CURRITUCK COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- While North Carolinians evacuated the coast for Hurricane Florence, the wild horses stayed put.
Ahead of the storm, tourists in Currituck County, where the horses live, were evacuated Tuesday morning.
According to the Corolla Wild Horse Fund, the horses remained on the island.
"The horses have lived on this barrier island for 500 years, and they are well equipped to deal with rough weather," the group said on Facebook. "They know where to go to stay high and dry and are probably in better shape right now than most of us humans who are scrambling with final preparations. They are much better off without any help from us; anything we might do in the hopes of 'protecting' them would probably end up being more dangerous and stressful for them than the storm."
The group said it currently has 18 horses on its Grandy farm and plans to make sure they're taken care of to "ride the storm out safely."
"They have shelter, but also the option to stay outside. Just like with the wild horses, their instincts will tell them where to go to be safe. We have a generator, we have filled up all of our extra buckets and water troughs, everyone will have emergency ID braided into their manes, and someone will be staying at the farm during the storm. We believe that it is safer to shelter in place, since the majority of the rescue horses are still very newly tamed, not used to being stalled, and not used to being trailered."