Wild Horses of the
Carolina Plains
The breed endured for four hundred
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«sirs — wolves, roundups nnd sports¬
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Near ihc North and South Carolina
line between the Waccamaw River and
the Great Caw Caw Swamp in Bruns¬
wick County. N. C.. the land, many
years ago. was as flat and level as a
table top. broken only by small patches
of brush. I his whole plain was covered
by a short, but very thick, water grass
which afforded excellent pasturage.
On this immense savannah, for over
two hundred years, roamed great bands
of wild horses, which animals had
never know n the touch of man.
These horses were described by an
eye-witness as being a cross between
the famous Carolina marsh pony, or
“tacky," and the Kentucky horses, but
were much larger than the mustangs of
the Texas plains. They were hard and
wiry and possessed great speed and
endurance.
Brought By Spaniards
It is not unreasonable to assume that
these animals were the descendants of
the war horses that were brought to this
coast by the Spanish explorer, one Lu¬
cas Vasqucz de Ayllon of Santo Do¬
mingo. It is a historical fact that Ayllon
established a colony on Long Bay near
the Waccamaw River in August. 1526;
and. according to the North Carolina
Colonial Records, at that time he had
in his possession eighty-nine horses. It
is also a fact that prior to the Spanish
invasion of this continent the American
Indians had no horses.
The records say that after months of
hardships. Indian attacks, and the
death of Ayllon on October 18 of that
same year, those colonists that survived
returned to their homeland.
The horses left in the wilds of the
New World thrived and multiplied.
It is also a known fact that in the
1 6th Century the great trans-Atlantic
12
trade between Spain and Spanish
America was in progress and a large
number of ornate, but clumsy, treasure
galleons were cast ashore on the sandy
southeastern coast of the Carolinas,
where they were pounded to wreckage
by the surf. These great vessels, of five
and six decks, were loaded not only
with treasure, armament and provisions
but also the horses of the soldiers. As
horses are good swimmers, many of
these animals could have reached the
shoie and reverted to their wild state.
Wild Horse Roundups
Like the wild mustangs of Mexico
and the western United States, each
herd of mares and colts were led by a
stallion, and although the Indians, pan¬
thers and wolves caught and killed a
great many of them: yet the breed, de¬
pending on speed for survival, managed
to endure for a period of 4(10 years.
A little over a century after Ayllon.
F.dwnid Moseley reported in 1733 that
No'th Carolina affords plenty of wild
horses.
It was the custom of the early settlers
who lived near the boundary line of
the two States to hold a wild horse
rcund-up each spring, at which time all
of the three-year-olds of the band were
caught, penned and eventually broken
for domestic use. As late as 1897 this
custom still prevailed, and a visitor to
this event in those days stated: "Fox
hunts and deer drives are fine sports,
but if you want to go on a chase that
will really be exhilarating, and at the
same time test the mettle and bottom of
your horse anti the endurance of the
rider. I recommend running down wild
horses. Sometimes even the best of rid¬
ers on the best of mounts will not be
successful."
The people for miles around came
to these round-ups and at the end of
the event blue ribbons were awarded to
the choice rider and horse.
“Reputations were made." it was re¬
ported. “and horses could bo ridden to
death." These hunts "were not a one
mile dash, but a stern chase." and the
stallions led their bands in circuits of
twenty, thirty, or more miles, or back
and forth across the green savannah.
('based to Kxhaustion
Unlike the cowboys of the West
who arc experts with the lasso, these
horsemen of the Carolinas simply
chased their quarry until the wild
horses were exhausted. When the hunt¬
er finally got alongside of the animal
he had selected, he tossed a rope
around his neck and brought him to a
halt, after w hich he was subdued.
The plan most commonly employed
in these hunts was to run a band all
one afternoon until dark, then at day¬
break. the hunters, mounted on fresh
horses resumed the chase. Ihc wild
animals, sore and stiff from the run of
the previous day. were then easily over¬
taken.
"I had been invited to join in these
hunts." said the visitor, "but I never
realized what a fine sport it was until I
had a taste of it. Your horse also loves
it. and seems as anxious to test his
speed as when the hounds, in full cry,
brings a deer flying by him. To hear
the thunder of a couple of hundred set
of hooves and the defiant neighing, as
the drove dashes over a carpet that is
as pretty and green as a well kept lawn;
and to feel a good horse under you
trembling with excitement is really." he
said, "a thrilling experience."
The horses of the Carolina sa¬
vannahs probably had as much bottom
as any wild ones in the world, perhaps
greater endurance than those of the
great western plains. This was due to a
shortage of pasture and an excess
population of wild horses in the West,
where vast herds of hundreds of thou-
( Continued on page 24 )
THE STATE. June 1. 1972
