Love horses? The N.C. Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve has an offer for you!
Applications are now being accepted for the Pony Patrol, a volunteer-driven program that helps raise community awareness, protect wild horses and promote compliance with wild horse guidelines at the Rachel Carson Reserve and Shackleford Banks in Carteret County.
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Candidates who are selected will receive training in visitor communication, the importance of allowing wild horses to remain wild, and skills required to protect the safety of visitors and horses.
Volunteers serve three- to four-hour shifts patrolling and talking with visitors about ways to respectfully experience the wild horses and their natural behaviors. Volunteers are expected to serve a minimum of three times a month.
Last year’s volunteers conducted 260 patrols and engaged with about 3,900 visitors at both the Rachel Carson Reserve and Shackleford Banks, according to the N.C. Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve, which partners with Cape Lookout National Seashore and the Foundation for Shackelford Horses Inc. to offer the program.
Applicants must be at least 18, a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, and physically able to walk through sandy terrain in conditions to include intense sun, heat, humidity, wind and insects.
Applicants who want to volunteer for Rachel Carson Reserve and Shackleford Banks must apply to both locations.
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Positions are limited and therefore competitive.
The online application will close at 11:59 p.m. Feb. 23. Candidates who are selected will be contacted for interviews in late February or early March.
