getting her in trouble.
Then, one evening after a movie (one with a horse in it of course), Matty and her friends miss the last bus and walk home. They take a shortcut through a graveyard and that's where they find a loose horse.
The adventures continue with the girls hiding their Moonlight horse in an old haunted fort. Matty and the horse form a bond and the girl's dream of showing her horse comes true.
This delightful tale is timeless - young girls dreaming of owning their own horse - and the characters are engaging. The ending leads the reader to wanting more, and the author continues the adventures of Matty in two more books.
