This is a new event for us to hear about! Chincoteague Pony Swim. For 89 years, the ponies from Assateague Island have made the swim to Chincoteague every last Wednesday in July. And if you ask anyone who’s seen it, they’ll say it never gets old. “Just to see them swim across the water is just something amazing that you wont see anywhere else,” said a spectator. And getting to see them up close is a memory spectators won’t soon forget. “To see it first hand, and to get close to the ponies, is truly amazing, it really is … ,” said another spectator. Last weekend, wranglers rounded up ponies from the Southern Herd. The small ponies will be auctioned off to raise money for the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department. Click the photo to scroll through the official 2014 album. Here are a few more links about this event and the Assateague horse: Although popularly known as Chincoteague ponies, the feral ponies actually live on Assateague Island. Although the entire Island is owned by the federal government, Assateague is split by a fence at the Maryland/Virginia state line, with a herd of around 150 ponies living on each side of the fence. The herds live on land managed by two different federal agencies with very different management strategies. Ponies from the Maryland herd, referred to in literature of the National Park Service as Assateague horses, live within Assateague Island National Seashore. They are generally treated as wild animals, given no more or less assistance than other species on the island, other than to be treated with contraceptives to prevent overpopulation. Conversely, the Virginia herd, referred to as Chincoteague ponies, lives within the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge but is owned by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company. The Virginia ponies are treated to twice yearly veterinary inspections, which prepare them for life among the general equine population if they are sold at auction. While only around 300 ponies live on Assateague Island, around 1,000 more live off-island, having been purchased or bred by private breeders. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chincoteague_Pony chincoteaguechamber/pony-swim/pony-swim-day delmarvanow/story/news/local/virginia/2014/07/30/chincoteague-pony-penning-rose/13358351/
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 22:33:45 +0000
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