Conserving Banker Horses One Foal At A Time

Our primary goal is to prevent the extinction of the Banker horses, particularly those from Corolla. Immediately before the Great Depression there were over five thousand wild Banker horses on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Today only two small bands exists,the Corollas and the Shackelfords. Located at opposite ends of the Outer Banks, each of these bands consists of less than 120 horses, likely very much less.

There are four lines of maternal DNA at Shackleford and only one at Corolla. The Corolla band is starting to experience genetic collapse with fewer live foals being born to Corolla/Corolla breedings. The Shackelford band is one of the groupings that we use to bring in sufficient genetic diversity to prevent the extinction of these horses. This spring and summer we hope to have enough foals born here to increase the number of existing Corollas by from 2-5%.

This foal to be's father has such a gentle and kind nature that he took a saddle two days after coming to our program and took a rider on the third day. The foal should be extraordinary. This mare has a daughter from another Corolla stallion in the band of horses that we donated to Boy's Home in Covington Virginia.

We have a special responsibility to preserve and promote these horses. The very unfortunate reality is that it is  likely that I have ridden these horses more miles than anyone left on this planet. I know their incredible endurance. I know how closely they bond with people. I know how gentle and easy to train they are. I know that they can easily carry adults all day long.

And I know that we do not have the right to allow them to go exinct.

We are a 501 (c) 5 non-profit breed conservation program. We have no paid staff. Everyone that works in our program is a volunteer. Our program is unique and multifaceted. 

See our web site www.millswampindianhorses.com and learn about the breadth of our program. 

Our horses consume over 10,000 pounds of hay each week. This is our first month long social media fundraising effort.

After you take a look at the website it would be great if you would share this post around to everyone that you know who cares about horses or people.

You can make a contribution directly on the web site.