A wild "Banker Pony" on Ocracoke Island
About this photograph
- Date created
- September 18, 2007
- Location
- Ocracoke, North Carolina
- License
- This photograph copyright ©2007. Terms of use
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- Search LEARN NC for animals, Banker Pony, beaches, horses, Hyde County, islands, mustang, National Park Service, North Carolina, Ocracoke, Outer Banks, and pony.
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This is a wild “Banker Pony” on Ocracoke Island in Hyde County, North Carolina. It is actually a horse, not a pony, but they are referred to as ponies because they are smaller than most horses, standing at about 14 hands. It is speculated that the herd, which currently averages about 25 to 30 horses, is descended from Spanish Mustangs. Often, when a ship ran aground, its crew would toss livestock and any other animals it may be transporting to the New World overboard in order to float the ship again. Many times, these animals were left behind. They could also have descended from the horses of a failed Spanish colony from the early 1500s.
The herd ran wild on the island until the 1950s, when they were permanently penned to protect them from traffic and the bustle of Highway 12. They are now cared for by the National Park Service.
