“We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.” – Immanuel Kant

Kelsey Allonge and her mother woke up early so they could start driving for a swap-meet just a couple of miles away in Illinois.

Just then, Kelsey’s mom took a different route.

The teen didn’t pay attention to the decision. After all, it was a beautiful day for a drive.

While driving, she and her mom noticed something lying on the side of the road. It was already hot that day, so they knew something was wrong.

They stopped the car to inspect.

Kelsey and her mom became worried after seeing a horse lying on the grassy part of the side of the street.

“Me and my mom were up to go to a swap-meet at 5:30 in the morning,” Kelsey told in an interview. “She just looked like a skeleton. We didn’t think she was going to make it. We just felt so bad for her, just overwhelming sadness.”

The horse was in a poor condition, as it was so thin that her ribs were already showing. One eye was shut, and what’s worst is that the horse was full of whip marks.

It looked like the poor horse had a hard start in life and by the looks of her condition; it seemed that the horse escaped her previous owners.

Since then, the horse traveled in search of a new home, food, and water.

Kelsey and her mom canceled their appointment to return home with the horse, whom they would later name Sunny.

Unfortunately, Sunny could no longer get into Kelsey’s trailer truck. She was weak, had swollen knees, suffered a damaged backbone, and was exhausted.

Sunny tried to climb, but she fell every single time.

That was when Kelsey came up with the idea of accompanying Sunny by walking.

It was the only way to save this beautiful horse, but Kelsey knew their journey would not be easy.

They needed to walk nine miles to get home.

It seemed impossible, but Kelsey knew she had to sacrifice for this horse to survive.

When asked what kept Kelsey going, even after all the tiredness she felt, she answered:

“I guess just the idea that a life’s a life and no matter how small it is, she needed saving. My pain wasn’t comparable to what she was in.”

After four long hours, they reached home. There, Kelsey and her family prepared a space in their barn for poor Sunny.

The exhausted horse went inside and slept for five days.

Sunny slept peacefully for the first time since she started her journey. She knew she was safe and loved.

Imagine the ordeal that Sunny experienced. Her whip marks were proof of all the pain and suffering she had to endure before escaping.

Even after leaving her captors, the days and nights she went on walking for a safe refuge were also tough.

If Kelsey’s mom didn’t change routes, then they wouldn’t have seen Sunny.

All throughout the five days when Sunny slept, Kelsey stayed by her side.

“If she was going to die, she wasn’t going to die alone,” Kelsey explained why she never left the horse’s side.

After a long sleep, Sunny woke up, and she was ready to face life again.

Sunny ate, drank, slept, and savored every care and love from her new family.

“She’s just like my little baby,” Kelsey smiled as she told their story.

Soon, Sunny blossomed into a beautiful, healthy, and happy horse.

“Sunny sees me as food, but she sees Kelsey as love,” Kelsey’s mom happily shared.

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Source: Travis A. Probst, Habitatforhorses