Locals and visitors alike will tell you that one major draw to the beautiful Crystal Coast are the wild Shackleford horses. Here they are a unique historic and cultural legacy as well as a natural and scientific resource. In 1996 a group of concerned Carteret County citizens started the Foundation for Shackleford Horses, Inc. This non-profit corporation was formed out of concern about the announced plans by the National Park Service to reduce the size of the herd of wild horses on Shackleford Banks to numbers that people believed would be detrimental to them. Foundation members consulted with scientists, veterinarians, and equine experts who shared their time, their expertise, their thoughtful consideration to maintaining a viable herd on Shackleford and the concerns of the public, and gave the Foundation members the necessary information to move forward as confident and credible advocates for the horses. That information and advocacy resulted in the enactment of the Shackleford Banks Wild Horses Protection Act in 1998, which ensured the preservation and protection of the wild horses of Shackleford, and co-management of the herd by the National Park Service and the Foundation for Shackleford Horses, Inc.
For more information or to make a donation, please go to www.shackleford-horses.org.