*** Welcome to piglix ***

Mounted Boy Scout Troop 290


Mounted Boy Scout Troop 290 of Ocracoke, North Carolina, is the only mounted troop in the history of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). The troop was founded by United States Army Lieutenant Colonel Marvin Howard in 1954 and was active for about 10 years. They rode the feral Banker horses of North Carolina's Outer Banks. These horses were descended from horses that had either survived shipwrecks or early explorations from the 1500s–1700s along the Outer Banks. Though the ponies roamed free, they were considered livestock. In 1953, when the Cape Hatteras National Seashore was created, the Park Service banned free roaming livestock on the island. Efforts have been made to preserve the horses and improve their bloodline.

The Banker horses were primarily descended from Spanish horses that had either survived shipwrecks or early explorations from the 1500s–1700s along the Outer Banks. The first horses on Ocracoke may have been from Sir Richard Grenville's ship, Tiger, which ran aground on Ocracoke in 1565. Solid documentation of the ponies on Ocracoke goes back to the 1730s. The Ocracoke ponies are different from other ponies in that they possess five instead of six lumbar vertebrae and 17 instead of 18 ribs. They also differ from standard horses in shape, color, size, posture, and weight.

Historically, though the ponies roamed free, they were owned by various members of the community and hence were considered livestock. This began to change in 1953 when the Cape Hatteras National Seashore was created and the Park Service banned free roaming livestock on the island.

The troop was founded by Army Lieutenant Colonel Marvin Howard, who had started his military career with the Navy in World War II before switching to the United States Army Corps of Engineers. This troop is the only mounted troop in the history of the BSA. In summer 1954, ten horses were taken from the Ocracoke herd as a project for Boy Scout Troop 290; and almost every age-eligible boy on the island joined the troop. The Scouts had to catch, tame, train, and teach the ponies to eat hay rather than native feed. Individual Scouts worked part-time to own their own pony, equipment, and horse feed. The horses, which were comfortable in the water, proved difficult to catch. The horses were taught to respond to "port" and "starboard" instead of "gee" and "haw". The Bankers were ridden in parades, especially on July 4, and used as mounts during programs to spray mosquito-ridden salt marshes. The troop made regular trips to the region's Pirates Jamboree and horse races in Buxton, North Carolina, as well as troop horseback hunting and camping trips.


...
Wikipedia

...