Thanks to my mother-in-law, seeing these horses was the main highlight for me when we recently travelled to Corolla, NC on the Outer Banks. This horse breed is officially known as the Banker horse– banker, as in the Outer Banks. Get it?
Because our tickets would benefit the wild horses, we opted for a tour with The Corolla Wild Horse Fund Tour. Who am I kidding? They provided enclosed vehicles with air conditioning. Not one bit did we miss feeling the ocean breeze on our faces or tasting the salty beach air. People. It was over 100 degrees!
As instructed, we arrived 20 minutes prior to our 11:30 am tour at the Museum/Store in Old Corolla Village. We gathered around one of the tour guides who explained that these horses are direct descendants of Spanish Colonial Mustangs from the 1500’s. So how did they get to the shores we were exploring? It’s an alluring story about Spanish ships that ran aground on the shoals or sandbars and pushing the horses into the sea to lighten the ships.
He spoke about how the Wild Horse Fund manages the herd through adoption and birth control. Since a mare is pregnant 11 months (those stallions are monsters), birth control allows rest periods that result in a longer life for the mare.
If a wild horse becomes seriously ill or critically injured, it’s removed and rehabilitated and can then be adopted for (a measly) $615.
We were also warned that it is illegal and dangerous to be within 50 feet of the horses or to feed them. Wild horses can come down with potentially fatal colic if their diet sways from the normal native grasses.
“If the sea is salty, what do these horses drink?” someone asks.
They hydrate by grazing on marsh grasses that supplies water as well as food. The horse will also dig for ground water, and drink from pools of rainwater.
Wild horses travel in “harems” consisting of a dominant stallion with one to four mares and their foals. Stallions that are too old, too young, or not dominant enough to challenge another harem stallion, form their own family group called “bachelor stallions.” The lead mare makes the decisions about when and where the harem will go and the stallion is the protector.
We then began our off-road adventure, cruising along Highway 12 with the hope of catching a glimpse of one of those wild horses. This is a uniquely Outer Banks experience as this road is sandy and only becomes sandier. To our right, a view of the ocean, beach chairs and the scent of Coppertone. Everyone seemed to follow the road rules, although there’s nothing that indicates this beach road is a highway. No concrete or blacktop; no signs; no lane dividers; no shoulders.
You can rent a vehicle to explore this area independently, but I wouldn’t recommend it. There’s that whole unmarked roads thing. You’re surrounded by sand and grasses and could easily get lost.
Very quickly we saw the smallish, chestnut-colored horses sharing the beach with swimmers and sunbathers, seemingly tolerating the vehicles and us gawkers.
Our guide, Bill, showed us things an untrained eye might not catch. I imagined these horses running in sand and surf with their manes blowing like graphics on the front page of a romance novel. Where he took us next was a surprise. We drove behind the dunes into neighborhoods where the horses frequently graze. These magnificent creatures were eating grass in people’s yards, looking more domesticated than the neighborhood dog!
Bill also pointed out dolphins flying through the air, nesting sea turtles and tree stumps from an ancient maritime forest. Although we saw well over 25 horses, he sounded disappointed when he wasn’t able to locate the newest foal for us.
I was in awe!
Nowhere else in the world can you see true wild Spanish mustangs who have galloped for almost five centuries in such a beautiful setting!
