Spirit of America: Tracing and preserving the history of the Corolla wild horses

Added: 2026-06-03

[00:00:00]We're counting down to July 4th and America's 250th birthday by shining a light on some Outer Banks natives that have been part of the state's history since before the Revolutionary War. Nick Broadway tells us more about the wild horses of Corolla.

[00:00:16]>> Tucked away in the northernmost stretch of the Outer Banks, longtime inhabitants have called this beach home for countless generations, predating the United States of America.

[00:00:25]Wild banker horses, a treasured part of North Carolina history with a slightly murky origin story.

[00:00:31]>> You have the myth and sort of the romanticized story of of the horses and then you have the actual history.

[00:00:38]>> We know there were Spanish ships with horses on them, whether they were shipwrecked, tossed overboard, or otherwise brought over on purpose. They have lived here since the 16th century.

[00:00:48]Spanish settlers established in this part of the world, breeding and trading horses about until the American Revolution. You had the American Revolution. The Americans really were not trading with Spain at that point.

[00:00:58]And so that that that horse trade kind of stopped. So up until like the 1980s really there were no protections or anything like that because there wasn't really a need for it and so people could come and grab one and ride it.

[00:01:11]>> Me Pucket is the director of herd management for the Corala Wild Horse Fund. Since the 80s, eventually put under a state and federal management plan, they worked to preserve the remaining wild horse population here in the banks. In the past few decades, housing developments grew around the horses.

[00:01:26]>> There's nowhere else for them to go.

[00:01:28]There's nowhere else for us to move them. And so, like, you know, I think that people need to to understand the gravity of that.

[00:01:34]>> The idea is to have tourists and locals living alongside the wild horses. People who live here may on occasion just wake up to them in their backyards. For the most part, the humans here know to keep their distance and let them live on their own. Human engagement and feeding can be dangerous for both. They drink nearby fresh water and feast on the area's Bullbrier and Greenbryer. And >> I mean, they just like eat the whole van with the thorns and everything.

[00:01:58]>> Lately, their biggest problem is vehicle strikes. Four horses were hit last year.

[00:02:03]Two of them killed. But 2025 also brings a silver lining for the herd. 10 new FO.

[00:02:09]>> They're a cultural treasure. They're they're the state horse in North Carolina. You know, they're recognized as a a a cultural and historic treasure.

[00:02:16]They're a part of our history here.

[00:02:18]Workers and volunteers carefully collect data on each horse, managing from a distance, preserving living history on the Outer Banks. Queen City News Plus.

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