Snowboarder Rafael Pease, a University of Colorado student, was celebrating his twenty-first birthday by snowboarding with a friend in the Chilean Andes. While the birthday boy started shooting a video to commemorate the experience, Pease noticed something lodged in the snow in the distance, said Cottage Life.
Descending the mountain, Pease thought he saw a rock in the distance, but when he approached, he was horrified to see what it really was: a beautiful chestnut colored horse who had become stuck in the belly deep snow. Clearly she had been there for days and she was just exhausted and hungry; Her ribs were protruding, and the horse looked broken down.
"The horse was going to die unless someone did something," said Pease, according to Horse and Hound.
Feeding from their stash of food they had brought, the horse ate hungrily and gladly accepted the water given as well, as the young men started digging the horse out with snow shovels. Digging her all the way out of the ice, and continuing to dig her path to the grass, took four to five hours, Pease said. What an amazing pair of men to take on this unselfish daunting task and seeing it to the end.
Leading her six miles down the mountain until she could join her herd, Pease was told she was missing four days. See the amazing video from trapped and broken spirited horse to happy ending. Although it is a cold and snowy setting, the video will surely warm your heart.
"I have been through a lot in life, and through it all I have realized that it's well worth it to watch out for others - whether they are human or not. And that's what me and my riding partner did," said Pease in his blog The Inertia, according to Dodo. "Hopefully this inspires you to get out there and not only live your life to the fullest, but to help others do the same."
While his twenty-first birthday was planned as fun on the slopes, rescuing this sweet horse took all day and Pease said he wouldn't change a thing to the day's events. Happy Birthday Rafael, the world is ready for more amazing men like you.
