There is an island at the remote southern end of North Carolina's Outer
Banks where you might see wild horses playing in the surf, or grazing
within view of the Cape Lookout Lighthouse, or scattering into a rare,
weather-beaten maritime forest. The horse herd on Shackleford Banks has
long been a subject of fascination. Today, it is both one of the wildest
and most controlled animal populations on earth. An array of scientists
sees to it that the horses are born, battle for social rank, forage for
food, suffer the elements, and die without human interference. At the
same time, to protect the island from overgrazing, these scientists
practice the 21st-century paradox of "wilderness management"--a careful
plan of genetic testing and immunocontraception to maintain a target
population of 120 to 130 healthy horses. Mystery and controversy have
always surrounded the Shackleford horses. Some experts offer evidence
that they are the descendants of horses cast off foundering Spanish
galleons. Others cite proof that they are of much more recent origin.
Many people see them as symbols of bedrock American values like freedom
and self-sufficiency. But over the years, some have argued that they
pose a threat to the island's ecology and should be banned as feral
goats, sheep, and cattle were long ago. There is even disagreement over
what they are. Scientists say they're horses, but many people will
forever insist they're ponies. The Wild Horses of Shackleford Banks is a
comprehensive overview of the famous herd--its possible origins and
development, its hardiness in the face of hurricanes, its complex
relationship with humans, its hard-won protection within Cape Lookout
National Seashore. The book's plentiful illustrations--both archival and
contemporary--show why the Shackleford horses are so beloved among
visitors to the Outer Banks. *A portion of the proceeds from The Wild
Horses of Shackleford Banks will be contributed to the Foundation for
Shackleford Horses, Inc.
Carmine Prioli was born and raised in Boston, MA. He received his B.A.
from Suffolk University in 1968, his master's from Boston College in
1971, and his Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook
in 1975, all in English. Prioli moved to North Carolina in 1977 to teach
at North Carolina State University. From 2003 to 2005, he edited the
North Carolina Folklore Journal. He is the author of Hope for a Good
Season: The Ca'e Bankers of Harkers Island and editor of The Poems of
General George S. Patton, Jr.: Lines of Fire. He also co-edited Life
at the Edge of the Sea: Essays on North Carolina's Coast and Coastal
Culture with Candy Beal. He lives in Chapel Hill with his wife of
twenty-nine years, Elizabeth, and has two sons, John and Andrew. Scott
Taylor is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
He was a photographer for the Chapel Hill News and the Duke University
Marine Laboratory before opening Scott Taylor Photography, along with
his own gallery and studio, in Beaufort, North Carolina.
