Earthblog

Take a trip on the wild side and dive up to Corolla's 4 wheel area.  Here on the beach are wild ponies ...

The 4 wheel area is a wild and natural setting that once resembled most of the outer banks.  In this somewhat unspoilt area we have Ponies that have roamed the beaches for hundreds of years. 

So, where did they come from?

Four hundred years ago the horses first arrived on the Outer Banks.  At that time, there was nothing but sea, sand, and grass. The accepted theory traces them to Spanish mustangs that came ashore from the wrecks of galleons along the North Carolina coast. The evidence is compelling.   For example, blood samples from the Ocracoke and Corolla ponies reveal genetic similarities to the mustangs. In addition, the ponies bear a strong physical resemblance to the fiery Iberian Peninsula breeds: wide foreheads, long and crested necks, a high tail and long mane and, most importantly, the tell-tale absence of a sixth lumbar vertebrae, an anomaly common in Spanish mustangs.