. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. bone structure and their similarity to old Spanish breeds. He says at least 10 horses in the herd are purebreds. They have five instead of six lumbar ver- tebrae, a distinct characteristic of the Spanish horse. Upon Stabler's recom- mendation, the horses were recognized by the Spanish Mustang Registry. A mixture of circumstances kept the bloodline of the horses pure. The horses tended to reject mates of dif- ferent breeds. And the isolation of Ocracoke made it hard to transport horses on and off the island
. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. bone structure and their similarity to old Spanish breeds. He says at least 10 horses in the herd are purebreds. They have five instead of six lumbar ver- tebrae, a distinct characteristic of the Spanish horse. Upon Stabler's recom- mendation, the horses were recognized by the Spanish Mustang Registry. A mixture of circumstances kept the bloodline of the horses pure. The horses tended to reject mates of dif- ferent breeds. And the isolation of Ocracoke made it hard to transport horses on and off the island. Also many islanders took pride in the horses' Spanish breeding and wished to keep the bloodline pure, Stabler says. And fate, says Jeannetta, may have added to the horses' purity. One mixed-breed herd was killed during a hurricane that struck the island, she says. Others were sold. And several horses brought to the island for breeding died because they could not withstand the swarms of salt-marsh mosquitoes and green-head flies and a diet of tough salt marsh grass. "You can tell a Banker pony as far as you can see it," Jeannetta says. "They have a short back. They're short-legged and thick chested. They have a proud neck and a long tail and mane. It's only when you get close to them that you can see the Barb, the Andalusian and the Arabian in their faces and ; The size of the herd has risen back to the 21 horses present today. And now each horse carries a name—Paint, Mr. Bob, Rainbow, La Baronesa, Owen K. Ballance. The herd is kept for the most part in an 168-acre pasture, just off the highway that runs between the Hat- teras ferry landing and Ocracoke village. Observation stands have been constructed by the Park Service for visitors to view horses. But the islanders still call the horses their own. "The people here know they have something unique, something as much a part of Ocracoke as they are," says Jeannetta. "A debate rose whe
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