| We have come, on the last Wednesday in July, to witness a most American phenomenon - the annual Pony Penning and Auction at Chincoteague Island, VA. Every year at this time the fire fighters of the Chincoteague Fire Department become cowboys, rounding up the herd of wild ponies on Assateague and driving them to the channel. There they plunge into the water at slack tide, swimming 400 yards to Memorial Park, where they will rest a while before trotting on to the town fairgrounds, to be auctioned off the next day. Thousands come each year, drawn by the prospect of swimming horses, the excitement of the auction, the seafood, and the annual Fireman’s Carnival. Some also come hoping to win a bid on a new addition to their family - a yearling pony from one of the world’s most unique herds. Descendants of ponies shipwrecked in the 17th century, each year a number are sold to maintain a sustainable population on Southern Assateague Island. We see the ponies first, as many as two hundred, emerging from the far tree line and cantering across the marshes. Then we see the cowboys, swinging ropes and whistling as they coax the nervous ponies to the water’s edge. They hesitate at the shoreline, whinnying and snorting, looking left and right for a way to escape, but the cowboys keep them together until the first brave pony jumps in, quickly moving into deeper water and swimming westward between the rows of boats to the far shore. Soon the channel is filled with horses’ heads all moving in the same direction.  They are combinations of brown, white and black, ears folded back as their breath wheezes from exertion through wide open nostrils held just above the water. We’ve never seen a horse swim before, and now we see dozens smoothly paddling for shore. In about ten minutes they arrive. The crowd cheers as the first pony, destined to be given away free the next day, climbs dripping up the ramp at the park. One by one they all emerge, shake themselves off, spraying the hundreds of children who squeal with delight as they press forward to touch one of the saturated steeds. | |
| Later we go ashore and see the ponies driven down Main Street, then check them out in the corrals by the fairgrounds. All around are the carnival rides, the games of chance, and a mouth-watering collection of seafood and barbecue vendors with enough goodies to satisfy any palate. The ponies stand quietly in their corral munching hay as spectators and potential buyers debate their virtues. The next day the ponies are auctioned off to the highest bidder. Usually about 80 are on the block. Buyers raise their registered number and shout their bid, some becoming sudden horse owners. The Saltwater Cowboys get the horses to Chincoteague. It’s up to the new owners to get them home. The proceeds from the auction benefit the fire department, as it has been since 1925. One day later, to a much smaller crowd of spectators, the adult ponies swim back to Assateague Island to begin yet another year in the wild. 
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| If you go
Chincoteague Island is about 100 miles north of Virginia Beach. Take the Bridge Tunnel, Rt 13 and the Rt 13 bypass at Olney. Watch for signs and take Rt 175 on to the island. There are many small hotels and campgrounds in the area, many with boat facilities, and some of the best seafood restaurants to be found anywhere. Check out the Chamber of Commerce website at: http://www.chincoteaguechamber.com/ for guidance. | |
