Foal found on Outer Banks proves wild horse resilience after deadly hurricane season

The Corolla Wild Horse Fund found a foal wandering the Outer Banks island and it’s believed to be the first born since Hurricane Dorian killed 28 wild horses at the southern end of the barrier islands.

Photos of the long-legged baby were posted Friday on Facebook, showing it still had an awkward gait as it learned to walk alongside its mom, North Star.

The foal, named Arturo overnight, entered the world via a marsh deep in the maritime forest, the Facebook post says.

“We’re estimating the little one to be about a week old,” herd manager Meg Puckett posted in a Saturday update.

“Arturo is a special foal for many reasons - the first of 2020, the first for North Star, a ray of light during a dark time in the world, and a healthy addition to a herd that needs new members. ...Arturo is proof that life goes on.”

There are about 100 wild horses roaming Corolla, and there are additional herds at the Shackleford Banks and on Cedar Island.

It was the herd of Cedar Island that was hard hit by Hurricane Dorian in September, when a wall of water washed across the island. Twenty-eight wild horses, along with feral cows, were washed into the sound and drowned in the waters off Cape Lookout National Seashore.

The Corolla herd survived intact, despite widespread flooding reported over much of the system of barrier islands.

Nearly 1,000 people have shared the fund’s birth announcement in the past day, with hundreds suggesting names. The fund decided on Arturo Ananias Dare by combining the name of the foal’s grandfather with that of Ananias Dare, the father of “Virginia Dare, of Lost Colony fame,” the fund said in a Facebook post.

“People have suggest(ed) Corona, which I just don’t get,” Puckett said on the fund’s Facebook page. “Not naming a precious baby after a virus killing hundreds of thousands of people! But something like Attender would be a lovely nod to all those heroes!”

The wild mustangs roaming parts of the Outer Banks are believed to be descended from horses brought to the coast 500 years ago by Spanish colonists, according to Outerbanks.com. The Corolla Wild Horse Fund is a nonprofit that cares for the herd on that island.

This story was originally published April 4, 2020 at 9:22 AM with the headline "Foal found on Outer Banks proves wild horse resilience after deadly hurricane season."