The horses of the Corolla herd are most likely descendants of Spanish mustangs which were marooned in the area perhaps as much as 400 years ago. The 30 to 50 members of the herd live primarily in the area beyond paved roads north of the town of Corolla, where a fence has been erected stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to Currituck Sound to keep them in the area between Corolla and the Virginia state line, twelve miles to the north. The area north of the fence is accessible only by driving on the beach and includes a few small subdivisions without paved roads. Also in the area is the Currituck National Wildlife Refuge.

A small band from the herd, led by a stallion called Little Red Man, had grown to four mares and two colts by the late spring 1999. This band has continually found its way around the protective fence and into the more heavily developed areas of Corolla. When in Corolla, this band has been known to do some damage—eating out of garbage cans, occasionally kicking and biting tourists, and even eating $500 worth of fruit and vegetables from a produce stand. And the horses are in danger of being hit by cars and trucks. There are records of at least a dozen of the wild horses being killed over the past several years.

In June of 1999, Little Red Man, the mares, and the colts were corralled and placed in a pen near the Corolla lighthouse. Shortly after, two of the mares and a colt who were considered the least likely to return were taken back north of the protective fence. In early September, after Currituck County commissioners rejected a plan to move them to a ranch in Virginia, Little Red Man, the other two mares and colt were moved to Dews Island, a 400-acre privately owned island in Currituck Sound.

Helping instigate the sense of concern about what to do to protect the Corolla wild horses were the deaths of two horses during the summer of 1999. In early June, a colt became the first horse killed north of the protective fence. A 20-year-old tourist from Maryland driving a pickup truck along the beach at night was charged with careless driving and possession of a malt beverage. Then in late July, one of the mares who had been separated from the Little Red Man band and had been moved north of the fence in June escaped south of the fence and, with her colt, ran out onto the road near the Corolla lighthouse around 10:30 p.m. The mare was struck by a motorist.

The horses have been a draw for tourists. Several tour operators bring groups of people to the beach on all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), promising customers the chance to see wild horses. At the same time, more than 4000 of the 12000 acres of land north of the fence is owned by the Currituck Wildlife Refuge. The law defines the wild horses as feral animals, as opposed to being natural fauna, which creates difficulties for the managers of the refuge. The horses have trampled sea turtle nests, and a 120-acre area of ponds and wetlands had to be fenced off from the horses to keep them from this prime duck feeding area. The fence that helps protect the horses from the developments of Corolla also encourages them to graze in refuge areas.  In fact, the fence exists only because of a temporary variance from the North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission and is considered an inappropriate structure for the area.

This winter and spring, a plan has been devised for how best to protect the horses while also protecting the wildlife refuge and resident access. Some elements of the plan are to limit the herd to no more than 60 horses; to corral a limited number of horses in Corolla for public viewing an education; and to give priority to sites in Currituck County when it is necessary to relocate horses. In addition, the Coastal Resources Commission extended the permit for the protective fence until the end of 2003.