By Jeff Hampton
The Virginian-Pilot
It was the first rescue of a horse by Corolla Ocean Rescue
A Corolla wild horse stallion walks along the ocean on May 2, 2013, just before getting into a fight with another stallion. (Courtesy of Betty Lane)
COROLLA, N.C. – A blind and aging stallion is recovering after a rip current swept him seaward and lifeguards carried out the coastal community’s first wild-horse rescue.
On May 2, two stallions battled for supremacy over a harem of mares, a common occurrence among the wild horses on the Currituck Outer Banks. Already blind in one eye, the older stallion injured his other eye during the fight, said Karen McCalpin, director of the Corolla Wild Horse Fund.
He ran into the ocean and was caught in a riptide that carried him away from the beach and more than a mile down the shore.
The stallion reached a sandbar where he was able to stand. Directed over the phone by herd manager Wesley Stallings, lifeguards used rescue buoys to push the horse from behind and gradually guide him to land, McCalpin said.
It was the first rescue of a horse by Corolla Ocean Rescue, Chief Sylvia Wolff said.
The stallion’s better eye has healed some, but he remains nearly blind, she said. After the rescue, he was named Amadeo, meaning “blessed by God.” But he will not return to the wild herd, she said.
“He’s going to be our responsibility for the rest of his life,” she said. “He can’t go back.”…(CONTINUED)
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Categories: Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Nice story with a happy ending. Kudos to those who helped this old guy to safety and are helping him recover. These horses bring tourism and income just by being free there. Too bad the western bullheaded ranchers don’t see the same benefit in the wild mustangs and burros in the west. People don’t come to see their castle and sheep. They come to see the horses and the land. Stoopid people! Shared.
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I was fortunate enough to see those horses on a trip to where they were. There was a one eyed horse there, a beautiful dark bay who was dubbed Cyclops. That stallion in the picture looks like one of the horses I saw. I’m glad that the old stallion’s alright. According to our tour guide, who had been around for a long time and loved the horses like family, told us that there was a very large amount of stallions in comparison to mares. They had a few of the stallions, who had been gelded, up for adoption. .
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I know that this is an old post, but I just purchased on of Cyclops’s offspring for my 7 year old daughter. A 10 year old gelding named Skyco. He is trained and beautiful. A gentle soul that my daughter will grow up with and cherish forever. Love CSM’s
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I’m so happy he will be taken care of for the rest of his life but don’t ever count out a blind horse…they still know exactly how many carrots you have in your pocket! 🙂
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Wonderful story with a happy ending. People helping animals. That’s what it’s all about!
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This is such an inspiring story – humans caring for wild animals without killing them. It is just a distinct degree of education enlightening compassion. I think that is the crux of the brutal treatment the wild horses and burros deal with.
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Good story and trained people doing what they are good at. I have to wonder if he will be with other wild horses and if he will be gelded. He won’t have the same struggle or the mares he was fighting for. Anytime a wild horse is removed from the wild it needs to be for a darn good reason. It is still controversial. It still changes the equation.
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Has any of the mustangs in BLM holding ever had their DNA checked to trace their ancestry? That might be a good idea because it proved where the Corolla horses came from or they wouldn’t be here. Some of the photos I have seen of the horses the BLM has up for adoption in Burns, OR
have zebra stripes on their hind legs. Because if you look at some of them, specially in the shadow of a fence they show up. I’d like to see the BLM explain that one.
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Can you imagine the BLM actually doing something like that? It certainly would be a good idea – therefore – they wouldn’t even contemplate it! Nor would they allow anyone – say an animal advocate – to do it. Sad – probably would disprove the old “feral” horse propaganda.
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