Chaos at Assateague: Wild horses escape across bridge to the mainland
ASSATEAGUE ISLAND, Md. – Chaos unfolded Wednesday afternoon on Assateague Island as two wild horses decided to take a trip to the mainland, crossing the Verrazano bridge and stopping traffic in the process.
The two horses, named Happy and Lightning, managed to cross the full length of the bridge and make it all the way to the mainland, causing traffic to come to a standstill, a bizarre and odd incident that had national park staff in a frenzy.
“Two horses, that go by the names Happy and Lightning, managed to get across the bridge, and that doesn’t happen very often, the Verazzano bridge is very high, very long, and it’s very rare that the horses attempt to go across it,” explained Hugh Hawthorne, Assateague Island’s National Park Superintendent.
Hawthorne and others were quick to spring into action as the horses made their way through traffic, off the bridge, and towards the Assateague Island Visitors Center.
“I was one of the rangers chasing after them on foot,” Hawthorne said. “We chased them for about half a mile, and then they found a nice place near the state park headquarters where the grass was green and the grass was relatively long and they just stayed there.”
It was at that point that officials had enough time to safely surround and capture the two horses.
“We surrounded them with the portable corral, so they stayed in the portable corral probably for about four hours, and then they were transported by horse trailer back to the island,” Hawthorne stated. “As far as I know, they’re doing fine on the island. I have not heard anything about the two of them so far today.”
Officials say the incident was caused after visitors and vehicles crowded the animals and blocked their movements and paths of retreat directly leading to the incident. Park rules require visitors to stay at least 40 feet away from horses.
Thankfully, there were no injuries to any people or the two horses. But what’s really interesting about the incident, is how rare it is. Officials say this type of thing hasn’t happened since 1993, and even then that incident remains a park legend to this very day.
