This is story #26 in our devotional book Joy and Strength Through Horses.
To order a copy of this book, please see the "Books and T-Shirts" page.

MoonPie

By Sharon Neely, Joyfield Farms

As the early morning sky turned to purple over the Nevada plains, a little white and brown filly with one blue eye was born. Her first breaths silhouetted against the chilly morning air as her mother proudly licked her clean. The filly’s nostrils quivered on her pink muzzle as she explored the world around her. She had no name and no people around to love her. But she was happy because she was free. She was a wild mustang.

One day the helicopter came. The little filly found herself running from something she had never seen or heard before. The sound was so loud it burned inside her ears. The other horses ran, her mother ran, and the little white and brown filly ran, trying desperately to escape the big thing flying in the air. Closer and closer it came upon them until the horses were huddled together in a place where they could not move. Captured and confused, they looked beyond the pen that enclosed them. The big black flying thing in the air flew away.

Two by two, the men ran the horses out of the pens into a shoot. A voice came over the loud speaker shouting numbers as people in the audience raised their hands. The men kept chasing the horses around the pen. And as quickly as it started, it was over. The little white and brown filly was chased again into a metal stall. Into the chilly evening air, the trailer slowly pulled away. The trip was long and exhausting. The ground shook underneath her as she tried to keep her balance. The little filly kept called to her mother. Her voice, so familiar, did not answer.

“What does the little horse look like?’ the voice on the phone asked the seller. “Well, she looks like had a bucket of white paint dumped on her. Oh, and she has one blue eye. Why don’t you come take a look at her?”

The lady drove there, looking for the horse she was hoping to purchase for her riding program. “I need something really gentle” the woman said as she walked over to the fence. “Something I can teach children to ride on.”

“Oh, she is really gentle,” the man assured her. The woman rode the horse and agreed that she was indeed a gentle horse. “The person I bought her from said that a long time ago she was a wild mustang.”

The lady looked at him in disbelief, but checked under the horse’s mane. Sure enough there was the freeze brand that her first handlers had given her for identification purposes.

“I can’t believe she was once wild! She is so gentle! And I really like her one blue eye” the lady added. “Whoever trained her must have been really patient with her. What is her name, by the way?”

“Well, I just call her ‘Bent’ because her legs are bent in the back.” The lady gave him a blank stare. “But all horses’ legs are bent in the back.” she said. “Oh, I know” the man replied. I was just never too good at namin’ horses.”

The little brown and white horse arrived at Joyfield Farm in Oak Ridge, NC on a crisp fall day in 2000. It had been a long time since she had been wild, running the plains in Nevada. A lot had changed since then. One more thing had to change, and that was her name…

“I know!” said the little girl. “Her coloring sort of reminds me of a MoonPie. You know, the big chocolate cookies with marshmallow in them? Plus, she’s really sweet too, just like a MoonPie. Let’s call her that! Let’s name her MoonPie!”

For many years now, MoonPie has faithfully taught children as part of a Christian horseback riding camp. For many children, she was the first horse they ever sat on. MoonPie is now part of the HorseFriends team, helping the disabled gain better muscle control through riding horses.

MoonPie probably would not have asked to give up her life on the Nevada plains. She was free and happy. But God had something else in mind. She was faced with a scary, uncertain future when she was rounded up and sent to an auction. She could not imagine the plans that someone had for her. Although no longer free, she has found new freedom in her new life: a life of caring hands to feed her and a life of bringing joy to others.

Sometimes our futures seem scary and uncertain. Sometimes we lose our balance when we feel the earth is shaking beneath us. But when we take a step from the shaky ground into His caring hands, we realize our new found freedom in Him. We realize His plan is better than what we could have ever imagined.

“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. Plans for good and not for evil. Plans to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11