Student Research Projects

The Wild Horses of Corolla and Southeastern Virginia

Student Name(s)	Leslie Clements
Faculty Mentor(s)
Department	English
Course	English 491: Independent Research: The Outer Banks' Wild Horses

Abstract

Below the state line separating Virginia and North Carolina, the members of the Corolla Wild Horse Fund labor to protect Corolla's herd of feral horses that descended from the Spanish Mustangs that arrived on the Outer Banks' shores just over four hundred years ago. Under the growing pressure of development, tourism, and state politics, the horses' burgeoning population faces extinction.

This project pulls together my narrative of the history of the horses, the land, and their human guardians. The project also examines the motives behind people's passion for saving the horses by looking at human and horse interactions, and by studying the wild horses' shifting cultural roles.