As the wind whipped through my hair, I shivered in the chilly air, knowing I had underdressed for the outing. The boat sped through the water for the next fifteen minutes until we reached our destination. A half dozen of us stepped out of the boat onto the shore and scattered.

I was vacationing in the Beaufort, North Carolina area, and this cool March day happened to be my birthday. I wanted to do something very different and unique today. I climbed up the bank and looked around. My boat-mates and I had been dropped off on a 9-mile long island called Shackleford Banks. Here we would see wild ponies.

According to legend and the elders of coastal North Carolina, “They have always been here, they were here when our people came; they swam ashore off sinking ships.” Historical research and genetics testing indicates that these wild horses descended from a group of Spanish horses brought to the New World by Christopher Columbus

These amazing animals eat and drink off the land. If they are not near a watering hole, such as Mullet Pond, they know to dig wells with their hooves. As the water seeps into the hole, they drink. Hardy and tough, these ponies have survived where man could not. They have endured through hurricanes, droughts, nor-easters, and centuries of time

On October 1, 1997 the “Shackleford Banks Wild Horses Protection Act” went before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on National Parks, Historic Preservation and Recreation. On June 25, 1998 the U.S. Senate passed this act. And on July 9, 1998 the President of the United States signed legislation protecting the wild horses of Shackleford Banks.

The foundation for Shackleford Horses was founded with the support from the general public as a result of concern for the future of these horses. Some of the things that donations received are used for include continuing genetics research, monitoring the Shackleford Banks ecosystem, and implementing information/education programs.

Today there are over 120 wild ponies in residence on Shackleford Banks. So with camera in hand, I set off to find a few of them. I hiked along the ridge, the sparkling ocean to my left and a valley down to my right. Off in the distance I watched a few ponies meandering along. They were too far away for me to take a decent photo, so I kept walking. The wind whipped around chilling me to the bone, and I cursed myself again for not dressing appropriately. I might have been farther south than my home state of Minnesota, but it wasn’t the middle of July. Nevertheless, I was on a mission to find the ponies. 

There they were, just up ahead on the beach. One was black, and one was chestnut-colored with white hooves. As I crept closer to them, the black one took off. Not wanting to scare the other one away, I stopped. He (she?) was a beautiful horse. Very slowly I inched closer. I could tell that he was nervous. I lifted my camera and framed the photo. This amazing animal stood on the beach near the dunes with the glistening, bluish-green ocean as a backdrop.

Being so near this gorgeous horse and being able to photograph him just made my day. I backed away slowly, so as not to scare him, and headed off down the beach to wait for my ride back to Beaufort. 

As I stepped back onto the boat, having had a very unique experience that day, I resolved I would come back again (in shorts and T-shirt on a summer day) to see and photograph the wild ponies of Shackleford Banks.

by Dianne Swanson