Rafael Pease and his friend had planned to spend the day snowboarding in the Chilean Andes for Pease’s 21st birthday when they came across the unexpected on the mountain. What they thought was a large rock in the distance wound up being much more.
When the pair of snowboarders barreled through the fresh powder towards the ‘rock,’ they realized the large figure was actually a horse that had given up on life. The horse was up to his stomach in snow and didn’t appear to be struggling to get out in any way. To the men, this meant that the freezing horse had already struggled long before they discovered her and seemed to know she would never get out on her own. Not only was she stuck in the spot they found her but she was also completely stranded.
The two knew they couldn’t just leave the helpless horse there and instead sprang into action. They used snow shovels to push the snow away and free her. She seemed weak, so Pease and his friend fed her and led her down the mountain, where she was reunited with her owner at the bottom.
The owner informed the snowboarders that the horse had been missing on the mountain for four days.
Whether she froze or starved, it looks like the horse wouldn’t have lasted much longer if the men hadn’t stopped to aid her. Despite coming to the mountain to celebrate his birthday by snowboarding, Pease said he doesn’t regret how the day turned out at all. In a blog post Pease published on Inertia, he said,
“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. Hopefully this inspires you to get out there and not only live your life to the fullest, but to help others do the same.”
Pease and his friend’s beautiful gesture to save one life is moving to say the least. Watch a video of the rescue below.
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