Fat Kid Running With Ice Cream

“The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart.”

Concrete Cowboys is a Philadelphia program that teaches inner-city kids responsibility and maturity by caring for and riding horses. 

“Being around horses takes the trouble off my shoulders. Like, when I’m having trouble at the house, this is where I come to think about things.”

“Sitting up top of there, taking your mind off things, it’s like meditation.”

“What I like is the rush. I feel like a different person when I ride.”

The kids can also offer $5 rides in a nearby park, pocket half the proceeds, and use the other half to buy the horses’ hay.

“I just think horses are beautiful animals. But it’s not going to take care of itself.”

“So if you wanna get it, you gotta be man enough to take care of it.”

“I grew up in a bad place and I’ve done some bad things in the past. I took some time off to think about everything, like, I’ll be 18 in two years, I got college right around the corner.”

“I gotta sit down, do what I need, and achieve what I always wanted to. I guess the horses just kept me on the right track.”

All quotes and photos via: Charles Mostoller/storehouse.co

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Alex (1976 – September 6, 2007) had a vocabulary of over 100 words, but was exceptional in that he appeared to have understanding of what he said. For example, when Alex was shown an object and was asked about its shape, color, or material, he could label it correctly. He could understand that a key was a key no matter what its size or color, and could figure out how the key was different from others. One day, he asked what color he was, and learned “grey” after being told the answer six times. This made him the first non-human animal to have ever asked an existential question. [x]

Alex’s last words were also “You be good, see you tomorrow. I love you.” [x] 

These were the same words that Alex would say every day when his owner left the lab.

a parrot actually said these words, and meant it, before he died.