Gifts from the sea

The view outside today shows a thoroughly water-logged world.  There is snow at higher elevations.  It's a wonderful day to "cocoon" and sip hot chocolate or tea while wrapped in a blanket with a good novel to read, or to "surf the Net" to see what else is happening in the world.  This assumes, of course, that one is retired, as I am, and has such luxury and leisure.  For me, this very interesting video from The Guardian, depicting about four minutes' worth of a day with "The Last Horse Fishermen of Belgium" fits right into the soggy ambiance.

According to Greek mythology, the sea god Poseidon created the horse.  His Roman counterpart, Neptune, was also worshipped as a horse god.  Under the name "Neptune Equester," he was also the patron of horse-racing.  It is fun to think of horses, animals I have always felt passionately about, as gifts from the sea.  And what wonderful gifts they are!  There are many myths, legends and even true stories about horses and humans and their interactions together throughout history.  Where those stories and water mesh, there can be magic.  Although the story is more contemporary, a favorite movie of mine is the Albert Lamorisse classic "White Mane" (Crin blanc: le cheval sauvage) about a wild stallion in the Camargue who is tamed by a young boy.

Another favorite is "The Black Stallion," where Alec Ramsey and The Black spend enough time together on an isolated island that their destinies are forever entwined, as is made clearer by the Walter Farley series than by any of the movies, however beautifully filmed.  

I recently saw the movie "Nights in Rodanthe" on
cable TV.   You may be forgiven if you think, as I at first thought, that "Rodanthe" is somewhere in Greece.  The word apparently means "rose blossoms" in Greek.  But even if there is such a village somewhere in Greece, it is not the "Rodanthe" of this film.  Rodanthe in this context is a small seaside village on Hatteras Island in North Carolina in the US.

I will not discuss the movie, which falls about as far short of "White Mane" or "The Black Stallion" as it possibly can ... and isn't even about horses for the most part.  But in the last scene, there is magic.  As the female protagonist is taking a solitary stroll along the beach, in mourning for her lost lover, a herd of magnificent wild horses streams by, racing in the surf and sand, manes waving in the wind.  While I loved that imagery, I was somewhat startled.  Western-born and bred as I am, I had not been aware that there were wild horses on the East Coast of the US other than the Chincoteague ponies of Maryland and Virginia.  So, after some time spent in research, I learned that yes, there are other wild horses known as "Bankers."  Those shown in "Nights in Rodanthe" are "Bankers," named for the Outer Bank islands where they are found.  There are two principal groups, the Corolla Wild Horses and the Shackelford Banks Wild Horses.

It is generally believed that the horses originally arrived on the islands from Spanish vessels as early as 400 years ago.  While the early Spanish explorers mapped the eastern coastline of North America, either the vessels were shipwrecked or the horses escaped and were left behind when the explorers left the area.  It is generally accepted that most originated from Spanish and Portuguese Barb (after the Barbary Coast of North Africa) stock.  They were bred for their stamina, size, temperament, ease of gait, longevity and their ability to survive and work in a sandy, harsh environment.  It is also believed that they are related to Arab horses found in the sandy deserts of the Arabian peninsula.

These lovely gifts from the sea, like many of us, wandered far from their origins. These gifts also keep on giving. They are a source of tourism revenue for the areas where they roam free, at one with the wind and the sea from whence they came.

For more information about wild horses of the eastern US, see here, here and here.