bone structure and their similarity to 

 old Spanish breeds. He says at least 10 

 horses in the herd are purebreds. They 

 have five instead of six lumbar ver- 

 tebrae, a distinct characteristic of the 

 Spanish horse. Upon Stabler's recom- 

 mendation, the horses were recognized 

 by the Spanish Mustang Registry. 



A mixture of circumstances kept the 

 bloodline of the horses pure. The 

 horses tended to reject mates of dif- 

 ferent breeds. And the isolation of 

 Ocracoke made it hard to transport 

 horses on and off the island. Also many 

 islanders took pride in the horses' 

 Spanish breeding and wished to keep 

 the bloodline pure, Stabler says. 



And fate, says Jeannetta, may have 

 added to the horses' purity. One 

 mixed-breed herd was killed during a 

 hurricane that struck the island, she 

 says. Others were sold. And several 

 horses brought to the island for 

 breeding died because they could not 

 withstand the swarms of salt-marsh 

 mosquitoes and green-head flies and a 

 diet of tough salt marsh grass. 



"You can tell a Banker pony as far 

 as you can see it," Jeannetta says. 

 "They have a short back. They're 

 short-legged and thick chested. They 

 have a proud neck and a long tail and 

 mane. It's only when you get close to 

 them that you can see the Barb, the 

 Andalusian and the Arabian in their 

 faces and shapes." 



The size of the herd has risen back to 

 the 21 horses present today. And now 

 each horse carries a name — Paint, Mr. 

 Bob, Rainbow, La Baronesa, Owen K. 

 Ballance. The herd is kept for the most 

 part in an 168-acre pasture, just off the 

 highway that runs between the Hat- 

 teras ferry landing and Ocracoke 

 village. Observation stands have been 

 constructed by the Park Service for 

 visitors to view horses. 



But the islanders still call the horses 

 their own. "The people here know they 

 have something unique, something as 

 much a part of Ocracoke as they are," 

 says Jeannetta. "A debate rose when 

 the Park Service considered training a 

 few of the horses for beach control. 

 Several people thought the horses 

 should not be worked. But one 

 Ocracoke old-timer spoke up and said, 

 'Look at it this way folks, I never had 

 the urge to walk up to one of those 

 Parks Service jeeps and pat it on the 

 head."' 



Photo courtesy of Division of Archives and History 



Roundup on the banks 



For generations , people — 

 mostly from Harkers Island 

 fishing families — have gathered 

 once a year on Shackleford 

 Banks to pen and brand the 

 island horses. A photo from 1907 

 (above), "Catching a wild 

 pony," by M. B. Gowdy, cap- 

 tures the flavor of fisherman- 

 turned-cowboy. 



Early roundups supplied local 

 farms with plowhorses and 

 island families with some in- 

 come. Today, the roundups 

 continue, but mainly to keep a 

 tradition alive. Each July, the 

 herders fan out on 

 Shackleford's wooded west end, 

 driving the horses toward a pen 

 on the eastern grassland. 



For the rest of the year, people 

 leave the horses alone. And foals 

 like the one at left, though they 

 may wear a brand, spend their 

 lives running free on the island. 



— Kathy Hart 



