The hurricane with no name threshed across the Atlantic coast in mid-September 1713, ripping at tobacco crops and sending panicked colonists inland, where the storm’s destructive power found them. 

…By then, the Spanish mustangs already had made a home on North Carolina’s thin, boomerang-shaped Outer Banks for two centuries, passing down cyclone-survival skills to foals for generations.

…Around 200 horses will stay and ride it out, as they have since the 16th century — seeking refuge under towering live oak trees.

It’s not their first rodeo, said Meg Puckett, the nonprofit’s herd manager. The wild horses will instinctually seek cover in wooded high grounds, standing in tight circles with their butts out like a reverse phalanx.

“After all that time, the herd just knows,” Puckett told The Washington Post by phone on Thursday, as wind hummed in the background, announcing Dorian’s inevitable approach up the coast. “That information is passed down from generation to generation.”

…They are thought to be descendants of horses that swam ashore after the shipwrecks.

Others believe they were simply abandoned by the Spaniards after various violent clashes with Native Americans and English settlers.

The horses are remarkably resilient in the harsh conditions, where fresh water and vegetation often give way to sand and salt. And they don’t scare like domestic horses. Facing a hurricane or a threat, they endure. “It says a lot about their resourcefulness and hardiness,” Puckett said. “They have an incredible will to survive.”

…In 2010, the Spanish mustang became the state horse of North Carolina, even as their future remains far from certain. Conservationists have focused their efforts on genetic diversity to keep mares and foals healthy, Puckett said.

…She is not concerned over Dorian’s approach. Many hurricanes have come and gone for 500 years, and the horses remain.

If they ever disappear, it’s unlikely that a hurricane will be the culprit.

Outer Banks wild horses will ride out Hurricane Dorian as usual – The Washington Post

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