Small herd of wild horses on NC barrier island welcomes an addition to the family

A rare birth has been recorded in the ranks of a small herd of barrier island horses linked to the nation's first European settlers.

The foal was born Tuesday on Ocracoke Island, part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore managed by the National Park Service.

Park service officials announced the birth of Winnie on Facebook and added that her mother is a mare brought to Ocracoke from a nearby island to thwart inbreeding. The foal will stay close to her mother for six months before joining the rest of the herd in the fall, park officials said.

Winnie brings the Ocracoke Island herd to a total of 16 horses. The newborn is named for Winnie Blount, a former slave who moved to Ocracoke with her husband after the Civil War.

Banker horses, as they are called, are a a breed of feral horses that live on Outer Banks areas of Ocracoke, Shackleford and Currituck Banks.

The Ocracoke Island herd is believed to have been left behind by shipwrecked explorers in the 16th or 17th century, according to the National Park Service.

"If a ship ran aground near the coast, animals were thrown overboard to lighten the load so that the ship could be re-floated," says a park service page devoted to Banker horses.

The bloodline of the Ocracoke herd probably began when Spanish mustangs on Sir Richard Grenville’s ship Tiger, which ran aground at Ocracoke in 1585, says the park service.

Development of the Outer Banks in areas like Corolla has posed the biggest danger for the horses' survival. In some instances, herds on other islands were move to more remote areas to protect them.

The National Park Service has protected the herd on Ocarcoke since the early 1960s and has an Adopt-A-Pony program that invites donors to help pay for their food and veterinary care.

This story was originally published May 4, 2018 at 3:07 PM with the headline "Small herd of wild horses on NC barrier island welcomes an addition to the family."