Video: From Warzone to Jockey School

Horses have an incredible power to heal humans even with the most broken of hearts.

Imagine losing your parents, your sisters, your livestock and your entire village, everything you called home suddenly destroyed and gone in an instant. This is the story of Abdul, a young man who has overcome some of the biggest tragedies and obstacles a young life can face after war reached his village in Darfur, Sudan when he was a boy. For Abdul, horses were and still are his greatest friends — and may be the means of him reuniting with his long-lost brother, still lost in Africa.

Watch Abdul’s story, courtesy of the BBC — you may want to grab a tissue or two.

Abdul’s story is a testament to the power of horses — not only to heal broken hearts, but help us find our courage, our strength and our individuality when all else seems to have failed.

Go hug your horses. Go riding!