fate of the corolla horses stalled in washington

stallion eating grass
Lucky Gus checking out his new digs. Photo courtesy Corolla Wild Horse Fund.

For those of us that love the Outer Banks, it’s impossible to imagine Corolla without the wild horses. But the horses could disappear if the northern banks’ dwindling herd doesn’t get an influx of new blood into its gene pool. A plan by the Corolla Wild Horse Fund to mingle the northern herd with a southern herd could fix the situation, but is currently blocked. Let’s hope the Corolla Wild Horses Protection Act will finally clear the Senate this year.

We love this opinion piece by Russ Ferguson for the Wall Street Journal, that explores the situation at hand, and it’s potential solution.

wild horses on the beach
Wild horses roaming free in Carova. Photo by Cathy Forgnone, courtesy of Dream’s End.

“One of the great prides of my home state of North Carolina is the Outer Banks. The narrow, 200-mile-long string of barrier islands sits off the North Carolina coast—a harrowing surprise for ships, but a peaceful and absurdly beautiful place for people. Horses run wild on the beaches, kicking up sand and frolicking in the waves.

That’s right, Spanish Mustangs roam freely on the Outer Banks, and sometimes they get so close you could touch them. No one knows for sure how they got there, but it is widely believed that they came from Spanish ships wrecked off the coast 500 years ago. The passengers may not have survived, but some of the horses did. They swam ashore to what is now called North Carolina, where they have lived off the land ever since.

But the Outer Banks are no longer the well-kept secret they once were. In a boost to North Carolina’s economy, people from all over visit the Outer Banks and, unsurprisingly, widespread development has followed. That development has taken its toll. In the past 80 years, the wild mustang population has dropped to fewer than 100 from an estimated 6,000 horses.”

[box type=”bio”] Read the rest of the story HERE![/box]

[box type=”warning”] H.R. 126 is critical to the long-term survival of the Corolla wild horses, and it requires no additional funding from the federal government.READ H.R. 126. YOU CAN HELP! Please contact your federal Representatives and tell them that you support H.R. 126 and want them to do so as well. FIND YOUR REPRESENTATIVES AND THEIR CONTACT INFORMATION[/box]