Rafael was a severly beaten, abused, starved horse who worked pulling an overloaded cart in Juarez, Mexico.  In late September, he arrived at the CAPE Animal Sanctuary where he will live the rest of his life in comfort and care.

While working as a "beast of burden" Rafael was harnessed to a decrepit cart piled high with scrap metal.  A good samaritan paid $200 to buy Rafael from his abuser.  Removing the harnesses from Rafael took close to an hour as it appeared that he wore them night and day.  Once they were off his body, open sores and wounds could be seen where he had been beaten and where the harnesses had dug into his flesh.