Pandemic legs? Hairy model gets laughs for charity sock campaign on the Outer Banks
An odd modeling choice for a clothing promotion has struck a chord with unkempt Americans stuck indoors during the pandemic.
The product is a line of themed socks, and the mysterious model (only his legs are seen) is a 700-pound wild horse from North Carolina’s Outer Banks.
He has the worst legs you can imagine in socks — but social media is noting those unflattering qualities are symbolic of a nation emerging from lockdown. More than 800 people have reacted and commented on the Facebook photo since Saturday.
“Those are some hairy legs!” one woman posted on Facebook.
“Nobody is shaving with the lock down!” another wrote.
“That is so ridiculous! I love it,” said another.
The nonprofit Corolla Wild Horse Fund is behind the campaign, and it revealed a 2-year-old wild horse named Riptide was the model. The sock promotion is raising money to provide medical care for the internationally known herd of about 100 wild horses.
So how does one get socks on a wild horse?
Herd manager Meg Puckett says it was easier than you’d think. It was her idea to try, she says.
“Riptide is such a good sport. I’ve been working really hard to desensitize him to things because he’s going to be my next outreach horse, so we do all kinds of silly stuff with him,” Puckett told McClatchy News.
“He literally just stood there and let me pull them on. And then acted like he didn’t even notice they were there. Could not have cared less!”
Puckett didn’t say how long it took to get the socks on, but she said they did not rip. “These are well made socks,” she joked.
The horses that roam Corolla are known for being dangerously wild, including kicking, stomping and biting. However, Riptide mellowed over the summer during a five-week hospital stay for a fungal infection, Puckett said. He now lives at a coastal farm for Corolla wild horses that can’t be returned to the wild.
North Carolina’s barrier islands host two large herds of free-roaming horses, each having about 100 animals. One is on Corolla and the other is at the Shackleford Banks, part of Cape Lookout National Seashore. Both are tended by nonprofits that monitor the herds’ health and supply birth control to prevent over population (and potential starvation).
The horses descend from Spanish mustangs brought 500 years ago to North America by Spanish explorers, according to the National Park Service. The animals have adapted over the centuries to a harsh environment that includes a unique diet, fresh spring water and hurricane survival techniques.
This story was originally published March 8, 2021 at 8:42 AM with the headline "Pandemic legs? Hairy model gets laughs for charity sock campaign on the Outer Banks."