CHINCOTEAGUE PONIES
History
Chincoteague (you pronounce it like "shinko - teeg") ponies are wild ponies who inhabit Assateague Island in Maryland. The ponies range from around 12 to 14 hands tall. Adults weigh approximately 750 pounds and they come in a variety of colors and often have paint markings. They have bold eyes, broad chest and loins, well angulated shoulders, and powerful legs which give the correct impression that they are a powerful natural breed that has survived decades on the island. The horses are now considered an official breed and they have their own official registry at the Chincoteague Pony Association located on Chincoteague Island.
The ponies are found on Assateague Island, which is one mile wide and seven miles long. The island is separated from Chincoteague Island by Assateague Channel. Over 150 Chincoteague ponies inhabit the marshes and wooded areas of the Assateague National Wildlife Refuge, which is 9500 acres on the Virginia end of Assateague Island.
Part of the mystique of the ponies is due to the unanswered question: How did these ponies get onto the Island? Local folklore offers at least three tales. One has the horses arriving from a sixteenth century Spanish galleon shipwreck, another suggests that the horses were put their by pirates to be corralled, and the third attributes their presences to Colonial Virginia framers attempting to avoid taxes or having to put up fences.
PONY PENNING
Penning began as a way for livestock owners to claim, brand, break and harness their loose herds. By the 1700's it had become an annual event, complete with drinking, eating and plenty of revelry by the entire community. The earliest known description of Pony Penning was published in 1835. The practice was then already an "ancient" custom held in June on Assateague Island. Penning on Chincoteague Island is not mentioned until the mid-1800's, and it believed to have been begun by two islanders who owned large herds that grazed on Chincoteague.
The penning continued on both islands for years. By 1885 they were held on Assateague one day and Chincoteague the next. Assateague also had a Sheep Penning, which is believed to be a custom even older than the others. Word of the events began to spread, and hotels and boarding houses were booked for the festivities. In 1909, the last Wednesday and Thursday of July were set as the official dates for the yearly events. As Pony Penning increased in popularity, Assateague's Sheep Penning wound down and was discontinued by 1914.
The most renowned aspect of Pony Penning, the swim across the Assateague Channel, dates from the early 1920's. Samuel Fields acquired much of the southern end of Assateague and restricted the villagers' access to oyster-rich Tom's Cove, causing most of the villagers to move to Chincoteague. The restrictions also affected the island's penning. In 1923 the event also moved to Chincoteague with one penning for both islands. The herds were at first transferred by boat, but in 1925 they were swum across the channel and Pony Penning's "modern" era began.
After a string of disastrous fires in the Town of Chincoteague, the villagers realized their fire fighting equipment was seriously inadequate. In 1925 the town authorized the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company to hold a carnival during Pony Penning to raise funds. That year over 15 colts were sold to benefit the fire company, and the carnival was a huge success. Bolstered by the interest in the pony swim, visitors began arriving from across the country for the annual penning. The crowd in 1937 was estimated at 25,000. The increased revenue from the carnivals and auctions enabled the fire company to modernize its equipment and facilities, and in 1947 it began to build its own herd by purchasing ponies from local owners. They moved the herd to Assateague where the government allowed publicly owned, not private, herds to graze on the newly established Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge.
That same year, 1947, Marguerite Henry published "Misty of Chincoteague," the story that made Pony Penning internationally famous. A movie followed, as did several sequel books. The tale of the wild pony Phantom, her foal Misty and the children who buy and raise her has become a classic, still loved and enjoyed by each new generation.
Pony Penning is still held in July during the Chincoteague Volunteer Firemen's Carnival. "Salt Water Cowboys" herd the horses across the narrowest part of Assateague Channel at low tide, after which they are examined by veterinarians. After a resting period, they are herded through town to a corral at the Carnival Grounds where they stay until the next day's auction. The Pony Auction not only provides a source of revenue for the fire company, but it also serves to trim the herd's numbers. To retain the permit to graze on the refuge, the herd must not exceed 150 horses.
Each year thousands of people flock to Chincoteague Island to watch the Pony Penning and enjoy the Firemen's Carnival. For many of them, the trek to the shores of Assateague Channel on the last Wednesday and Thursday of July has become an annual event, an opportunity to participate in a tradition older than the country itself.
