“Eventually you will come to understand that love heals everything, and love is all there is,” Gary Zukav beautifully said. There are plenty of stories of when true love really has done wonders and rescue horse Rudnik’s story is not an exception.
This once abandoned, deeply hurt and scared horse finally got to know what true happiness is, thanks to the big heart of Alesia Carrie and the special bond with her fiancé, Brander Pacheco.
More info: Rudnik the Roan
Once Alesia Carrie introduced her fiancé, Brander Pacheco, to rescue horse Rudnik, it was immediately love at first sight
In the summer of 2020, Alesia Carrie introduced her fiancé, Brander Pacheco, to Rudnik, a rescue horse she saved from death. This American quarter horse who usually didn’t let anyone close to him somehow felt calm and secure in Pacheco’s company. It was a truly very special connection at first sight.
“It was actually quite fascinating,” Alesia shared. “I just stood there feeling a little bit jealous, but Brander thought it was the coolest thing ever.”
After the remarkable meeting, the man developed a whole new interest in horses. Now he’s enjoying every day hanging out with Rudnik. The pair love playing with each other by butting heads or chasing each other around like would-be “long-lost brothers from another life”.
“I think it’s just something so funny to watch them together because it just seems to come so naturally for them,” Alesia said. “It’s crazy to see how quickly they connected, and even now, just how their bond continues to grow.”
The couple not only rescued the horse but shared with him what he needed the most – gentle care and unconditional love
Rudnik came to Alesia’s life absolutely unplanned when he was just 11 months old. The woman found him at a horse rescue in Salmon Arm, British Columbia, in 2019.”I had just gone to help a couple of friends find a new horse for themselves,” she recalled the memories.
Alesia didn’t plan to adopt any horse for herself, yet everything changed when she saw Rudnik, even though he wasn’t in a good condition at the time: he was missing patches of hair and had burrs on his tail and mane.
“I saw he was just this mangy little colt off in the distance. He wouldn’t really let anyone get near him,” the woman remembered. “There was … a softness in his eyes that really drew me in.”
Before the rescue took him in, the horse was dropped off at an Alberta livestock auction where no one really wanted to take him as a pet. “He was quite frightened and scared at the time, which came across as him looking very wild to everybody there,” explained Alesia.
Rudnik was destined for slaughter, since only a butcher was interested in him, but fortunately, someone from a rescue organization stepped in and bought the horse for just a few hundred dollars.
Soon after, Alesia filled out the application to adopt the horse and within 24 hours, Rudnik was hers. She was overwhelmed with happiness, yet understood that getting Rudnik to trust her or anyone else would be a truly challenging task.
“I couldn’t get anywhere near him. I couldn’t touch him or put a halter on him. Even if I had treats in my hand, he didn’t care,” she said. “If you touched his back [legs], he would sit on the ground like a dog, and then if you touched his front [legs], he would just drop himself right down to the ground and cover his legs. So I don’t know if there was some trauma built around his legs being touched or what happened.”
It took lots of patience and time, but Rudnik finally started to show some signs of trust to Alesia. “He started to learn that I wasn’t going to hurt him and slowly the first pet led to our first walk and then our first lunging,” the woman said. And since connecting with her fiancé, the horse is finally living his happiest days.
After creating such a special bond, Brander Pacheco has developed a whole new interest in horses
Vaiva Vaidžiulienė from Lithuania may know better than anyone else how special the connection can be with horses – she’s surrounded by them since childhood.
“My fascination with these majestic animals started as early as I can remember myself,” Vaiva shared in an interview with Bored Panda. “I own a small jewellery brand called TVISKI but I’m completely captivated by horses, therefore I often incorporate them in my photoshoots. This is way more than just a passion, it’s a lifestyle written deep within my DNA and, as I like to say, it’s the best kind of addiction you can be born with,” she explained.
Asked about what makes the connection with horses so special, the woman named their powerful energy, beauty and kindness. “They are my soul animals. There’s no other feeling that could be compared to galloping near the ocean or through a forest. When I lift my hands into the air while riding for a moment it feels like I’m flying – the horse becomes my wings,” Vaiva said.
She also mentioned that the most special bond she ever had was with her first mare named Lion. Vaiva met her during second grade. “At first, she was really wild, so untamed that it was almost impossible to touch her head. Therefore, for a couple of months, I could only observe her from a distance,” she recalled the memories. “My parents rescued Lion from slaughter, and once she began to trust people, she transformed into the most beautiful, fearless and trustworthy horse I’ve ever known.”
Image credits: Vaiva Vaidžiulienė
Image credits: Vaiva Vaidžiulienė
Image credits: Vaiva Vaidžiulienė
Horses are considered to be some of the most intelligent animals on earth and their sensitivity makes them truly special companions for humans, only in this case, Pacheco was the one who was so special to Rudnik.
There’s a saying that “time heals some wounds, but love heals them all”, and Rudnik was lucky enough to get them both.
People on the internet were touched by Rudnik’s story and the special bond he created with Alesia’s fiancé
