The Chincoteague pony, also known as the Assateague horse, is an American feral herd on Assateague Island of Virginia and Maryland. The breed was made famous by the Misty of Chincoteague novels, written by Marguerite Henry, and first published in 1947. Although popularly known as Chincoteague ponies, the feral ponies live on Assateague Island which is owned by the US government and is split by a fence at the Maryland–Virginia state line. A herd of around 150 ponies are maintained on the Virginia side of the fence, and 80 on the Maryland side.
The two herds are managed by separate agencies. The Maryland herd (referred to in the 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 any other species on the island, other than contraceptive treatments to curb overpopulation. Conversely, the Virginia herd (referred to as Chincoteague ponies) live within the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and are owned by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company. The Virginia ponies are treated to twice-yearly veterinary inspections, which prepare them for life among the domestic equine population if they are sold at auction. While only around 300 feral ponies live on Assateague Island, around 1,000 more live off-island, having been purchased or bred by private owners.
In 2023, the Code of Virginia § 1-510 was amended to name the Chincoteague Pony breed as the designated pony of Virginia by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Breed characteristics
Chincoteagues average around in their feral state, but grow to at least when domesticated and provided better nutrition. They generally weigh around . All solid colors are found in the breed, as are pinto patterns. Horses with pinto coloration tend to sell for the most money at the annual auction.
Island Chincoteagues live on a diet of salt marsh plants and brush. This poor-quality (and often seasonally-scarce) food source—combined with uncontrolled inbreeding—created a propensity for conformation faults in the Chincoteague; new bloodlines began to be introduced in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Due to outside bloodlines being added to the Chincoteague herd, there is some variation in physical characteristics. In general, the breed tends to have a straight or slightly concave facial profile with a broad forehead and refined throatlatch and neck. The shoulders are well angled, the ribs well sprung, the chest broad and the back short with broad loins. The croup is rounded, with a thick, low-set tail. The breed's legs tend to be straight, with good, dense bone that makes them sound and sturdy.
Domesticated Chincoteagues are considered intelligent and willing to please. They are viewed as easy to train, and are used as hunter, driving, and trail ponies. In terms of health, they are generally hardy and easy keepers (able to live on little food). In the late 19th century, one author praised their "good manners and gentle disposition" while reporting the story of one pony who was ridden a distance of around in 34 days by a man with equipment, a load that weighed around —the pony weighed approximately .
History
Legend states that Chincoteague ponies descend from Spanish horses shipwrecked off the Virginia coast on their way to Peru in the 16th century. Another story holds that they descend from horses left on the island by pirates. Other evidence points to their ancestors actually being horses brought to the islands in the 17th century by mainland farmers. Livestock on the islands were not subject to taxes or fencing laws, and so many animals, including hogs, sheep, cattle and horses, were brought to the islands.
While the National Park Service holds to the theory that the horses were brought to the island in the 17th century, the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company, which owns the ponies on the Virginia side of Assateague, argues that the Spanish shipwreck theory is correct. They argue that horses were too valuable in the 17th century to have been left to run wild on the island, and claim that there are two sunken Spanish galleons off the Virginia coast in support of their theory. The National Chincoteague Pony Association also promotes the shipwreck theory. In 2022, a DNA study of a 500-year-old Spanish horse tooth from Puerto Real, Vieques, Puerto Rico indicated that its closest genetic relative was the Chincoteague pony, supporting the theory that the ponies are descended from colonial Spanish bloodstock.
In the early 1900s, they were described as having been on the islands since well before the American Revolution, and were described at that time as "very diminutive, but many of them are of perfect symmetry and extraordinary powers of action and endurance". In the early 1800s, Virginia governor Henry A. Wise released what one author called the "earliest printed testimony" on the Chincoteague. In 1835, the practice of pony penning began, with residents rounding up a number of ponies and relocating them to the mainland. In 1924, the first official "Pony Penning Day" was held by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company, where ponies were auctioned as a way to raise money for fire equipment. Some younger ponies are kept for domesticating, such as training, riding and general taming work, with many ponies eventually becoming cherished and obedient animals. The annual event has continued in the same fashion almost uninterrupted to the present day.
During the 1920s, before the herds were managed by various agencies, many conformation faults were found—the effects of uncontrolled inbreeding. Misshapen legs, narrow chests, poor bone and a lack of substance plagued the breed, with many stunted animals not growing above . This was partially due to the limited and poor-quality feed found on the islands, although this harsh habitat also allowed only the hardiest and most adaptable ponies to survive. Welsh pony and Shetland pony blood was added to upgrade the stock; horses with pinto coloring were introduced to give the herd its common distinctive patterns, and contribute to the more horse-like phenotype of the breed. Twenty Mustangs owned by the Bureau of Land Management were introduced in 1939. Arabian blood was added in the hopes of adding refinement and height to the breed, as well as increasing the length of their legs.
The Chincoteague pony has a similar history to the Shackleford Banker Horse, which comes from the Shackleford Banks off the coast of North Carolina. However, the Shackleford is a more isolated population, with no outside blood added to the herd.
The island itself has also undergone change. At one time, the island was connected to the southernmost point of Fenwick Island. In August 1933, the 1933 Chesapeake–Potomac hurricane created an inlet south of Ocean City, Maryland, separating the two landforms. After the storm, a permanent system of artificial jetties was built to preserve the inlet as a navigation channel. As a result of the jetties disrupting sand movement in the area, the island has drifted westward, and the two landmasses are now over apart.
Pony penning and auction
In 1835, the first written description of "pony penning" (roundup) appeared, though the practice of rounding up livestock on the island existed for many years before that. Initially, unclaimed animals were marked for ownership by groups of settlers. By 1885, the event had become a festival day, and two days of horse and sheep roundups were held on Assateague and Chincoteague Islands. While the sheep population diminished over time, the pony population grew.
In 1909, the last Wednesday and Thursday of July were designated as the annual days for pony penning, still taking place on both Assateague and Chincoteague Islands. However, in the early 1920s, much of Assateague Island was purchased by a wealthy farmer, forcing many settlers to move to Chincoteague Island and necessitating a change in the pony penning format.
By 1923, all parts of pony penning except for the actual roundup had moved to Chincoteague Island, with the ponies being transported by truck for the first two years before the annual swim was begun. By the early 1900s, Chincoteague Island had been established as a tourism and sport haven, and in 1922, a causeway was completed that connected the island to the Virginia mainland. After a pair of fires ravaged Chincoteague Island that same year, the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company was established. In 1924, the first official Pony Penning Day was held, where the foals were auctioned at $25–50 each to raise money for fire equipment. Pony Penning Day has been held annually ever since, with the exception of 1942, 1943, and 2020.
As many as 50,000 visitors gather on the last Wednesday in July to watch mounted riders bring the Virginia herd from Assateague and swim them across the channel to Chincoteague Island. The swim takes five to ten minutes, with both the rider and the observers on hand to assist horses, especially foals, who may have a hard time with the crossing. Before the swim, the herd is evaluated and mares in the late stages of pregnancy and those with very young foals are removed from the herd to be trailered between the islands. During the swim, some lactating mares become affected with hypocalcemia, which is treated by on-site veterinarians. Larger foals are auctioned the next day and the majority of the herd, including any young foals, are returned to Assateague on Friday.
As of 2015, the highest price paid for a pony was $25,000, and the lowest price was $500. Some ponies are purchased under "buy back" conditions, where the bidder donates the money to the fire department but allows the pony to be released back onto Assateague Island.
From 2020 to 2021, the Chincoteague annual pony auction was held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the pony swim was cancelled for the first time since World War II. The 2020 online auction raised $388,000 from the sale of 68 ponies; and in the 2021 online auction, 75 ponies, including 10 buybacks, were auctioned for $416,950. The auction returned to being in-person in 2022, and raised a record $450,200 from the sale of 63 ponies, including 10 buybacks. Prices averaged out to about ~$7,000 per pony, with prices rising to $32,000 for the highest price paid for a pony, and $2,500 the lowest price paid.
Herd management
All of Chincoteague Island lies within Virginia state lines, while Assateague Island is split between two states—a larger northern portion in Maryland and the smaller southern section within Virginia. Two separate herds of ponies live on Assateague Island, separated by a fence that runs along the Maryland-Virginia state border. Though descended from the same original stock, the Maryland feral ponies are called "Assateague horses" and are maintained by the National Park Service.
The Virginia feral ponies are called "Chincoteague ponies", and are owned by Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department. In 1943, the entire island was purchased by the federal government and divided into two protected areas, Assateague Island National Seashore in Maryland and Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia. The Maryland section of Assateague also contains Assateague State Park, where the ponies are allowed to roam, and the state plays little part in their management, besides immunocontraception.