Tuesday Video: Corolla Horses Under a Rainbow

Now how is that for a fairy tale moment??

When a coastal storm moved offshore of North Carolina’s Outer Banks, a rainbow appeared over the sea — and beneath the rainbow appeared a small band of wild horses, the free-roaming equines descended from colonial Spanish stock shipwrecked on the Banks in the late 1500s.

The horses appear to relax, rolling in the damp sand and enjoying the calm after the storm. Let this moment of peace set the tone for the rest of your day:

The “Banker horses” or Corolla wild horses are believed to be descended from escaped or shipwrecked Spanish stock in the Outer Banks from expeditions in the late 1500s. The story may call to mind the origin of another famous group of Eastern seaboard free-roaming horses on Assateague Island; in a similar story arc the Corolla wild horses were eventually protected by local horsemen coming together to preserve the breed and encourage safe interaction between the horses and the public.

The Corolla wild horses are managed today by the non-profit Corolla Wild Horse Fund, with weekly observation and annual census. Herd numbers on limited habitat space are controlled through the PZP fertility vaccine, which helps limit the number of foals born annually as well as increases the lifespan for mature mares in the herds.

To learn more about the Corolla wild horses, please visit the Corolla Wild Horse Fund’s website.