Thursday, September 28, 2023
By Submitted Story on May 30, 2020
(A warning from the Corolla Wild Horse Fund)
This message was posted on the Corolla Wild Horse Fund Facebook page: Please PLEASE do not do this. It’s so incredibly dangerous for horse and human. Our staff is responding with information and law enforcement has been notified. This stallion has spent the last 3 days battling for his mares. He lost them, got them back for a while, lost them again, and now he’s back with them. He is not only on high alert, ready to fight at a moment’s notice, but he is also exhausted. He can’t even rest because people won’t respect his space. Don’t be selfish and inconsiderate like this. Admire the horses from a distance and respect the laws that are in place to keep everyone safe. It’s a pretty simple concept.
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Trashcan Man
Tourists don’t have to follow the rules….they’re entitled. That’s why they are here in a middle of a pandemic. No masks, no social distancing, no respect for local residents, can’t stay out of the dangerous Atlantic Ocean with rip currents raging….they are on vacation, what do you expect?
Ghost Crab
Quit harassing the horse and put your mask 😷 on when you are out in public places please 😎
hightider
There are at least 2 videos posted on Youtube, and filmed after the OBX was opened to the hordes, of people trying to interact with the horses on the beach in Carova. One shows a group of tourists harassing several horses, provoking locals to tell them to stop “for the 50th time.” This turned into a yelling cussing match with the tourists saying they would do as they pleased. No masks, no distancing, but putting their faces up to locals screaming and threatening. 3 full minutes. Go to Youtube, enter Carova NC, and filter for the last 30 days and see for yourself. And quit leaving food unattended on your chairs to tempt the horses. Use some common sense.
Mary
Unbelievably ignorant and disrespectful! Hope this person, and any others that are so stupid to do this are caught and fined…if not stomped by the WILD horse! (In that case, I guess they’ll try to sue the horse!)
Lou Briccant
Trashcan Man, where in the article do they identify the person as a tourist Sherlock? They don’t, you should really get your Tourist Derangement Syndrome looked into at this point. I guess “locals” don’t go on the beach.
James
As long as we’re getting those tourist dollars nothing else matters, right?
Johnny
Lol
That’s karma for you people, should’ve left the horses alone not make money off of driving around and bringing people around them.
Anything that happens to the horses should be at the expense of all the horse tour companies. Before they did that crap people left the horses alone for the most part.
It’s no secret us locals don’t spend anytime from duck North anymore.
They made their bed up there they can lay in it or fix it better yet build that bridge and stay out of dare county!
Travis
They are horses.
Horses.
Not endangered tigers, pangolins, mountain gorillas or black rhinos.
Horses.
There are so many wild ones out west they have to cull the herds. Excess horseflesh is sold to European countries that don’t have objections to eating horse meat.
I’ve gone on the Corolla horse tours when friends have come to town. It is the most underwhelming experience I can imagine. You see the Corolla horses then drive through Kitty Hawk where they are kept as pets all over the place. Interchangeable. I get as excited about seeing a feral cat. It is far more thrilling to see dolphins swimming offshore or a osprey carrying a fish back to her nest.
The only reason to keep people away from the horses is that people are stupid. They will feed them chocolate, marshmallows, bread and worse. They will harass the horse until it retaliates. They’ll try to set their children on the horse’s back for a selfie. People are dumb.
The “majesty” of the wild Corolla horse is an invented fiction. But there are some good reasons to keep people away from them.
surf123
@Travis It could not have been said anymore elegantly than you did. They are horses who happen to be free range. Nothing special or unique about them. There is no “wild” left in them. If anyone is harassing the horses it is the organized tour groups that stalk them everyday.
No local would ever be involved with these horses other than the animal rights zealots who think horses cannot make do without them. Unbelievably they can find suckers to give them money to blow on the effort.
Jimmy Z
Travis you are exactly right. They are only horses, oh but they are dissidents of the Spanish mustangs, well I am a dissident of the king of England but I am no better than anyone else. My father witnessed a farmer from Suffolk Virginia in the early 60’s bring trailer loads of horses here and dump them out. They were nothing special, he just couldn’t afford to feed them anymore. There are dissidents of Spanish mustangs all over. I live in carova and do not mind the horses, not even cleaning up after them so much. I do not like what they bring, massive amounts of horse tours. Last year 3th week of july, I put up a trail cam and counted 32 tour trucks in one day coming by my house. I live on a dead end road so that is 64 passes by my house in one day. They come from 8 in the morning until 8 at night, the noise from those diesel hummers all day long with the tour guide hanging his head out the window yelling to the people in the back, so much for the quiet quaint village of carova. Can’t see it getting much better when you have a county commissioner who owns several tour businesses who proved in the 4-20 commissioners meeting he can not separate his business form his commissioner duties.
And to Lou Briccant I would bet my right arm it was a tourist, maybe from another state or dare county or the Currituck mainland. The locals here don’t give two hoots about getting near the horses
Frank Zappa
The loosely used term “Tourists check their brains at the brain check room at the bridge” must be correct. I swear things are getting worse every year as far as their behavior. Yes…we need their dollars, but that doesnt givecthem the right to act like idiots. I’m not native but been here since 1978…not that it’s a big deal just giving my opinion. Rental home owners and hotels need to place a rules and regulations on how we do things here on the OBX. That might help some. Also Currituck county should NOT be able to charge for a pass to sit on the beach…its a money grab and gives the tourists a sense they have paid for the right to do anything. They shouldnt be able to charge Dare county residents either as they use Dare county to get to Corolla. Duck is devastated on the weekends with all the traffic and BS that comes with it. The Currituck commissioners really dropped the ball on approving. I do not agree with the horse tours either. Can anyone tell me…Do the tour group donate to help with herd management, etc. or do they just make bank driving all over Carova harassing the horses so some fools can take pictures of them? I’ve heard stories of some drivers going through residential property to get a good view…not sure about that though. Get rid of the horse tour companies in my opinion.
OhioBricker
It’s hilarious that locals think complaining about tourists on an internet message board has ANY effect whatsoever.
Trashcan Man
@OhioBricker: You prove why locals complain…..because you tourists don’t give a crap about us locals or common etiquette.
Scott
Lou Briccant, the only people who pull this nonsense are the “I paid X thousand dollars for my vacation, so I can do whatever I want” crowd. Those of us who live here are the only ones who pay attention to the rules about the horses. Locals just aren’t that interested. We see them all the time.