Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1888-01-12
WILD PONIES OF THE COAST. =
Pecu,iarities of a Hardy Race of Horses
Called "Bankers"-The CorraIling.

Called "Bankers''-The Corra1ling.
On the banks or sand bars that divide the
Atlantic ocean from Pamlico sound, North
Carolina, just inside the lighthouse that
marks out to the mariner dreaded Cape
Lookout, there is to be found hardy race of
ponies known as "bankers." These ponies
have lived there as long as the tradition of
the oldest inhabitant dates back Entirely
surrounded by deep water at all seasons,
having no communication with the main
land, and being barren of vegetation save a
scanty growth of sedge grass and low shrubs,
the banks have remained uninhabited except
by these ponies, which seem to thrive and
multiply in spite of the hardships to which
they are exposed. How they first came
there, or of what origin, is conjecture, and
tradition merely hints the story of violent
storm, with its attendant shipwreck and loss
of all on board, save lot of ponies from
some European port which were cast upon
the sands, and surviving the storm became
the progenitors Of the race Of bankers now
so numerous.
Having to rely on instinct alone, these ami
mails are subject of study to the naturalist,
as they are prey not only to the driving
sands but to the storms of the cape, that
break upon and over the narrow sand bar
and change with each recurring hurricane
the topography of the country. The ponies,
choosing the protected side of the sand hill
locks, burrow deep into the yielding sand
and stamp out protected stall, where they
take refuge from the storm; and, while many
are destroyed, their number has increased.
Now the stock is owned and yearly herded by
enterprising owners, who brand with regis
tered mark such old ones as are driven into
the pens, and the colts of all, WHICH instinc-
lively follow their dams into the inclosure.
This corralling is the event of the season,
and takes place early in June, late in July
and early in September of each year. The
days selected are gala days, and the innab-
itants of the coast, and even visitors from the
interior of the state, gather to witness the
sight. The herders, separating in squads,
take their position far up the banks, and
gradually forming by concert continuous
living fence-drawing in its line and forcing
each stray pony before them-they approach
the pens with shouts and yells that only
banks herders can produce. The excitement
is intense as an occasional pony escapes
through the surrounding, and then the line
must be at once strengthened by reserves, for
fear of a general stampede. As the fright
ened ponies draw near the stockade they be-
come confused and seem to tread each other
down, until finally they are safe within the
inclosure. Now the expert herders with
lassoes, accompanied by helpers shouting and
wildly crying, select the animals designated
by their owners, soon bringing them into
subsection, and while the more refractory
youngsters have to be thrown in order to be
branded, the majority are held and branded
with the initial of their respectiye dams
This work done, the older ponies are picked
out by spectators and individual purchasers,
and caught and penned separately until they
are sold, and, on flats or sail boats, brought
to the mainland to be scattered over the state
for use on the farms and as saddle ponies for
the young folk.-American Agriculturist