When Great Writers Ride

Bonnie Gruenberg, the premier writer on the topic of the wild horses of the East Coast visited us last spring. Here is what she wrote about her first ride on Corolla.

"One of my pinnacle experiences of this year was a ride through near-total darkness on a once-wild black stallion names Manteo. Manteo lived wild on the Outer Banks of North Carolina until he was removed due to a health issue that required surgery. Mill Swamp Indian Horses, in Smithfield, Va saw him through the ordeal and trained him as an endurance horse. I visited Mill Swamp on a research trip for my upcoming book, 'Wild Horse Enigma', and was mounted on Manteo many miles from the stable when the Tidewater darkness closed in. We needed to return quickly and closed our legs on our mounts. Manteo took flight like an arrow loosed from a bow string.

There I was, galloping through a forest so black so deep, I literally could not see my hand in front of my face--but he could see the way. He took me at speed over a natural obstacle course of exposed roots, rocks,deep sucking mud and pools of water up to his hocks. Deer crashed gracelessly through the swamp as we passed. My serious fall from The Pone in 2011 scarred me emotionally, and fear often creeps in unbidden when I am in the saddle. Yet that night I had no choice to put my faith in this stallion--and he took care of me, unfazed by the sudden noises and bolting deer. It was a profound experience that I will always remember."

Bonnie is a great writer. I loved her work, "Hoof Prints in the Sand." I cannot wait for publication of "Wild Horse Enigma". Most of all I was delighted to give her the chance to ride for the first time some of the horses that she has been studying and writing about for years.

I was so pleased that my riders got a chance to meet her and she even gave a first rate slide show and lecture for them. This is just one expample of what we mean when we explain that our program is not about learning how to sit on a horse. We an educational, cultural, historical, environmental, and conservation program.

This summer I expect to have two foals born of our off site breeding program. Contact me if you want to own one of these spectacular horses and be part of preserving them for years to come.

(The picture above is of Rebecca on Manteo)