Keepers of the wild horse herd in Corolla, N.C., are worried about a Spanish mustang fund proposed in Virginia and the competition it could create.

Legislation submitted this week in Richmond would establish a fund to pay for containing and recapturing wild horses roaming from North Carolina.

Karen McAlpin, director of the Corolla Wild Horse Fund, says while the idea would seem to create overlaps, her group wouldn’t mind help keeping the fence along the state line in good repair.

A bill sponsored by a Virginia lawmaker was first called Corolla Wild Horses Fund, one letter different from the North Carolina group. After McAlpin protested, the name was changed to Wild Spanish Mustangs Fund.

The Corolla wild horses are one of Currituck’s biggest tourist attractions. McAlpin’s group says they descend from Spanish mustangs that survived shipwrecks about 400 years ago