Corolla Wild Horse Herd

Somewhere on the northern Outer Banks, past the point where the pavement ends and the 4x4 beaches begin, horses are moving. They arrived here, the story goes, aboard Spanish vessels in the 16th century — survivors of shipwrecks or expeditions that failed and left the animals behind. DNA testing confirmed what the physical evidence already suggested: these are Colonial Spanish Mustangs, designated the North Carolina State Horse, and one of the oldest and rarest strains left anywhere. The Corolla Wild Horse Fund, a nonprofit, manages the herd. You reach them only by driving the sand.