Mounted Boy Scout Troop 290 from Ocracoke, North Carolina, is the only troop installed in the history of Boy Scouts of America (BSA). This force was founded by Lieutenant Colonel United States Army Marvin Howard in 1954 and active for about 10 years. They rode wild Banker horses from the Outer Banks of North Carolina. These horses are descended from horses who survived the shipwreck or early exploration of the 1500s in the 1700s along the Outer Banks. Although the horses are free, they are considered cattle. In 1953, when Cape Hatteras National Seashore was created, the Park Service banned free roaming cattle on the island. Efforts have been made to preserve horses and improve their lineage.
Video Mounted Boy Scout Troop 290
History
horses
The Banker horses were primarily derived from Spanish horses that survived the wreck or early exploration of the 1500s in the 1700s along the Outer Banks. The first horse in Ocracoke probably came from Sir Richard Grenville,
Historically, although these horses are free to roam, they are owned by various members of society and are therefore regarded as cattle. It began to change in 1953 when Cape Hatteras National Seashore was created and Park Service banned free roaming cattle on the island.
Troop
The army was founded by Lieutenant Colonel Marvin Howard, who began his military career with the Navy in World War II before turning to the United States Army Engineer Corps. These troops are the only troops installed in the history of the BSA. In the summer of 1954, ten horses were taken from a herd of Ocracoke as a project for the 290th Scout Troop; and almost every age-eligible child on the island joins the troop. Scouts must capture, tame, train, and teach horses to eat straw rather than native fodder. Scouts Individuals work part-time to own horses, equipment, and horse feed. The horses, which are comfortable in the water, proved difficult to catch. Horses are taught to respond to "port" and "right" instead of "gee" and "haw". The Bankers are driven in parades, especially on July 4, and are used as mounts during the program to spray salt marshes. The troops make regular trips to the region's pirate Jamboree and horse races in Buxton, North Carolina, as well as horse hunting and troop camping trips.
In 1959, the North Carolina legislature and the National Park Service ordered horses to be moved from all of the Banks' outer islands because they ate too much. However, the Park legislature and Service were persuaded to make exceptions to Scout pounds as long as they were written and taught to eat straw. In the 1960s, the National Park Service also began caring for small herds that were stored on an area of ​​180 hectares (73 acres) on the northern tip of the island in a meadow known as Pony Pens Ocracoke. Then the BSA demanded that Scouts buy insurance to continue on horseback, which they could not afford, and the army was folded about 10 years after it was formed. Horse meadows also become too expensive. When the 290s were dead, there were only a few ponies left. The Park Service took over the bangs in the late 1960s.
Preservation
In 1973 Park Ranger Jim Henning and his wife Jeannette embarked on an effort to rescue some horses at the northern end of the island. The Ocracoke flock exhibited definite signs of inadequate gene in the 1980s when in 1988 Susan Bratton of the Park Service recommended to refill the gene pool of groups with other Banker banks. This herd shows genetic similarities to Standardbred horses.
Park Ranger Kenny Ballance has been a district guard for 30 years when, on February 2, 2012, he was carrying Alonso, a two-year-old Spanish horses registered with DNA proven to be associated with a flock of Ocracoke, from the Corolla Wild Horse of Corolla, North Carolina, to a herd of Ocracoke to join 16 other horses to fill their gene pool. This herd has respiratory and other problems that are believed to be caused by inbreeding. Alonso is believed to be the only healthy horse that can continue the blood line of Ocracokes - and he has only one testicle that can be used to do so. It takes Ballance three years to find a suitable stallion.
Maps Mounted Boy Scout Troop 290
Note
References
Further reading
External links
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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