“I cried the day I sold him”: João Bergson had no choice.
A family emergency forced him to sell Betano, his horse, and watch him leave for a property 20 kilometers from his home in Maranguape, Ceará. Five months passed. Bergson went on with his life, sure that this goodbye was final.
On the night of February 2, Betano broke the ropes that restrained him and walked alone, in the darkness, the full 20 kilometers back. The next day, shortly before four in the afternoon, he appeared waiting in front of the gate of the house where he had grown up. Upon noticing his escape, the new owner called Bergson to ask whether the animal had returned to him.
The reunion video went viral, and the wave of comments prompted the family to organize an online fundraiser. Thus, on February 11, Bergson was finally able to buy Betano back. Today, the horse lives on land with plenty of grass and a small pond to cool off, just a few meters from the house he never stopped considering his own.