Pony Pens on Ocracoke Island, Cape Hatteras National Seashore

In the early days of exploration and trade in the Americas, it was common for ships to carry livestock. If the ship ran aground, often the animals were cast overboard to help lighten the load enough so that the ship could be re-floated. If close to land, these animals swam to shore and started a new life. That is the theory behind how the wild ponies that once roamed freely on Ocracoke Island came to be.

As Ocracoke Island became more populated, the people would often round up the ponies, keep the good ones for domestication, and set the rest free. This was a summer ritual on the island. However, by the end of the 1950s it was no longer safe for the ponies to run free, for tourism was bringing more and more automobiles to the island. The Boy Scouts took care of the herd throughout the early 1950s. In 1959, the National Park Service took over, and the ponies now live in the Pony Pens. The herd size is kept at between 9 and 20 horses.

The Pony Pens at Cape Hatteras National Seashore are located at the midway point on Ocracoke Island on the Pamlico Sound side of the highway. A raised platform allows visitors to observe the ponies, if they are roaming outside. To the right is a walkway that leads a short distance to another observation platform. The property is quite big, giving the animals a chance to run around.