Wild horse struck by hit-and-run driver on NC’s Outer Banks, searchers say

One of the wild horses roaming North Carolina’s Outer Banks was the victim of a hit-and-run but is recovering, according to the nonprofit Corolla Wild Horse Fund.

The crash happened around 9 p.m. Friday, July 4, and it ignited a lengthy search the next day to determine the fate of the horse.

“Witnesses reported seeing a pickup truck traveling at a high speed strike a horse on Ocean Pearl Road in Carova,” the fund wrote in a July 11 Facebook post. “Witnesses said the horse fell to the ground, but then got up and ran off into the brush. The driver of the truck did not stop. ... The horse that was struck could not be located.”

Using a description provided by witnesses, fund staff set out on a search and four hours later found a horse showing signs of “blunt force trauma,” officials said.

By coincidence, the stallion was found in the yard of the same person who reported the crash, the fund says.

“Upon inspection, the stallion was indeed moving stiffly and did have a very swollen shoulder,” fund officials said. “He was not limping, did not have any open wounds, and overall seemed sore but fine. ... He was extremely lucky.”

The horse has continued to show improvement “and there is no indication that he has any internal injuries,” officials said.

Corolla Wild Horse Fund uses donations to tend a herd of more than 100 wild horses at the northern end of the state’s Outer Banks. Eight horses have been killed in vehicle collisions over the past 10 years, the fund reports.

The most recent incident, on June 14 in Carova, involved a driver who was accused of being intoxicated, The Outer Banks Voice reported.