Wild horses, on the beach, Assateague Island. Assateague’s horses are beautiful, tough, and wild. Captions: National Park Service. Photo source: ©© Ben Beard
Excerpts;
Every year, some 150 wild ponies are rounded up on Assateague Island, a small barrier island and wildlife refuge that is partly in Maryland and partly in Virginia.
Volunteers called Saltwater Cowboys swim the ponies across the Chincoteague Channel to another island, Chincoteague…
Local folklore describes the Assateague horses as survivors of a shipwreck off the Virginia coast. Captions: National Park Service. Photo source: ©© Lucie Mariage
Read Full Article, AP/ Pilot News /Hamptons Roads
Assateague’s Wild Horses, NPS
Assateague’s wild horses are well known, even to many people who have never been to the island. The “wild” horses on Assateague are actually feral animals, meaning that they are descendants of domestic animals that have reverted to a wild state. Horses tough enough to survive the scorching heat, abundant mosquitoes, stormy weather and poor quality food found on this remote, windswept barrier island have formed a unique wild horse society. Enjoy their beauty from a distance, and you can help make sure these extraordinary wild horses will continue to thrive on Assateague Island. Local folklore describes the Assateague horses as survivors of a shipwreck off the Virginia coast.
Herd’s Fate Lies in Preservation Clash, The New York Times (Uploaded 05-14-2012)
Come summer, the beaches of this barrier island will be choked with cars and sunbathers, but in the off-season the land is left to wild horses…
Wild horse on the bay side of Assateague Island National Park. Photo source: ©© Cody Wms
