Wild Horses At Shackleford Banks

[Speed]

These were taken on April 2nd of this year. Paul has gone to Shackleford with me and taken pictures of the horses before.

[Speed]

These were taken on April 2nd of this year. Paul has gone to Shackleford with me and taken pictures of the horses before.

It helps to upload the pictures BEFORE you hit submit...

[Speed]

A Few More From That Same Day.

[CaraRose]

These are Carolina Banker ponies then?

Wonderful shots, looks like a cool place!

[Speed]

These were taken on June 19th and 20th. Two big differences. The marsh grass is green, and there are a LOT more boats at Shackleford.

Dawn liked the last one so much that it is currently her Facebook profile pic.

[Speed]

These are Carolina Banker ponies then?

Wonderful shots, looks like a cool place!

Yes they are. Locally, they are referred to as Shackleford Ponies, but they are horses. There are three sets of wild horses, descendants of Spanish horses from the 1500's. One set is on Shackleford Banks, one set is in Dare County (about four hours north-east of Shackleford) and one set in Wyoming if I remember correctly.

Shackleford Banks is a wonderful place to spend a day or a weekend. We love going there and camping out. As you can see, the horses are quite used to sharing the island with people, but make no mistake, they are WILD horses.

[armando_m]

nice set of photos!

[CaraRose]

Yes they are. Locally, they are referred to as Shackleford Ponies, but they are horses.

Coming from a hunter/jumper background, anything less than 14.3 hands is a pony to me :P

Proportionally these guys are definitely horses though. This island is now on my "places to visit before I die" list

[belongus3]

hehehe so funny the one playng in the grass They look very playfull

[Speed]

Coming from a hunter/jumper background, anything less than 14.3 hands is a pony to me :P

Proportionally these guys are definitely horses though. This island is now on my "places to visit before I die" list

When I was a teenager, the Shackleford Ponies were pony sized. Many years ago, the National Park Service began doing annual roundups, where they gave the horse vaccinations and checked them for diseases like EEE. They also take some of them off the island so the population doesn't exceed what the island can support. Today the horses are about a third larger than they were 30 years ago, so I've seen an increase in their size in my lifetime.

[Speed]

nice set of photos!

Thank you Armando!

[zerodog]

That is a great place out there. My Mom lives in Beaufort and we go out there a few times a year. I have only seen the horses from the boat. Last winter my girlfriend and I went out there and pulled the boat (a 17' scout) up on shore and went for a hike. We saw no horses but we did see a fox. We overstayed our welcome and came back to a beached boat. The tide had gone out and left us almost totally dry. After a lot of really hard work, we got the boat out. That really sucked. Next time I will need to pay a lot more attention to the tide!

[IMG][/IMG]

[Speed]

Yes it is! We love it. We are going to camp there this weekend for the fourth of July.

Great fox photo! I like the shot of the young lady on Carrot Island as well. You can see Beaufort in the background, and I've seen it enough to know it!

[paulnj]

Those are some great images of some awesome wild horses. I can't wait to get 10 feet from them and get head shots again AND YES INDEED THESE ARE WILD HORSES.

[Speed]

Those are some great images of some awesome wild horses. I can't wait to get 10 feet from them and get head shots again AND YES INDEED THESE ARE WILD HORSES.

We'll see you in August my friend. The D200 is waiting for you...

[drdawn]

Of course I love your pics speed but zerodog did an awesome job on that fox pic!

.... Mrs. Speed

[Speed]

Of course I love your pics speed but zerodog did an awesome job on that fox pic!

.... Mrs. Speed

I think I've been dissed!

[patia]

Neat shots. Are these any relations to the Chincoteague ponies?

[shootme]

Wonderful series, it was fun looking at them all. Congrats on feature.

[Speed]

Neat shots. Are these any relations to the Chincoteague ponies?

Hey Patia,

These are not related to the Chincoteague ponies. These are the descendants of Spanish horses from the 1500's. DNA testing has shown that there are three bands of wild horses descendant from the Spanish horses. One herd lives on Shackleford Island, one herd lives in Dare County (also North Carolina outer banks) and one herd lives in Wyoming of all places.

Here are some links:

http://www.shacklefordhorses.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shackleford_Banks

http://www.kbrhorse.net/wclo/shackr01.html

[Speed]

Wonderful series, it was fun looking at them all. Congrats on feature.

Thank you!

[patia]

Interesting!