Domestic horses have been brought to Cumberland Island since Spanish occupation in the 16th century. Other military activities were followed by plantation owners and then the pleasure horses brought by the great landowners, ensuring a continuing population of wild (or more correctly feral) horses on the island. At one time a brief attempt was made to offer carriage rides with domestic horses to visitors, but feral stallions attacked the carriage horses on their very first outing. Today, visitors must walk or rent one of the few bicycles available from the National Park Service