Honorable Mention - Dolores Neilson

Photograph: Mustang Sunset

Date taken: August, 2004
Location: Outer Banks, NC, USA
Equipment used: Fuji S2 Pro

Comments:

This particular image is particularly close to my heart simply because the wild Mustang in this image is in danger. When Highway 12 was extended to Corolla on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, it opened that area to unprecedented development. The congestion has placed the wild Mustangs in jeopardy by coming in direct conflict with the thousands of tourists who flock to the Outer Banks every year to vacation.

A Currituck County ordinance prohibits anyone approaching closer than 50 yards of the horses but many horses have been killed in car collisions alone. In 1989 alone, seventeen of the few remaining were killed in accidents. One single-car collision killed six horses, including several unborn foals and their mothers.

Currently the wild Mustangs have no home. They are slowly being squeezed out by explosive development. They are a historical and cultural treasure of North Carolina having arrived there 400 years ago. Genealogical theory traces them to Spanish mustangs that came ashore from the wrecks of galleons along the treacherous North Carolina coast. The Corolla Wild Horse Fund led by concerned citizens works to protect the endangered horses. Read more about how to save them here: http://www.corollawildhorses.com/home.htm