Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1903-03-04
NORTH CAROLINA PONIES.
Of the Barbary Horses
Which Sir Walter Raleigh Sent
With His Colonists.

With His Colonists.
There is really no more historical az
we'll as interesting and curious terri.
tory in the United States than the long
sand banks which mark the eastern
boundary Of North Carolina, and which
form a vast breakwater within which
are the sounds through which the gov
ernment now proposes to provide an
inland waterway which will end the
terrors Of Cape Hatteras. The writer
has, told for the Sunny South the story
Of the part of the banks Of which Cape
Hatteras forms vast promontory, and
this is to be a story about the part fur
ther to the southwark, where the little
ponies are, the only wild horses east OF
the Mississippi; ponies which have over
three centuries of history behind them;
The part of the banks in question is
known as "Shackleford's Banks" TAX
ing it's name from the chief owner. Be-
ginning at Ocracoke Inlet, this stretch
Of sand reaches to Bogue Inlet, ter
minating at shackleford's Point. in
front Of the town Of Beaufort.
Shackleford's Banks are about forty
miles long. low-lying. with here and
there dunes, or sand hills, rising to q
height of, say, thirty or forty feet, tree
in this mass of nearly subAtropical veg
citation, most Of 1t evergreen. the Span
ish bayonet. prickly pear, or small cac-
tus. and the fan or scrub palmetto.
There are homes here and there along
the irregular stretch Of Shackleford's q
Banks. and there is also light house.
and near 1t great natural harbor Of
refuge, at Cape Lookout, which the
government is also planning to utilize.
On Shackleford's Banks alone are the
little ponies referred to. It is strange.
but true. that these are found in their
wild state nowhere else. There are said
to be about 1900 of them on the banks.
Inquiry made Of observant residents
as to whether the number Of the ponies
had decreased during the past fifty
years brought the response that they
had, and that until about 1850 the
ponies increased. The ponies weigh
about 800 pounds and their height is
about thirteen or fourteen hands-that
is, Al to Al feet. Their life Ii mainly on
the banks, though in very stormy
weather they sometimes swim over to
the mainland. a distance Of two to five
miles away. Their food is marsh
grass, leaves Of scrubby trees, and
shrubs and berries, particularly the
berries Of the holly. The woods give
them usually good shelter. and hence
1t is but seldom that they seek the
shelter Of the mainland. They live to
quite an age. but the average Is about
% years. Some reach the age Of 40.
These ponies have owners. The
"banks" are owned by grants sold by
the state. These people make pens out
Of drift wood and rough logs and poles
and into these the ponies and their
colts are driven and branded. A colt
following a branded mare is consider
ed the property. Of the owner Of the
mare. and he holds 1t. In cases where
there are colts which do not follow
the mares. then the "penners." that L.,
the men who make and own the pens,
take them. Such Is the unwritten law.
The ponies are driven out of the scrub
by drivers or herders, and this Is a
work of no small difficulty, as the scrub
is so thick as often to be a Jungle,
threaded by thousands Of narrow paths,
through the shining sand. The wind
and the salt keep down much Of the
vegetation, SO that there one may see
hickory trees not over three feet in
height, yet loaded with nuts, and horse
chestnut trees equally as dwarfed.
The colts are covered with hair sew
eral inches in length, natures protec-
ton against the weather. This Is call
ed colt hair and looks like felt. 1t falls
off in large flakes. Most Of the colts
are Of faded brown color, but when
their hair falls of they come out
in their true color, which is sometimes
black They are termed colts until they
are branded, though they may be three
years old or more before they are
penned and the brand put on.
The ponies are always known, in all
parts of the state, as banker" ponies.
They do not appear to be sold much
outside of North Carolina, as the people
in other states do not know anything
about them. They cross well with
horses. When taken up-country and
fed upon hay, corn and oats they fill
out and darken in color somewhat.
Their instinct is remarkable. They
know by means Of it the way to get to
the mainland or to the islands with the
minimum amount Of swimming, and
the writer has seen them wade great
distances without getting out Of their
depth, making various changes and
turns in direction to conform to the
shoals. Yet they are fearless SWIM
mers. They paw holeS IN the sano at
low-lying places and thus get drinking
water.
Though an inlet only about two
miles in width separates shakelford's
Banks from Bogus Banks, yet the po-
nies never go on the latter banks. Nor
do they cross Ocracoke inlet.
The ancestors Of these hardy and
valuable little horses were the Barbary
horses which Sir Walter sent over with
his colonists to Roanoke island. They
have bred and multiplied and for at
least two centuries have been utilized
by the people of that section. Sir Wal
ter's colonists, when the relief from
England was so long delayed In reach
Jpo thorn uent with tho Indians to the