ASSATEAGUE — A new foal born into the herd of wild horses at Assateague on the Maryland side in August has a new name this week after another successful naming-rights raffle.
The Assateague Island Alliance (AIA), the friends group of the Assateague Island National Seashore, which advocates on behalf of the island’s most famous residents, each year hosts naming rights contests for foals born into the herd on the Maryland side. Often, the contests are held as auctions through e-Bay, or other creative contests such as raffles.
Such was the case for the new foal heretofore known only as N2BHS-CKT born in August to Johnny’s Star, also known as N2BHS-CK. The likely sire is Mr. Frisky Hooves. Decades ago, the National Park Service began assigning alpha-numeric names to the wild horses on Assateague to better track to which bands they belong and the areas on the island they tend to frequent.
However, the AIA for years have been hosting naming rights contests for the new foals. The contests achieve the parallel goals of assigning a familiar name to the horses by which supporters and advocates can identify them. The contests also help the AIA raise funds for its advocacy programs for the wild horses.
Last week, the AIA announced the naming rights raffle for the new foal known as N2BHS-CKT has been won by Sheila Navarra of Stormville, N.Y. Navarra has chosen “Starlight” as the new name for the foal, paying homage to the bay pinto filly’s dam Johnny’s Star and “light” from the other horses in the foal’s lineage.
According to the AIA, Navarra is a campground host at Assateague Island National Seashore and was camping on the barrier island at the time the foal was born in August. According to the AIA, for that reason it was especially for her to have had the opportunity to win the raffle and name this particular foal. AIA thanked Navarra and everyone else that participated in the naming-rights raffle for Starlight, which raised $3,350 for the organization’s advocacy programs.
