Fatal Wild Horse Incident
At 11:30pm on Friday, July 26 we received a 911 call that a horse who had been standing on the beach was struck by a vehicle. The incident was witnessed and reported by a visitor who had been surf fishing at the time. No other horses were injured. The driver of the vehicle was arrested.
The horse that was hit was 10-year-old stallion Bullwinkle, and the injuries he sustained were as follows:
-Significant skin trauma over the right side and back.
-Broken right hind leg with fracture of the lower femur.
-Left hind trauma and lateral destabilization of the hock with collateral ligament injuries, allowing the leg to bow outwards.
-Pendulous abdomen when standing and once euthanized fluid-filled abdomen confirmed with a fluid wave of manipulation, likely due to significant internal trauma and blood within the abdomen.
Bullwinkle’s injuries were severe and ultimately fatal. Our veterinarian arrived on the scene early Saturday morning to humanely euthanize him.
On Thursday, we posted a video of two stallions fighting and told the story of how the challenging stallion had been vying for the other stallion’s mares for several weeks. The challenging stallion was Bullwinkle. He was in the prime of his life, and went from being a symbol of what it means to be wild and free to a tragic example of how irresponsible, reckless human behavior can cause pain, suffering, and irreparable damage to the herd in an instant. Bullwinkle will never produce any foals. His genetics are gone from the herd forever and with such a small, endangered population the ramifications of that will last for generations.
Bullwinkle died as wild as he lived; at no point did he welcome our intervention and he remained wary and defensive even as he laid on the dune unable to stand anymore. The fight drive that he was always known for never left him, right up to the end. He was exactly what a wild Banker stallion is supposed to be, and we are glad that he at least never had to leave the beach – he was never meant to. He was buried at the edge of the meadow where the video from Thursday was filmed. There is not much comfort that can be found in anything about this tragic incident, but we are at least grateful that we could help him pass without further suffering and provide him with the respectful and dignified burial he deserved.
We’d like to thank everyone who helped us Friday night and Saturday morning, especially the visitor who called 911. Otherwise there would have been no consequences for the driver, we would have never known what happened, and Bullwinkle may have suffered for longer than he did. Thank you to our community who came together to help us that night and into the day on Saturday, to the Currituck County sheriff’s department for their quick response and on-going support, and to our staff and veterinarian for their unending dedication to always doing what’s best for the horses.
