Shackleford Banks lay between the Bogue Banks to the west and the Core Banks to the north east. They are now uninhabited by humans, though they are still the home of a herd of feral horses.

It still has the call of home, however, to many whose roots are now on Harkers Island, or in the Promise Land section of Morehead City or the other Down East villages.

In the 1850s, whaling thrived on the banks, especially in the Diamond City. Unlike the whalers of Melville's Moby Dick, these folks lived on the shore and killed only a few whales each season. The rest of the year they fished for mullet, crabbed and clammed, gigged flounder and farmed. Although Diamond City was the largest settlement, the banks housed also housed communities known as Wade's Shore and Bell's Island.

Hurricanes in 1896 and 1899 ravaged the island and by 1900 most of the families had relocated to the mainland. Many of them disassembled their homes from the Banks, loaded them on boats and floated them across the sound for reassembly. Until the mid 1980s, many of the families returned to camps on the banks each summer, where the fished and shared in the Banks traditional sense of community.

The Cape Lookout National Seashore, authorized in 1966, brought a sad end to this tradition, as most of the families had no deeds to their camps. They did not leave until they were forced to, and feelings still run strong about the issue. Many of the camps were burned by their owners.

Horses at the Great Marsh, Shackleford Banks, NC (Photo: Carolyn Mason

The Shackleford Banks horses (though they measure 10-13 hands, well under the 14.5 hand definition of a pony) are descendants of domestic horses. Their small stature reflects their diet of marsh grass. Numbering between 100 - 110, they are preserved by a partnership between the National Parks Service and the Foundation for Shackleford Horses, Inc. Carolyn Mason, of the Foundation, tells us "I think that the term ponies was/is used in this area signifying affection for the horses as well as an allusion to their small size. You see it used in other ways, too; for example polo "ponies" are really horses. The Indians captured "Spanish horses".. and they became known as "Indian ponies." Breeding programs for size and physical chacteristics versus breeding in the wild influenced it all, too.

Local lore maintains "The horses have always been here. They swam ashore off sinking ships". And genetic testing seems to confirm that these could only be descendants of the Spanish horses of 400 years ago. And Carolyn adds, in response to a question about their small size, "...it would have been hard for the "little conquistadors," dressed in armor, to ride 18 hand horses without packing ladders to mount and dismount. I read that the average man in Elizabethan times stood about 5' 2"... so the Spanish of the same era (1500-1600) probably weren't any larger. Some of the foundation breeds of the Spanish horses weren't especially large, and the geneticist that evaluated the Shacklefords believes that environment influences size. Smaller body size in any environment is easier to sustain in times of grass shortage, water shortage, etc.

The herd is managed to avoid compromising the grazing. Periodically the Park Service and the Foundation remove selected horses for adoption and others receive birth control drugs. We got to see the registered Spanish Mustang, Absarokee-SMR#2444, whose father was an NC Banker; a half-grown filly from Shackleford that Carolyn adopted, and five "boys" (two are adopted and awaiting transport; three have to be gentled some for future adoption) and agree whole heartedly with Carolyns assessment: They ARE all great!

To view this local legacy, walk or boat along the beach. Binoculars are helpful. When you spot a horse or horses, get comfortable and wait. If you move too close they will move away.

Other Shackleford Banks Resources Online

Rekindling Memories: Descendants Celebrate 100th Anniversary of Great Storm from Sea Grant, North Carolina Coastwatch

Foundation for the Shackleford Horses includes printable form to support the Foundation with time or monetary contributions.

Diamond City - Shackleford Banks, North Carolina History

Library of Congress Bicentennial Local Legacies features the Shackleford Horses.