Grazing on wild grasses, acorns, and sea oats, walking along the sandy beach of the
Atlantic Ocean, nearly-extinct wild horses have been living peacefully for over 500
years.
It is not known exactly how the wild horses of Corolla got there, but their DNA indicates
that they are of Spanish origin. The original Colonial Spanish Mustangs could have
survived one of the many offshore shipwrecks in the treacherous Outer Banks or maybe
they were left behind by Spanish explorers.
For centuries stallions and their harems have existed on a most unique diet, surviving
through hurricanes and hundreds of harsh winters. In earlier times, visitors were allowed
to take home whatever they could round up. But not anymore, it is now illegal to feed
them or get within 50 feet of them.
When roads were paved leading to their remote part of the cape, their numbers began
to dwindle significantly. Many were hit by cars, including a beloved stallion named Star
who was hit by a car and killed in 1991. They have since found ways to keep the herd
safer. The horses now have access to over 7,000 acres, about 3,000 acres of public
land and roughly 4,000 privately owned, in a beach and marine forest area north of
Corolla.
Not everyone buys into the poetry of these majestic creatures. Their biggest threat
today is development. Not everyone wants to wake up to a horse in their yard or lay out
in the sun with horses gathering around.
“They are one of the oldest and rarest strains left in the world and are listed as a
critically endangered/nearly extinct breed” according to the Corolla Wild Horse Fund, a
non-profit that preserves the heritage of the Mustangs.
For more information on the horses https://www.corollawildhorses.com/
Video of the Wild Horses of Corolla
