Moonshine at Indian Rock

This is Moonshine, a lovely mustang.

These less-than-awesome photos show her in the new barn at Indian Rock nature preserve. They don't do her justice, of course. She's very pretty, and she's kinda nice. I met her today. She let me say hello and only sort of tried to eat my notebook.

She's the new horse at the preserve and is proudly owned by Lola Boss, the daughter of director Jon Guglietta. He bought the horse for her as a birthday present (wow, thanks, Dad!) and they're using at the Environmental Learning Centers to teach kids about farm animals and driving a horse pulling a wagon.

Lola, who has been helping run the Environmental Learning Centers for quite some time now, is Moonshine's primary trainer.

Moonshine, who is four and arrived in town last fall, isn't any ordinary horse.

First of all, she's a mustang, which isn't that common in Connecticut.

She hails from Nevada and is one of those round-up horses that the government collects and sells at auction. A brand on her neck shows that. A UConn student bought her in 2007 and started the training process and now she's got a happy home in Bristol.

She's living off the largess of the community -- in a barn built with materials donated by the Roberts Foundation, built by Team ESPN. She wears tack provided by a fund at the Main Street Community Foundation.

In return, she's a good natured, smart horse who will no doubt offer a lot of children a rare chance to get to know her and learn about horses.

By the way, she's barefoot, since mustangs have strong legs and hooves and have no need of horseshoes.

I wrote about Moonshine and her escapades for Friday's edition of The Bristol Press, so hopefully you can see the story at www.bristolpress.com.