The most widely accepted theory 

 among Outer Banks residents is the 

 idea that Spanish explorers brought the 

 ponies from their homelands as they 

 conquered the Americas in the 1500s. 



One of those residents is Jeannetta 

 Henning, a native of Ocracoke and wife 

 of the late Jim Henning, a U.S. Park 

 Service ranger who cared for the island 

 herd. 



In her booklet Conquistadors' 

 Legacy, Henning, a local historian, 

 writes that the horses originated on the 

 Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Eu- 

 rope. They were bred with North Afri- 

 can Barbs and Arabian horses for traits 

 of intelligence, endurance, a sweet 

 nature and "that special fire that sets 

 them apart from all other horses." 



Spanish explorers called conquista- 

 dors coveted the swift, small stallions; 

 and as the conquerors ventured west- 

 ward from Spain, they established breed- 

 ing farms on islands off Central America 

 for the horses, as well as sheep, cattle, 

 hogs and goats, she writes. 



It's possible, Henning says, that 

 Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon of Hispaniola 

 was the conquistador who brought the 

 original herd to the barrier islands. He 

 was granted land thought to have been 

 near the Cape Fear River in the 



THE MOST WIDELY ACCEPTED 



THEORY AMONG OUTER 

 BANKS RESIDENTS IS THE IDEA 



THAT SPANISH EXPLORERS 

 BROUGHT THE PONIES FROM 

 THEIR HOMELANDS AS THEY 

 CONQUERED THE AMERICAS 

 IN THE 1500S. 



early 1500s. The colony failed, records 

 show. His people returned to Hispaniola, 

 but the horses may have been left on the 

 islands, she writes. 



Another account chronicles the 

 voyage of Sir Richard Grenville, an 



Englishman who brought an expedition 

 to America by way of the Spanish is- 

 lands about 1580. His ship, the Tyger, 

 ran aground in Ocracoke Inlet, loaded 

 with food, sheep, goats, swine and 

 horses. 



From there, Henning writes, the 

 spread of Spain's finest horses through- 

 out the Outer Banks was only a matter 

 of time. 



These romantic stories might not 

 ring so true to barrier island visitors and 

 residents, except that the ponies do have 

 a Spanish accent to them. 



On a sunny day in early March, 

 five horses — Feliz Navidad, Stormy, 

 Lindeza, Bonita Supressa and Santiago 

 — chew hay and lounge in the public 

 pen just off N.C. 12 on Ocracoke. 



"They're pretty hardy," says Bill 

 Caswell, a park ranger with the Cape 

 Hatteras National Seashore. "They 

 probably have Spanish blood, but where 

 that came from, we don't know." 



Generally, Spanish horses like 



Continued 



WM 



Park ranger Bill Caswell and one of the Ocracoke horses. 



COASTWATCH 5 



