Corolla’s wild horses have captured many hearts, and it seems that celebrities are not exempt! Nicholas Sparks (yes, that Nicholas Sparks!), no stranger to the OBX, visited Corolla and was so enamored with the wild mustangs that he wrote this piece on his personal blog. Of course, the author of too many bestsellers to list (including Nights in Rodanthe, filmed here on the OBX), paints a beautiful picture of these living icons of the Outer Banks.
“Just picture it. You’re sitting on the beach and in the distance you can see wild horses running free, playing in the waves. Sounds pretty amazing, huh? Almost like a dream. Well, guess what, it’s all real and it’s all in North Carolina.
What sounds like the ideal backdrop to a Nicholas Sparks book, is a really a sanctuary for these incredible animals. And no one knows more about these Colonial Spanish Mustangs than Karen H. McCalpin, the Executive Director of Corolla Wild Horse Fund, Inc., it’s their mission to protect, conserve, and responsibly manage this herd.
A Tale of Sea Horses
Rumored to have been shipwrecked more than 400 years ago, these descendants of Spanish horses have an even more exciting history. “The most documented way the horses arrived involved ships running aground on the shifting sand bars that dot the 175 mile coast of the Outer Banks,” says Karen. So in order for sea captains to lighten the load and refloat the ship, the heavy cargo was thrown overboard—and horses were heavy cargo! But never fear, this breed is made up of excellent swimmers.”
[box type=”bio”] See what Nicholas Sparks has to say about the Corolla wild mustangs. Click here.[/box]