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Wandering freely among the 7,500 plus acres between the end of NC12 in Corolla and the Virginia line, the Corolla wild horses are as much a part of the beauty of landscape of the 4WD area as the beach, sand dunes and maritime forest. At this point, the herd is estimated to be at 100 horses.
The horses and that sense of simpler life are major reasons why people line the beaches of Carova or choose to vacation in an area accessible by 4WD vehicles only—a strip of barrier island 11 miles long with no stores, gas stations or services of any kind.
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How to drive on Corolla beaches & enjoy the wild horses!
Visitation to the 4WD beaches of the Currituck Banks had been growing for some time, but when COVID restrictions took hold, the Carova beaches exploded in popularity. Development has also accelerated, and there is growing concern that the horses will lose habitat they need for their survival.
That quickly changing landscape is the most significant issue facing the herd, according to Chris Winter, the new Chief Executive Officer of the Corolla Wild Horse Fund (CWHF), who took over that post in August. “When we looked back at where we were pre-COVID, and then through COVID and now post-COVID, up here in the northern beaches the amount of people, the amount of pressure on the horses and habitats is accelerating rapidly. We’re living in an ever- changing dynamic environment,” he said.
Although the herd is the focus of the CWHF, Winter points out that the health of the herd cannot be separated from the overall well-being of the area.
“Ultimately where this is so important is, we are talking about the future of that habitat and that means for people, for horses, and everything else that relies on that habitat,” he said. “If the ecosystem breaks down for the horses, there’s a good chance of breaks down for people.”
When Winter came to the CWHF, the organization already had a plan in place to purchase property to protect the habitat for the horses. “A couple of years ago, the board identified as strategically and appropriately, that land acquisition was a necessary step to continue to protect habitat to protect the horses,” he said. The hope is that a greenway for the herd can be created, something Winter describes as, “a contiguous corridor as opposed to kind of patchwork pieces of property all over the beach.”
At a special Currituck County Commissioners meeting in early October, Board Chairman Bob White brought up the concept of working with the CWHF to purchase land for the purpose of creating a corridor for the horses. Asked if he was aware that White, who owns Bob’s Wild Horse Tours, was going to make the suggestion, Winter said he did have discussions with White.
“He wanted to bring to the county the potential of having the county involved in…a public private partnership,” he said. “It’s an important conversation for the county to have.”
Winter noted, however, that although Currituck County has a role to play in helping to move the idea forward, the funding for a greenway would have to come primarily from private donors. In discussion at the county workshop, the commissioners held the same position.
There have already been some lots purchased by the CWHF, and they are well away from the shoreline where the most expensive and desirable lots are located. The herd primarily travels to the west of the dunes and creating a contiguous corridor in that area has its own set of challenges.
“There’s all kinds of different owners of the land here,” Winter said. “You have county property, you have state property, federal property and private property.”
It will take money to implement the plan, and Winter, who was director of development for Living Water International, and most recently, the CEO of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Eastern North Carolina, comes from a background in nonprofit management fundraising. With that experience has come insight into why people choose to work with a particular organization.
“What I have found over time, is that there is an enormous desire to do good out there in the world, and we all find our place and for some, that’s the ability to invest their resources into missions that have the impact that they’re looking for,” he said. “When anybody gives money, they’re making an investment in impact. The most powerful thing somebody can do for us is hand us a dollar because they’re saying, ‘We trust you.’”
It is that sense of shared purpose that Winter sees as the heart of how the CWHF will move forward and how over time, the horses will thrive in an environment that people will also enjoy.
“If we ultimately want to see the long-term protection of the beaches, of the habitat of the horses, and the ability to sustainably live in the beaches as well, it requires all of us to come together and sit down at the table,” he said. “How do we build bridges? And how do we find common ground to move forward?”
