The Maryland and Virginia horses are kept apart by fencing at the border between the two states. Though commonly called "wild," these horses had domesticated ancestors, claimed in legend to be survivors of a Spanish galleon that shipwrecked along the coast, but possibly just local colonial horses allowed to run loose. When excess numbers are removed from the island and they are placed into human ownership, they adapt quickly to domestication. Made famous by Marguerite Henry in her children's book "Misty of Chincoteague", the animals are popular tourist attractions and subjects for photography.