The Atlantic Wild Horse Trail
Cumberland Island National Seashore, GA

Many breeds have contributed genes to the free-roaming herd. Unlike the other American coastal islands inhabited by free-roaming horses, Cumberland is mostly lush, dense subtropical forest. Moss-draped limbs of live oak spider out in all directions among palms and saw palmettos, magnolia, cedar, holly, pine, and sea myrtle. White sand beaches rim the eastern shore, and green salt marsh fringes much of the western side. Off the southernmost coast of Georgia, the island is a mosaic of diverse ecosystems including primary and secondary dunes, interdune meadows, wax myrtle thickets, mowed lawns, fresh and salt marshes, and pristine beaches, as well as one of the largest maritime forests in the United States. Cumberland Island, one of the largest undeveloped barrier islands in the world, is almost 3 miles wide at one point and nearly 18 miles long. More than 15 square miles are federally designated wilderness.
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Popular legend holds that the wild horses of Cumberland Island descend from Spanish Jennets imported and maintained there between 1566 and 1675, when Spain had a fort and missions there. Some speculate that when the Spanish withdrew, they set horses free, perhaps only animals too old, lame, or intractable to be useful elsewhere. Though this origin is possible, there is no evidence.

English horses probably came to Cumberland Island with James Oglethorpe, founder of the colony of Georgia, when he established two forts on the island in 1736—Fort St. Andrew at the north end and Fort Prince William to the south. After the Revolutionary War, General Nathanael Greene, commander of American forces in the South, acquired extensive property on Cumberland Island, intending to harvest live oak to sell for shipbuilding and to build a home for his family on the site where Oglethorpe had maintained his hunting lodge, Dungeness. Unfortunately, Greene died before he could begin to build or turn a profit.

Many breeds have contributed genes to the Cumberland Island free-roaming herd. Free-roaming horses were first documented on Cumberland Island in a 1788 letter to Edward Rutledge from Phineas Miller, but we do not know whether any descendants of the early lines remain. During the Civil War, most horses were removed from the island. Some of the remainder were eaten by 900 starving soldiers and freedmen during this time. After the Civil War, Cumberland residents used most of the island for grazing free-range livestock. Records indicate that semi-gentled horses were swum to the Camden County, GA, mainland from Cumberland Island to be sold in 1866. This might have been an annual
activity similar to the pony pennings on Assateague Island and the Outer Banks.

When the Carnegies came to the island in the 1880s, they stabled a number of fine domestic horses in their compounds. Plum Orchard had an impressive 15-stall stable filled with high-quality animals. Farther south, the stable at Dungeness accommodated 60. The holdings of the Georgia State Archives document the Carnegies’ domestic horses on Cumberland Island and the presence of feral herds at liberty all over the island. The residents held wild-horse round-ups and “rodeos” to break the latter to saddle. 

 In 1896, the Carnegies purchased a white stallion from the Imperial Stud farm of the Russian Czar. From the 1880s through the 1960s, horses of various breeds  including Appaloosas, Thoroughbreds, and retired circus horses were released to add desirable genes to the herd. In 1921, a train car-load of fine Arizona mustang
mares was released onto the island. In the 1950s Lucy Ferguson and
her staff castrated every wild male foal that they could capture, then
released their own fine stallions to breed with the wild mares. As recently
as 1992, a resident added four registered Arabians to the wild herd to improve conformation.

In 1991, a team led by wildlife biologist Robin Goodloe reported in the Journal of Wildlife Management that the Cumberland horses are genetically similar to other East Coast island populations and especially the Assateague ponies, but also resemble other breeds, including the Tennessee Walking Horse, Quarter Horse, Arabian, and Paso Fino. DNA analysis indicated that the horses descended primarily from stock associated with the Carnegie estates.

Kinship with the Assateague herd is difficult to see. In contrast with the short-legged, draft-like Assateague ponies, the Cumberland horses are much taller, longer-legged, and sleeker. While Assateague ponies are mostly pinto or sorrel, Cumberland horses range from the bays and chestnuts common at the north end of the island to the black, brown, red, and blue roans and grays in the Dungeness area. Many Cumberland horses have white markings such as blazes, forehead stars, and
socks. Some have Appaloosa patterns such as roan with white blankets, dark with white “snowflake” markings, or spotted blankets across the hindquarters.

Thomas Morrison Carnegie, brother and partner of steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, bought the plantation at Dungeness in 1881 for his wife, Lucy, and their family. They built another Dungeness mansion on the site of the original, graced by verandas, turrets, and gables and boasting 50 rooms. Dungeness was evidently built on a prehistoric shell midden, which undoubtedly provided the material for the 6-inch-thick walls of the tabby structure. Like the earlier Dungeness, this great house soon became a social center for the wealthy. Thomas and Lucy entertained guests with activities such as hunting, fishing, golfing, and cruising aboard their yacht, also named Dungeness.

Thomas Carnegie died in 1886 at the age of 43, leaving Lucy with nine children and a large inheritance. Lucy went on to acquire 90% of Cumberland Island, turning it into a vast, self-sufficient family preserve staffed by about 200 employees. She set about expanding the Dungeness complex to include more than 20 buildings and a pergola (colonnaded walkway that supports climbing plants). A guest house east of the mansion included a heated pool, a steam room, a recreation room, a squash court, and several bedrooms. Other houses, docks, and structures were built all over the island. Seven of Lucy’s nine children married, and she presented four of them with mansions on Cumberland Island.

When Lucy died in 1916, Andrew II, Thomas II, and Margaret remained trustees of the estate. Initially, the Carnegies maintained their affluent lifestyle, but finances grew tight in the mid-1920s and tighter with the stock market crash of 1929. Although the Carnegies valued the primitive nature of the island, financial difficulties forced the family to generate income by closing Dungeness and capitalizing on Cumberland’s resources. In the 1920s, A.A. Ainsworth of New York almost purchased Cumberland to found a major development similar to Coral Gables, Florida, but the project never materialized.

By the 1950s, the gardens at Dungeness were no longer maintained. In 1959, Dungeness was destroyed by a fire that could be seen for miles along the mainland coast. Several Florida poachers were the likely culprits, but nobody was ever arrested for the crime. The ruins of Dungeness remain a popular feature of Cumberland to this day, and wild horses favor grazing on the grassy grounds.  In 1971 most of the Carnegie property was sold or donated to the Park Service. On October 23, 1972, President Nixon signed legislation to establish Cumberland Island as a 40,500-acre national seashore, making it one of the largest mostly undeveloped barrier island preserves in the world.

Since 1991, Cumberland Island NS has been monitoring the sex, age, coat color, habitat, body condition, and location of horses and the number of horses in each band through an annual census. Roughly 150 horses maintain a relatively stable population on Cumberland Island.  Over the years, the number of horses has remained relatively constant, indicating that the horses have reached the carrying capacity of the island.  Carrying capacity is the maximum number of individuals that a habitat can support. Carrying capacity fluctuates in response to environmental conditions; a population of large herbivores can exceed carrying capacity following a dry season, and fall well below this threshold after a few weeks of rain without a change in numbers. During long periods of drought, ungulate populations naturally decline, then rebound during wet years. You can see evidence of this natural fluctuation in the Cumberland herd. In dry years, lactating mares—those who have the greatest need for calories—become gaunt, and their foals are more likely to die in the first year of life. In wet years, lactating mares are fleshier, and foal mortality declines.

Horses can live on barrier islands without destroying habitat (and in fact can improve habitat for other species), but they must be maintained below the carrying
capacity of the island.  In April 1996, the Park Service chose to limit the herd to 120 and sought authorization to remove a number of horses. But when, a Park Service resource management specialist presented information indicating that horses were causing damage at a series of public hearings, island residents and other locals with strong emotional ties to the herd fervently opposed the removals. Many speakers questioned the motives of the Park Service, the validity of the studies, and the biases of the researchers. They maintained that the horses had been in residence for centuries and had not caused environmental collapse. They pointed out that wild horses were an integral part of the history, character, and beauty of the island and that their presence increased visitor satisfaction.

In fall of 1996, U.S. Representative Jack Kingston (GA 1) toured the island with one of the residents and opined that the equine census had decreased and there was little evidence of horse-related damage. Without informing the Park Service, he added a rider to the fiscal year 1997 budget bill banning all horse management at Cumberland Island NS. The rider expired the following year, but hampered by budget cuts and political resistance, the Park Service has not written a new management plan. A scientifically sound management plan based on accurate environmental assessment may come someday, but the underfunded Park Service has other priorities. Scientists are currently studying the impact of horses on the Cumberland ecosystems in the hope that their findings will clarify the best options for management.  “If and when the time comes that NPS develops a management plan” said Doug Hoffman, wildlife biologist at Cumberland Island NS, “I envision that we would draw from other management experiences along the Atlantic Coast and likely establish a committee including personnel from various federal and state agencies and private groups that have been involved in the development of plans for the other feral horse herds. Representatives from the local public would be included in the committee as well.”
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The free-roaming herd at Cumberland Island has survived amid controversy, political and public pressure, conflict between interest groups, disagreement over management priorities, and contradictions in policy. There is every hope that in time, concerned parties will find a compromise that will benefit both the horses and their island environment.​

Respect free-roaming horses as wildlife. Keep at least the length of a large bus between you and the horses at all times, and try not to disrupt their behavior with your presence.

Learn More!
Books by Bonnie Gruenberg​

The Wild Horse Dilemma: Conflicts and Controversies of the Atlantic Coast Herds

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Wild Horse Vacations: Your Guide to the Atlantic Wild Horse Trail Vol 2

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The Hoofprints guide to the wild horses of Cumberland Island

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umberland Island Links
​NPS: Information about the feral horses
Article: Wild Horses of Georgia's Cumberland Island
Article: Tracking the wild horses of Cumberland Island
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Respect free-roaming horses as wildlife. Keep at least the length of a large bus between you and the horses at all times, and try not to disrupt their behavior with your presence.

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