Wild Horses of the Outer Banks

One of the big attractions in the Outer Banks is the wild horses.  These are horses that were originally brought here hundreds of years ago by the Spanish and have roamed the islands since.  Now they roam in the northern section and are protected by law from human contact, but they roam freely on the beach and around the homes that are up in that area. 

The fascinating part of this is how you get there.  The horses are in Corolla, North Carolina.  You drive the main highway, NC 12, in the Outer Banks north until it ends.  At that point you make a right turn, then a left turn and go onto the sand.  You must have a four wheel drive vehicle.  You end up on the beach, which now becomes the major road for the next 11 miles.  This is the section where the horses live along with a whole bunch of people.  There are many homes in this area, some as rental others for permanent residents.  The roads are all sand and not really marked. 

We could have used our truck, as it does have 4 wheel drive, and ventured out to find the horses.  But from what I read it can be very difficult to find them as they roam in the back country to find water and going on those roads can be treacherous, plus, if you are not experienced, you would not know where you are.  So instead we took a tour and are glad we did.  Our guide searched high and low for over 2 hours.  We saw many hoof prints and fresh excrement but only came across one horse off in the distance.  By law you have to stay at least 50 feet away from them. 

Here is a picture of the only one we found on our tour

Here are some other pictures from the tour

Our tour vehicle.  There were only four of us so we rode in the cab.

A view of the marsh.

A view of the dunes.