These horses are the descendants of Spanish Colonial Mustangs that have been here for about five centuries. In 2010 they were designated North Carolina's official state horse. Centuries ago they were dropped off here as a food source by pirates and other ships coming to the new world. The horses along with pigs were left here as a food source if ever needed, especially by the pirates. As the years go by many have died because of us humans. Some hit by cars others done away with because they were a nuisance. Finally they were all headed to the far north end of the outer banks. This area has been fenced off from ocean to the bay side of the outer banks. The horses are kept in this area for their own safety. The only way to see them is off route 12 which continues down the beach unpaved.
We were a little worried about getting stuck in the sand so decided on taking a tour of the wild horses. We are very glad we did, this was one of the best tours I have ever been on. We learned so much about the history of this area and the horses.
We have about 1.5 hours to kill before the tour so we went to the old light house to tour it. It was built in 1873 and was finished in December of 1875. It is the last brick light houses still standing in NC and is the best preserved example of an 1870's light station. I wasn't sure I wanted to go to the top of it, there are 214 winding steps to climb to the top, but I did it without any problems!!!!
Once at the top the view is spectacular. You can see 360 degrees around you and you see how narrow the outer banks really are.
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| My new dream house |
Visiting this light house was a bonus to today's journey and it really gave me a workout climbing all those stairs.
Now for the wild horses. The truck that takes us seats 12 people and there are 10 of us ready to go.
The beach is an actual road with rules and laws to follow, there is a right and left lane, that changes constantly according to the tide. Then there is the middle area where you can park and the area close to the water is the emergency lane and you are not suppose to park or sit in this area.
There are two housing communities in this area. Yes people actually live out here!!! The houses are big and beautiful. We turn off the beach road and head into the last community of Carova, which has the most harems of the wild horses. Here are a few examples of the homes out here.
We wind around several streets an finally get are first sight of the wild horses. There are two of them. |
We head up and down several more streets and spot a big harem of about 5 or 6 horses. They are so cool to see and magnificent creatures.
The white bird on the horses back is an egret they follow the horses and eat the insects that are always around them and sometimes they ride on horses backs. We were also able to witness to stallions challenge each other. They were very close to the truck so it was a little scary but none the less awesome to see. It is now time to
head back but before we leave we see one more beautiful wild horse standing on the stand dunes right on the beach. A perfect image for the end of this awesome day. I will never for get our stay in the outer banks of NC,
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