Chincoteague Ponies

[Mike Buckley]

The Chincoteague Pony is a breed that lives relatively in the wild in the marshes of Assateague Island, of which two-thirds is in Maryland and the rest is in Virginia. The ponies are not entirely wild; they are examined regularly by veterinarians, they are fenced in in Virginia, and their population size is scientifically controlled by mankind to a limit of about 120 in Virginia and about 150 in Maryland. You might notice that some of the ponies are bloated. That's caused by the water they drink, which has a high salt content due to the island's location between the Atlantic Ocean and Chincoteague Bay. The breed is called a pony rather than a horse because the average adult living in the wild is only about 12 to 13 hands high.


Photo #1



Photo #2



Photo #3



Photo #4

[Donald]

Again, a wonderfully illustrated piece of information about which I knew nothing.

Some time after my wife died and I was thinking about how I could go on holiday/vacation, I looked at professional-led photography holidays; i.e. small groups etc etc. (I know that some can be superb and some very bad). One of those I seriously looked at was to photograph the wild horses of the Camargue in France.

This beautiful white beasts charging through the water on the shoreline - spray flying up and being highlighted by a glorious mediterranean sun. Then I discovered ...............

That there are obviously people employed to chase the horses through the water for the benefit of photographers. Goodness knows how many times per day the poor horses have to get up from their rest and gallop along the beaches and through the marshes for the benefit of paying tourists.

I chose to go to Yosemite instead.

[Shadowman]

Nice series.

[ccphoto]

That is on my bucket list of places to visit. I particularly like Image #4.

[Wavelength]

Very interesting and yes, #4 is really interesting due to activity

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, everyone!

A little bit more information about the ponies:

The herd in Maryland is managed by the National Park Service but I don't remember which federal agency owns them. The herd in Virginia is owned by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company. The size of the population in Maryland is limited by administering contraceptives. In Virginia, an auction is held every July that reduces the size of the herd.

Conducting the auction requires rounding up the ponies by so-called Saltwater Cowboys, herding them into pens, herding them from Assateague Island to Chincoteague Island across a channel at slack tide when there is no current (vets check to ensure that only ponies that are healthy enough to make the swim are herded into the water), and then herding them to the carnival grounds where they are auctioned. The first male or female foal to cross the channel is named King or Queen Neptune and is given to the winner of a public raffle. All proceeds of the raffle and auction go to the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Companyt, which is currently building a new facility on an undeveloped lot.

The auction and related activities have been conducted for nearly 100 years and have occurred every year except two years during World War II. It is a popular event lasting several days that is an economic boon to Chincoteague Island.

[Mike Buckley]

The activity shown in photo #4 is rare based on my four days of only occasionally viewing the ponies and was extremely short-lived. An aggressive pony, perhaps an alpha stallion, suddenly displayed its irritation with with the pony on the far right. That pony and the other two ponies in the water ran away. Those three ponies are the only ones that I ever saw running and the episode lasted only about 15 seconds.

[bnnrcn]

Lovely series Mike and also beautiful light

[Rita]

Very nice set Mike. It is always a beautiful site to observe animals in a free state.