The Shacklefords of Cedar Island

Many people would like to be part of the effort to preserve the wild horses of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Unfortunately many feel that they cannot handle a stallion and cannot afford to raise colts from one of the mares every other year. A spectacular opportunity is about to fall into the hands of those people.

There is a small herd of pure Shacklefords on Cedar Island which is off of the southern coast of North Carolina. They are managed by people that care greatly about them. This is no BLM "round'em up and lock 'em up story." The briefest conversation with Woody Hancock is all that it takes to see where his heart is. He wants only the best for these horses.

Herd size is managed on Cedar Island by gelding excess males. The horses shown above are all young geldings. There are a few others that are younger that have also been gelded that will be available for adoption. Woody will be rounding these horses up in at the end of March.

We need to place these geldings in homes where they will be trained and used to promote awareness of these horses. I hope that each will end up with owners that understand and practice natural horse care.Though they are geldings, they can still help protect the future of these Colonial Spanish mustangs by simply being ridden publicly. One who adopts one of these horses will face a lot of questions from their horse owning friends, such as:

How can that little pony carry an adult 40 miles without wearing out?
Why is it that he never seems to need to see the vet?
Why is it that Shackleford never needs shoes and is always sound?
How can he always be in such great condition when he does not eat much more than a billy goat?
Why is this wild horse gentler than any of the domestic horses that I have ever had?
What is that incredibly smooth gait that he uses called?

And now and then one will hear the most important of questions, "What can I do to help preserve these historic horses?"

More will be coming on contact information and the details of getting one of these great horses.

I know how great they are. In two days Holland, my Shackleford gelding will take me on a fifty mile in one day ride. (Don't worry, it won't be the first time that he has done so)