A teen spoke out after a viral video shows him riding a horse and carriage through a McDonald’s in Hialeah. NBC 6’s Jamie Guirola reports
Define drive-thru.
When 17-year-old Anthony Barril rode a small horse-drawn cart through a Hialeah McDonald's drive-thru, he had no idea a video of his quick trip to get food would take the internet by storm.
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Barril was seen in the now-viral video, which was recorded by another drive-thru customer, trotting out of the McDonald's parking lot as a fast food worker watched in disbelief.
Barril said one of his relatives was having a party and his mother urged him to go to the nearby restaurant to get something to eat.
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"My mom didn't want me to take out the car," Barill said. "She was like just go on the horse. So I went on the horse."
While the footage went viral, however, the comments were not pleasant.
"Many ugly comments came from that video," Barril recalled. "People said I was an abuser, that I was bringing these ugly habits from Cuba, but I was born here in the U.S."
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Barril says he rescues and rehabilitates horses, and has done so for quite a while.
"Ever since I was born, all of my things have been about horses," Barril said. "Ever since I opened my eyes everything was horses, horses, horses."
The teen says he is proud of his roots, his passion for these animals and what he does for them.
“I buy many horses because they are very skinny. People don't give them food and so I buy them”, said Barril, who aims to give these animals another lease on life.
