Grandmother in wild horse herd gives birth again on Outer Banks, and things get weird

Family relationships just got a lot more complicated on the Outer Banks after a grandmother in the wild horse herd gave birth yet again, according to the National Park Service.

It happened the last week of July at Cape Lookout National Seashore, and the newborn is a healthy filly with a “sweet face,” park officials said in a news release.

Grannies in the herd are known as granddams, a term befitting of their respected status.

“This newest foal fills several slots in the little family,” the park reported.

“She is the youngest daughter of granddam, the 1/2 sister to the Dam (granddam’s daughter), and although younger than the other foal (born in June) in the group, she is that foal’s aunt! Got all that?”

That means one foal and her aunt will grow up together as playmates, the park said.

The father of the newborn remains a mystery.

Hints of the granddam’s pregnancy surfaced in late July, when park rangers photographed a group of mares cooling off in the ocean, with the oldest sporting a visibly swollen abdomen.

It’s suspected the granddam gave birth around July 27.

The elder horse’s age has not been released, but a 2022 herd survey reported the oldest in the herd was a 28-year-old mare. The same survey confirmed 124 wild horses are roaming the Shackleford Banks in Cape Lookout National Seashore.

Five foals have been born so far in 2023, the park reported.

This story was originally published August 7, 2023 at 4:45 AM with the headline "Grandmother in wild horse herd gives birth again on Outer Banks, and things get weird."