Pedro de Lima, 11, was filmed by a driver as he rode to his school in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on a horse after his bike got a flat tyre - and his mother had no idea
A youngster has been filmed riding to school on a horse after his bike got a flat tyre.
A video has now gone viral of Pedro de Lima, aged 11, heading to his school, Escola Municipal Jornalista Sandro Moreyra, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on the back of the horse.
And his mum Ana Cristina said her family only realised that he had used the horse after seeing the clip on local media.
Pedro, from Rio, normally goes to and from school by bike but having had a flat tyre one day he did not think twice about going to his neighbour's house and asking if he could borrow Lazan, their pet mare.
Images of Pedro in his uniform with his rucksack on his back riding Lazan to his school, which is 18 minutes from his home, were immediately an online hit.
Ana, 41, told local media that she had a call from his Godmother telling her of the video.
She said: "His Godmother called and said to me: 'have you seen Pedro's video? Look at my WhatsApp and you'll see.'
"When I watched it, I said, 'Oh my God, this boy is on a horse!' I didn't understand anything. And it went viral!"
The clip of Pedro was recorded from a car window by athlete Wal Aiva and shared on social media, racking up hundreds of thousands of views.
Ana said: "I only found out afterwards when that guy who passed by at the time filmed and posted it. The video was circulating and they sent it to me.
"When he got home, I scolded him, and he said, 'Oh, mum, my leg was hurting, was I supposed to walk to school? I went and took Ismael's horse."
Pedro explained that he managed to mount the mare after his older brother helped the little lad climb onto its back.
The school headmistress called their mum to talk about the incident, but only to inform her of the positive response it had received on social media.
Ana, who works as a cleaner, told local media that it was the first time her son had ridden a horse and that she was surprised by his courage.
But despite his sudden fame, she hopes he does not repeat the stunt.
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