Wild Horses

 Ponies in the Dunes
   Recently some horses were seen running loose in London (the one in England) and yesterday others were racing in the Kentucky Derby. Here I will provide some information about horses found in the wild outside of the confines of Churchill Downs and well away from city streets. 
 I am doing so for two reasons. One is that ponies are better subjects these days than politics and politicians, although one cannot completely avoid politics even when writing about ponies. Some think the horses found in the wild are problematic and bad for the environment, while others disagree.
  It is also the case that we were recently in Duck, North Carolina in what is called the "Outer Banks." I learned, while there, that herds of wild horses were found near Corolla, just to the north, where they roamed on the beaches bordering the Currituck Sound. 
  I would probably have not paid much attention to this equine news, but I grew up in an area to the north and east of the Outer Banks, where wild ponies also ran wild and could be seen grazing in the dunes on what is called the "Delmarva Peninsula", because it is consists of those three states - Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. The wild ponies were often discussed and I once went to a "pony penning" in Chincoteague. During such an event, the ponies are rounded up by "Saltwater Cowboys" and herded across the channel where some are auctioned off for the benefit of the Volunteer Fire Department. It is going to happen again when the tide is low on Wed. July 24th, so you have time to attend if you wish. 
  Although I don't think often about ponies and horses, they are better subjects than politics and politicians and that they still exist out there in the wild beyond the highways littered with dollar stores and fast food chains is worth noting. I remembered that there were also herds in Eastern Canada and have learned there are some in Western Canada as well. So I rounded up some sources for you and could surely have found more if I had included the Western U.S.  Enjoy reading about the horses and ponies that still run wild on this continent and simply skip over the political parts. 
[Click on the links to learn more. I have chosen ones that are not behind a paywall and are sure to be virus free.]

Corolla, North Carolina

Corrolla Wild Horse Fund

 This group works to protect the “Bankers”, the wild horses on the northern part of the Outer Banks. Apart from the information provided there is also related merchandise, including the book, Corolla’s Wild Horses A History.  A short account is found under,  “Spanish Mustang History” where one learns that the herd dates from the 1500s and that in the 1920s there were between 5,000 and 6,000 wild horses before the developers arrived.
   See also, "Wild Horses of the Outer Banks: Everything You Need to Know." 

Chincoteague & Assateague ( Virginia & Maryland)
   For information, start with the National Park Service's “Assateague’s Wild Horses” which also includes over 50 photos of the horses. See also: “How to See the Chincoteague Ponies” which includes a link to the “Chincoteague Travel Blog” and the “Official Chincoteague Island Pony Swim Guide" which indicates that the 99th pony swim this year will be on Wed. July 24, 2024.
  There are at least three Wikipedia entries related to the horses in this area:

"Chincoteague Pony"

"Pony Penning" - which even includes a chart showing how much the "Saltwater Cowboys" made for the Volunteer Fire Department from the pony auctions.

Misty of Chincoteague, the children's book also has an entry. The London Public Library has a copy. 

Ponies in the Virginia Mountains

   Start with this interesting piece which indicates that these ponies are related to the ones mentioned above: "Meet the Wild Ponies of Grayson Highlands State Park, VA: These Carefree Equines are the Descendants of 50 Assateague Ponies, Released into the Area in 1975," Catie Leary, Treehugger.

According to Virginia State Park staffer Amy Atwood, the carefree equines, which some speculate to be the descendants of Assateague and Chincoteague ponies, were released by the U.S. Forest Service into the area surrounding Mount Rogers National Recreation Area and Grayson Highlands State Park in 1975.1

Ponies With a Purpose

Why would the Forest Service release wild ponies in a state park? To control the growth of brush along the balds, which are a man-made landscape forged by extensive logging operations in the late 19th century. The balds maintained a clear-cut appearance through the first half of the 20th century due to cattle ranching, but after the area was transformed into a state park in 1965, there were no more cows to keep the brush in check. Goats have become a popular way to keep landscapes trimmed, but for the highlands, here is where the ponies came into the picture.

See also, "Ponies of the Grayson Highlands," Otto Solberg, The Appalachian Voice, Dec. 15, 2016 and the Grayson Highland State Park website. 

CANCON (For American readers, that acronym refers to "Canadian content".)
   Horses are also found running in the wild in Canada, from the Maritimes in the east to the mountains in the west. 

Sable Island
   This Parks Canada website is all you need and it contains many pictures as well. 
   Sable Island is widely known for its wild horse population. They have thick, woolly, shaggy coats, often brown, and stocky bodies. Today’s population descended from horses introduced to the island in the 1700s.The Sable Island horses are considered an iconic feature of the island, with both natural and cultural heritage value. The current population of wild horses on Sable Island is about 450 horses.
Origin: The population of wild horses on Sable Island has existed for over 250 years. The Sable Island horses are believed to be descendants of animals introduced to the island in the 1700s.

British Columbia

  Information about the horses in the Chilcotin area is found in this article: "Free-Roaming Horses Are Feral and Invasive, B.C. Says - But Biologist, First Nation Argue They Need Protection," CBC News, Dec.3, 2023. 

   A new book about them is also available: The Wild Horses of the Chilcotin: Their History and Future, by Wayne McCrory.

See also: “Protecting Wild Horses in Alberta (& Canada)” Zoo Check. Here is how it begins: "Wild horses have been a part of the Canadian west for hundreds of years. There are currently wild horses living in the Chilcotin region of British Columbia and parts of Saskatchewan, including a population of protected wild horses in the Bronson Forest. There are also approximately 900 wild horses in Alberta spread out over thousands of square kilometres of terrain in the Rocky mountain foothills. In the 1990s, a population of approximately 1200 wild horses also lived on Canadian Forces Base Suffield near Medicine Hat. Unfortunately, despite a concerted effort by Zoocheck, Animal Alliance of Canada, Albertan’s for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and Grasslands Naturalists, the Department of National Defense (DND) removed the horses. Despite promises to the contrary, most of the horses were sent to slaughter." [This also includes a YouTube video - 15 min.]
  That protection is needed is indicated in this article: "RCMP Investigating Suspicious Deaths of 17 Wild Horses in Kamloops Area," CBC News, Mar.14, 2023.