The Wild Horses of Assateague

Drove out to Assateague Island Thursday, to the National Seashore (no dogs allowed at the state park). No sooner had we crossed the bridge than evidence of the wild horses was to be seen lying in piles all along the roadway. And sure enough, these little wild horses were everywhere, grazing on dry, tough old grass, wandering at will and without fear among the vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The dogs were very excited at first, but by the end of the afternoon the horses were no longer bark-worthy, which made travel much more pleasant for all of us. We parked and had a long walk along the wind-swept beach and along the roadway, taking lots of photographs of the horses and also of the Sika deer that live here. Assateauge was a very nice and unique place to visit.

Here is Nancy is front of the first horse that we encountered, and some of its "evidence":
This one was inquiring with every stopped vehicle, no doubt looking for a handout. The park strongly discourages touching and feeding - those horses which learn to ask for handouts are most likely to be struck by cars, or to bite or kick visitors. We just said hello and moved on.

One of many nice photos of the natives:

This gives a sense of the rugged environment which these beasts have adapted to:

And here is one of the Sika deer which also inhabit the island: