OCRACOKE PONIES

One of Ocracoke Island's attractions is the National Park Service Pony Pen on the eastern end of the island. The ponies that call the 160-acre pasture home are widely believed to be descended from Spanish mustangs that once roamed Ocracoke freely . Islanders and the ponies co-existed peacefully for 200 years, often putting them to work hauling lifesaving equipment or fishing boats. Up until the late 1950's Ocracoke residents held an annual "Pony Penning" on the Fourth of July. The ponies were caught, penned, branded and released. The owners registered the animals, then sold them at auction.

One Ocracoke native, Captain Marvin Howard, decided the ponies could be put to better use, and in 1956 he established the first mounted Boy Scout Troop in the country on the island. To join the troop, a scout had to catch, pen and break his own pony, or he had to raise the money to purchase one at auction. Many male Ocracoke residents still recall how they would catch a pony, then walk the horse out into the shallow sound until the water was deep enough to float a saddle on its back. Then the boy would gently mount his horse.

In 1957, the State of North Carolina enacted stock laws that required all wild animals, including horses, on the Outer Banks to be penned or removed. The state General Assembly made an exception for the Ocracoke Boy Scouts, but the troop lasted only a few more years. By the end of the decade, the National Park had formed Cape Hatteras National Seashore, and with construction of Highway 12 down the spine of Ocracoke Island, the Park Service rounded up all the remaining ponies and penned them, where they have remained ever since.