The Wild Ponies of Assateague:
A Tale of Two
Islands
by Louisa Amirault
Background Info
The 82nd Annual Pony Penning
A
LITTLE BACKGROUND INFORMATION
WILD
PONIES?
It seems
that many people have heard of “Chincoteague Ponies” or can recall hearing
something about "wild island ponies," though they don’t really understand
what they. Some are confused by the name, and think the ponies run wild
on Chincoteague. Yet some people are just amazed to hear that there are
“wild” equines on the east coast.
The "wild"
ponies live on Assateague, a 37-mile long barrier island off the coast of
Maryland and Virginia. It is inhabited by deer, bunny rabbits, a variety
of birds and wild ponies! These feral ponies run free on its
sandy beaches, live off its long marsh grass and shelter themselves in its
thick in-land brush. They own this little slice of paradise.
It is
estimated that these ponies have been living wild since the late 17th
century, though the story of how they got there is a little foggy.
The more colorful stories say they are of Spanish decent and swam ashore
from a sinking Spanish ship, while the more practical ones say they were
brought there by early settlers who put their livestock on the island to
graze. Since the island was also home to sheep up until almost 100
years ago, the second story holds more weight.
Though
the once domestic horses may have been tall, they are now pony-sized,
averaging about 13 hands. This is due to the low nutritional value of the
coarse, salty marsh grass and beach grass they have been living off for
the past few hundred years.
WHAT IS
CHINCOTEAGUE?
Chincoteague is the neighboring island to the Virginia end of Assateague
and is home to people…not horses. However, the ponies are property of
the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company. The fire company owns and
manages the Virginia
herd. The Virginia herd is rounded up once a year for “Pony Penning.”
The ponies are herded across the water over to Chincoteague where a
number are auctioned off to control the size of the herd. The
Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge (the VA end of Assateague) allows up
to 150 adult horses on the refuge at one time. This prevents the ponies
from overrunning the island and using up their resources. These ponies of
the Virginia herd are called "Chincoteague" ponies. The Chincoteague pony
is now a recognized breed.
THE
ROUND-UP
Though
annual livestock round-ups on Assateague began about 200 years ago, the
annual “Pony Penning” event held by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire
Company was started back in 1924. The “Saltwater Cowboys” round up the
herds and swim them across the channel to Chincoteague, where they are
sorted out. Foals and young horses are auctioned off to bidders from
around the country and beyond. Crowds gather to watch the swim,
to celebrate at the carnival and watch the auction on the following day.
Nowadays, the round-up is done a few days before the swim, unlike the
all-in-one-day efforts made back in the days of “Misty.”
WHO IS
THIS MISTY?
Misty of
Chincoteague was the star in the first of a series of children’s books by
Marguerite Henry in 1947. The stories were based on real events and real ponies.
Misty is the most famous Chincoteague Pony in history, and her story gave
these two little islands international fame.
VACATION DESTINATION:
82nd ANNUAL PONY PENNING
My recommendations…and mistakes
I was
determined to make the time for a real vacation. It had been more than
three years. Though I had been to Chincoteague and Assateague twice
before, I had never actually seen the pony swim or the auction. You see,
the first time I went was when I was twelve years old. My parents
accidentally booked the wrong week. Oops. I went again in my
early twenties with my fiancée. That time, we deliberately planned
to leave the island before the pony penning. We wanted a nice, quiet
backpacking trip without a lot of tourists. This time, my husband and I
needed to find that perfect trip for ourselves plus our 22 month old
daughter. The 82nd annual Chincoteague Volunteer Firemen's Pony
Penning would be the perfect family getaway.
So I
triple-checked the dates of the Pony Penning events and booked our stay at
the Refuge Inn, Chincoteague’s closest lodging to Assateague. I wanted to
get to our destination early and leave the day after the auction. I had to allow plenty of
time for the drive to and from the island, as I had never taken my
daughter on a long trip before and didn't know how often we'd need to
stop. Pony Penning was on the 25th
and 26th of July, and I wanted a few days to explore Assateague,
hang out at the Fireman’s Carnival, get my daughter her first pony ride
and, of course, shop. We would head out on the evening of July 20th
.
July 20th
finally arrived. We packed up the truck, borrowed a portable DVD player
for the baby and brought all the Blue’s Clues and Elmo DVD’s we could
find. If we could keep her happy, the ride would be fun! Maybe we’d
actually find one of those Sonic fast-food restaurants that are always
advertised on TV. I hate being tempted by commercials for food that isn’t
even within a 150 mile radius of me.
We were
so excited to be free from our daily routines, and we felt like we could drive all night. We almost did. It
wasn’t until we were lost in the sticks of Pennsylvania (my husband
refused to drive through NYC) at 2 am., that we decided it might be a good
idea to find a hotel. The little one, though sleeping, looked really
uncomfortable with her head bent at a 45 degree angle in her upright car
seat. Besides, there were far too many deer running out in front of our
truck. Once is breath-taking, but twice…well, you start to feel like they’re out
to get you!
The next
morning, we took another slight detour from our AAA Trip Tik. We wanted to
check out the beaches of Delaware and Maryland. Before finding
beaches, we found frustration. Why would the highway have signs to beaches
and not mention that they are private? That was a waste of 40 minutes. So I
advised my husband to stick to the beaches that were actually on the map.
We found a great beach called Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. It was a
boardwalk paradise! Since we had another night before we were due to
check into the Refuge Inn, we inquired about a room at some of the
hotels. $500/night seemed to be the going rate. Um, thank you, but no. We had some ice cream,
shopped, listened to the steel drums and then we were back on the road.
We
continued down Route 1 and passed though Ocean City, Maryland. I found
out that it is best to avoid this city unless you plan to stay for a
visit. It’s big and the traffic is slow. Furthermore, the scenery was on
“repeat” mode. You would see the same gift shop and restaurant chains
over and over and over again within a single mile. I felt like a hamster
on a wheel, and the giant motels blocked out the ocean at all times. I
couldn’t believe we’d come all this way and still hadn't seen a single Sonic!
By early
evening, we were at the entrance to the Maryland side of Assateague Island!
My husband headed straight to the ranger’s
station and bought a pass to take our 4 wheel drive truck on the beach!
He was giddy. He didn’t care about ponies. It was all about
taking his truck "four wheel'n!" Fat ponies and deer were
grazing all around. It was clear that they loved the
attention. It is against the law to touch or feed the wildlife, but they
seem to like us anyway. They lingered around the roads and the parking
lots, and they didn’t flinch as the tourists closed in on them. It was
late, but we weren't leaving until my husband could drive on the beach. We
slapped the sticker on our truck and took a bouncy ride
through the soft sand. Then we got out to play in the surf.
Being so
close to our destination, we called the Refuge Inn to see if we could
check in a day early. They were able to oblige, so we dusted the sand off
our backs and hopped in the truck. Because the Piping Plover birds were
nesting on the beach, we could not continue down the beach to the Virginia
end. We had to go back to the mainland and take the hour drive to
Chincoteague. I was so antsy during that last leg of our journey. As
soon as we passed Wallops Island and turned onto the bridge to Chincoteague, I was content.
Driving across the water at sunset, the quaint little island town ahead of
us looked so beautiful. It was all decorated with boats and aglow
with lights.
On Sunday
and Monday we spent some time at the Chincoteague National Wildlife
Refuge, which is the Virginia end of Assateague Island. The nesting
Piping Plovers prevented us from using our 4 wheel pass, so we used the
designated beach area. We also rented bicycles, and it was my first time
on one in 20 years! I survived. However, the bike did not
respond to my leg aids and weight shift the same way a horse would, so it
took some practice.
We didn’t
see any ponies on this end of the island. What I did not realize, was that
on Sunday and Monday morning, the Saltwater Cowboys were rounding up the
ponies. All of the Virginia ponies were already penned in an area near
the entrance of the island, where they would stay until the swim on
Wednesday morning. The southern herd was rounded up on Sunday, and the
herd towards the northern side of the refuge was gathered up early Monday
morning. I took a few pictures of the horses, but it wasn’t the same with
the fence around them. I decided we would go back to the Maryland end of
the island tomorrow to drive on the beach and see wild ponies…but first,
there was something really important that I had to do.
We drove
over the Chincoteague Pony Center on Chicken City Road so that my little
girl could have her first pony ride! Sure, I have my own horses, but they
are big and rude. I wanted her first ride to be on something that looked
like a stuffed animal. Much to my surprise, the pony rides were being
given on a horse. I didn't know what to expect from my daughter. I held my breath while
my husband put my baby girl up in
the saddle. She loved it. It
was all “Weeee” and “Yeehah”, though she kept her voice low enough to be
polite to her mount. I was so proud, and I told her that maybe when we
got home she could have a ride on Remington, my big fat draft cross. She
replied, “I ride Katie too.” Katie is my skittish OTTB mare whom she
adores.
“Uh,
well, we’ll let you ride Remington first,” I stammered, trying to avoid an
answer.
“I ride
Remington, and I ride Katie too,” she answered with her devilish little
smile. My husband and I exchanged those “we’re in trouble” looks.
Tuesday
was like a dream! We drove back to the Maryland end of Assateague, lowered the air pressure in our tires and drove our truck onto
the thick sand. We drove past trucks and Jeeps parked on the beach, drove
past some more and then some more. The further we drove, the wider the gap
between trucks was. We finally stopped where we couldn’t see another
vehicle or person to either side. We had our own private mile of
beach!
Soon
after we set up our tent and dug a fire pit, I saw a truck stopped up
ahead. And what was that dark mass near them? PONIES! I put on
my over-sized straw hat and grabbed the camera. Honey, watch the kiddo,
I’m going to go play “wildlife photographer!” I set off down the sandy
shore with the cool surf washing over my ankles. The sun was out, but the
ocean breeze kept me cool. Directly ahead of me were wild ponies in the
distance. "It doesn’t get any better than this," I thought to myself.
As I
walked...and walked...and walked, I realized the ponies were not as close as I had
originally thought. And that breeze…not going to keep my shoulders from
burning! Ouch.
Finally,
I could see that there were three ponies. The truck had long since driven off
and they were all mine. One pony spotted me. I actually caught myself
putting on the “ho-hum” act like, like my being there had nothing to do
with them. What if it was a stallion? What if he didn’t like me? There
was no car for me to jump into! I can’t outrun them! If I run
into the water, will they chase me? Oh, get a grip!
These ponies seem more mannerly than my kid. Just in case, I think I’ll
get my pictures from here.
As I
headed back to the truck, another truck passed by to take their photos. A
child’s toy shovel washed up in front of me, and I wondered if it was
considered gross to let your child play with some used toy that washed up
or if it was merely good recycling. It looked okay, so I grabbed it.
The little one was probably missing me pretty good by now, so it would be
nice to bring her a present.
Being
that I was so far down the beach, my husband couldn’t see me clearly. He
thought I must have touched the ponies, and that the passing truck was a
ranger giving me a citation. I acted like I took offense to his thinking
such a thing, but I guess I could understand. I love animals, and my
husband has seen me be very bold and tenacious around them. Horse people
are bold, and those of us with green horses sometimes look like we have no
common sense. We see a rearing horse and offer to get on, we fall off and
get back on unless the paramedics take us away, we jump into
the round pen with a horse that may as well have fire coming out of the
nostrils… you get the picture. At least that is how it looks to the
non-horsey spouse. Yes, before becoming a mother, I did stupid, risky
things…though breaking the law was not one of them. When a sign says not
to touch, I don’t touch! Geesh.
I’m not
sure what we did after our perfect day. Maybe we rented bicycles again or
maybe that's the night we went to the Fireman’s Carnival, and I had funnel
cake. When you are on vacation, you
lose track of what you did when. What a wonderful feeling!
While I’m
on the subject of filler recreation, let me make some recommendations. Do
try Ledo’s Pizza on Maddox Blvd. If you are in the mood to shop, walk
down Main Street. We stumbled upon a little mall that wasn’t really
visible from the road. There was a big candy store upstairs that you can
send the kids to if you want to keep them away from the breakable stuff in
the shops. Then you can take them to Memorial Park to burn off the sugar rush.
The wildlife refuge on Assateague has plenty of bike trails and a
beautiful lighthouse to visit, so I would suggest renting a bike at some
point during your visit.
Wednesday
was Pony Swim morning. We got on the buss at 7:30 am, but it wasn’t soon
enough for us to grab a good spot by the water at Memorial Park, where the
busses dropped people off. It didn’t matter though. The couple thousand
of us that were lined up along the park's waterside were in the WRONG PLACE! The
ponies were swimming over to the right of the park between the rows of
boats. So if you attend this event with the Pony Swim being a top
priority, book space on a boat or get on the bus at 6:30 am and GO RIGHT when you get off. The ponies will swim right down between the
boats. You’ll want to bring chairs, water and sunscreen. If you want to
get a superb view, bring mud shoes and wear disposable clothes. You’ll be
standing in marsh.
After
hours of standing around and dousing the baby with water to keep her cool,
we saw the tiny horse heads cross the water, wherever there was no boat to
block the view, of course. The swim was done in five minutes. We all got up and walked
over to the carnival, where the horses would be headed after a short
rest. If you have a lot to carry, wait for a buss. We walked, and it was
a lot further than we expected. As we got close to the carnival, the
roads were lined with people.
They were waiting to see the ponies run down the road. We turned into the
carnival looking for a spot to crash where we could see the ponies come
in. There was some space by the Port-O-Potties, but that was undesirable
real estate. We plopped down behind JP’s North, where the air smelled
like leather boots, and we were shaded by the pines.
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