If ever there was a wonder animal, it’s the horse. Without them it’s hard to imagine human civilization having made much progress.
Sadly, not everyone treats these marvelous, intelligent, and sensitive creatures with the respect and kindness that they deserve. In some corners of the world, joining a horse’s front or hind legs with chains is a lamentably common practice. The idea behind this is that it makes it harder for a horse to escape — the horse can only move slowly, not gallop. For the horses involved, being chained like this is a very unhappy experience.
Veterinarian Ovidiu Rosu was taking part in a project that aimed to protect and manage the wild horses that live in the Danube river delta. The area is in Romania, on the Black Sea coast and it’s one of the few large nature preserves in Europe. It’s also home to the continent’s only population of wild horses. Horses had been living there for hundreds of years, but their numbers went way up starting in 1990 when post-communist Romania began closing its collective farms.
When Dr. Rosu saw that one of the horses had chains around its ankles, he realized he had to get them off — they were already starting to cut through the horse’s skin. This was a wild horse, not a docile farm animal, so they had to get the horse sedated before they could free it from the chains. Seeing a horse freed from its shackles would make anyone’s day, but what’s really incredible is the way this horse says, “Thank you!” to Dr. Rosu before galloping away.
Check out the video posted below and let us know your own reaction to this simple, yet amazing, act of kindness. Let’s hear from you in the comments at Facebook and be sure to like and share!
