Wednesday, August 19, 2026
By Submitted Story on May 23, 2025
Corolla Wild Horse Fund shared this post on Friday afternoon, May 23. Well, we had another exciting morning. Let us preface all of this by saying the ladder is no longer around her neck and the mare and foal are both completely fine.
At about 10:30 this morning we received a call that there was a horse with a ladder around her neck. Three of our staff were very close by and found her immediately (she was pretty hard to miss), and several residents had also seen her and came to help. At first we thought maybe if she dropped her head down the ladder would slide off, but every time it hit the back of her ears she would understandably fling her head back up. Luckily she wasn’t all that bothered by it so at least we didn’t have to worry about her panicking and hurting herself or her foal. One of the characteristics of this breed is that they are very level-headed and not reactionary, and this mare was a good example of that today.
We spent about an hour trying to get her into a position where we could get close enough to pull it off but didn’t have any luck with that plan – she was too fast and there is just too much wide open space (this was one of the few times when that is a bad thing!). But we got lucky when she dropped her head to graze at one point and the ladder slipped down over one ear. We all held our breath and thank goodness it fell the rest of the way off. Everyone in the surrounding houses who had been watching from their decks cheered, and so did we. The ladder was retrieved and both the mare and the foal are just fine.
Just another day at the office. Sharing here on social media so that hopefully everyone who watched this happen in real time sees the update and can rest assured that all’s well that ends well. If you’ve seen pictures of this posted on other pages or groups, please share the link to this post so that people do not continue to worry!
We’d also like to thank our community for once again jumping in to help when needed. We didn’t even have to ask – you were there and ready to do whatever was necessary to help this horse and we are so grateful. Knowing that we can always count on you makes these very stressful situations a little less stressful.
If you witness a horse in danger or distress please call 252-453-3633. They will immediately notify CWHF and can also dispatch law enforcement if necessary.
To learn more about the Corolla Wild Horse Fund or to support them visit corollawildhorses.com and follow them on Facebook.
Comments
Horse Pucky
Carova has become a zoo, both literally and figuratively. This incident shows the out of control situation that exists with this herd of habituated feral horses. They are forced to live in this resident area with the property owners, the tourists, the very profitable horse tours, and the heavy traffic — all of which is facilitated by the “non-profit” Corolla Wild Horse Fund (CWHF).
The CWHF board of directors includes the owners of two of the largest horse tour companies and others with a vested interest in the continued collusion between the horse tour businesses and the CWHF. If the CWHF was a true animal rights organization they would lobby to end the horse tours instead of facilitating the horse tours.
Currituck County owns a nice 300 acre property in Carova that could be fenced off for the herd. The horses could be humanely provided with minimal shelter, food, and vet care. The stallions could be gelded and then these feral horses could live out their lives in peace.
m
Well, moved them up there to be safe and now we encourage thousands of people to come to the area to see them, what did you think would happen!
kdh backseat reviewer
Interesting to find out where this horse happened to put her head in the same place as a step ladder.
New Ordinance for Carova – all ladders, including, step, fold away, etc. shall be registered with the CWHF to ensure that any misadventures by a wild horse are justified. Violators shall have their ladders promptly confiscated and donated to the stairway to heaven fund.