Two tourists were left stunned when their rental car was suddenly surrounded by a growing herd of wild horses on a remote Japanese island.
Laura Hammoudi, 28, was traveling with a friend on Nakanoshima Island in the Shimane Prefecture when the encounter took place, on May 8.
Laura, who is originally from France but based in Japan, had never visited this part of the country, so she and a friend rented a car with the intention of visiting shrines and sightseeing points.
When collecting the vehicle, Laura and her friend were told about the wild horses who inhabit the island, so the pair decided to take a detour to photograph them.
What started out as a brief wildlife sighting soon turned into a chaotic experience, as the smaller of the horses started to approach the car and chew on it.
Laura, who captured the moment on video, then suggested heading to a different part of the island, but there, too, more and more wild horses kept approaching the vehicle.
The two friends quickly found themselves surrounded by an entire herd of horses refusing to let them pass.
Not wanting to damage the car or harm the horses, they slowly backed out and away in the direction they arrived.
And having safely made it away with a collection of unforgettable footage, Laura later shared a clip of the moment on social media, where it soon went viral.
Laura said: “When we saw the horses we were so excited and couldn’t believe it – especially when we saw the little ones!
“We jumped out of the car to take pictures of them, and once we got back in, the little horse started to chew on the car and we freaked out because we didn’t want the car to get scratches or any damage.
“We left to another side of the island, where other horses were at.
“But when we turned around, we saw more horses coming from where we arrived and we were a little scared that we wouldn’t be able to leave or that one of them would get hurt with the car.
“I didn’t expect it to blow up honestly.
“It was just such a unique experience that I wanted to share it with my friends and family.
“It was so much fun and adrenaline, I tried my best editing the video to transmit those emotions to them, so they get to experience what we went through.”
