Woman Kicked By Wild Horse After Posing Too Closely For Photo

Cape Lookout National Seashore / Facebook

Cape Lookout National Seashore posted a picture on social media showing a woman standing beside a wild horse with her hand on its back a few moments right before the horse gave her a hard kick to her body.

Cape Lookout National Seashore said the woman not only got kicked by the horse but she and the man taking a picture of her was cited by authorities for their irresponsible behavior.

“Thank you to everyone who is watching out for the safety of the horses and visitors on Shackleford Banks. These visitors were cited BY PHOTO for wildlife harassment. The horse communicated its annoyance and kicked the woman,” park rangers with Cape Lookout National Seashore wrote in a statement on the park’s Facebook page.

Followers of the Cape Lookout National Seashore commented on the photo expressing their outrage at the behavior of the park visitors.

“She deserves it too!” one person wrote. “Not respecting Wildlife SMH. I hope they learned their lesson.”

“Ridiculous,” another wrote. “Do people think the (Shackleford Banks) are petting zoos?”

On the Outer Banks, a collection of barrier islands on North Carolina’s coast you’ll find Shackleford Banks which is part of Cape Lookout National Seashore.

The National Park Service manages the 56-mile-long national seashore  that is most famous for its wild horses, known as “Banker ponies.” Historians believe the horses are ancestors of Spanish Mustangs that were on ships that were wrecked on the islands in the 1500s.

When the horses on the Shackleford Banks were counted back in 2021, there were over 121 horses running around the island. The horses are protected under law and it is crime for people to get too close to the wild animals.

“It’s illegal to feed, touch, tease, frighten, or intentionally disturb wildlife,” the park service said, according to the Charlotte Observer.

Check out this video below of another woman who got too close to a wild horse and tried to hit it with a shovel. Things didn’t turn out so great for her.