Funny video shows Outer Banks wild horses defying gate intended to keep them out

The wild horses roaming North Carolina’s Outer Banks are notoriously independent, and a video posted by the Corolla Wild Horse Fund proves they’re also masters of escape.

In the clip, recorded Thursday, a half dozen wild horses are seen using their noses to lift a rope, then walking under it to access a blocked off road.

“The wild horses think and behave differently than domestic horses — we experience it every day,” Corolla herd manager Meg Puckett wrote on Facebook.

“Barriers like fences and ropes are just challenges for the wild horses to get through, over, or under. They don’t see these things and think: ‘Oh, we aren’t supposed to go there.’ They see the grass on the other side and think: ‘How can we get over there?’ Instinct and basic needs win every time!”

The video “highlights what good problem solvers the horses are,” an attribute that has helped them survive for centuries on barrier islands where food is scarce and fresh water is found by pawing into the sand for natural springs.

About 100 wild horses roam the Corolla area, with an equally large herd found on the Shackleford Banks on the southern end of the Outer Banks (in Cape Lookout National Seashore).

Puckett told McClatchy News she shared the video to show property owners and 4x4 drivers what the horses are capable of, and how steps must be taken to prevent tragedies. This includes reduced driving speeds and putting hollow pool noodles on ropes and wires to prevent horses from running into them in the dark, she said.

A wild horse was killed in July 2019 after running “head first” into an unmarked guy-wire in the dark, the Corolla Wild Horse Fund reported. The horse, which had given birth four months earlier, was found tangled up in the wire.

“A single rope or strand of wire isn’t going to keep the horses out or away, and could actually be very dangerous,” Puckett said.

“People put up ropes, wire, and fences for lots of reasons (dune stabilization, to block off driveways, and sometimes to keep the horses out of areas like under houses) and often assume the horses won’t push past them. But 99% of the time they will, and there’s a chance they could get hurt if it’s sharp, thin and ragged.”

This story was originally published October 2, 2020 at 9:21 AM with the headline "Funny video shows Outer Banks wild horses defying gate intended to keep them out."