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<p><strong>By Delayna Earley</strong></p>
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<p><strong>The Island News</strong></p>
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<p>YEMASSEE – A few large tents and hay thrown on the ground helped to save the second annual Pigs &amp; Pearls event benefiting the Carolina Marsh Tacky Association from a very rainy evening.</p>
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<p>“We are all horse people, so we are used to the mud,” Caroline Knight, secretary for the association, said.</p>
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<p>About 130 people attended the event that was held on Saturday, Feb. 11, at Grayson Oaks Farm in Yemassee.</p>
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<p>“Everyone brings horses to our events, and we never get to sit down and talk because we are caring for the horses,” Knight said. “We wanted to be able to just talk and have fun, so we decided to do an event like this and have it as a fundraiser.”</p>
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<p>Food for Pigs &amp; Pearls was provided by Gullah Man Oyster &amp; Seafood. Attendees feasted on barbeque, oysters, macaroni and cheese, and hash.</p>
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<p>Live music was provided by Noel Lindler Music.</p>
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<p>The fundraiser aimed to raise money to help further the preservation and protection of the Carolina Marsh Tacky, which is a S.C. State Heritage horse and is a critically endangered species of horse.</p>
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<p><em>Delayna Earley lives in Beaufort with her husband, two children and Jack Russell. She spent six years&nbsp; as a videographer and photographer for The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette before leaving the Lowcountry in 2018. After freelancing in Myrtle Beach and Virginia, she joined The Island News when she moved back to Beaufort in 2022. She can be reached at </em><a href="mailto:delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com"><em>delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com</em></a><em>.&nbsp;</em></p>
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