Cross Breeds

How did the wild horses of NC get on the island that they live on now in the first place??

Public Comments

1. it is said the horses on ocracoke and surrounding islands came from shipwrecks. when the boats sank, they swam to the islands. they have some very cool horse drives out there. they round up the wild horse in giant drives and give them basic veterinary care. the biggest problem is since the island soil is soft, the horses hooves dont wear correctly. that is very bad for a horse. i hope to help one day. I LOVE CATTLE DRIVES!
2. *sigh* ...I loved the book "Misty of Chincoteague" Raist has a good answer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chincoteague_Pony#History History There are two theories of how the ponies came to live on Assateague Island. The legend is that a Spanish galleon wrecked off of Assateague Island and the surviving ponies swam to the island. However, the more likely theory is that early 17th century colonists let their animals loose on the island to avoid the tax on fenced livestock. Whichever theory is true, the free-roaming ponies of Assateague have been living there for hundreds of years. http://www.pony-chincoteague.com/history.html History and the Current Information on the Chincoteague Pony The ponies live on the islands of Chincoteague and Assateague off the coast of Virginia and Maryland. The Ponies are a race of small hardy horses, compact and good natured. The legend is that these ponies swam ashore from a Spanish Vessel which had capsized off the coast, around the century 1600. Once on the islands they became stunted under the harsh environment. To keep from starving they ate coarse saltmarsh cordgrass, American beachgrass, thorny greenbrier stems, bayberry twigs, seaweed and even poison ivy. Because they drink salt water, they have an appearance of being "fat" or "bloated". The horses bred down to the unique breed we know today as the Chincoteague Pony.....