July 31, 2003 — Local cowboys hollered and cracked whips as they herded hundreds of wild ponies across a narrow waterway for auction at Chincoteague, Va. on Wednesday.
Visitors flock from around the country each year to this small resort town to watch the event, part of an annual ritual aimed at keeping the equine population of a protected island manageable.
"It's so much fun, it's like Christmas," said Suzanne Taylor, who works at the Chincoteague Chamber of Commerce.
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Roe Terry, with the Chincoteague Fire Company, said that about 170 ponies made the swim, which lasted about nine minutes. "Everyone made it across safe and sound," he said.
The ponies rested in a park for an hour, and then paraded down the town's main street to a carnival site, where the youngest ones will be put up for auction on Thursday.
Crowds of spectators lined the streets clapping and snapping pictures as the herd went by, Terry said. "They were fantastic — they stood in the rain all morning," he said.
Each year in late July ponies living on Assateague Island, a federally protected park on the central U.S. Atlantic coast, are rounded up by members of the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company and checked by veterinarians.
By arrangement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the fire department — which legally owns the herd — must make sure there are no more than 150 ponies on the island. Too many ponies could upset the natural balance of the small island and deplete food for the animals, officials said.
On the last Wednesday of July the firefighters, now dubbed "saltwater cowboys," mount their own horses and herd the ponies across a 500-meter (550-yard) wide channel to the town of Chincoteague for auction.
The swim and the auction, which have been held since 1924, are the biggest events for this town of 3,500.
The ponies fetch an average price of $1,800, with a record bid set in 2001 of $10,500, Taylor said. Auction profits go to the firefighters for herd upkeep.
Unsold ponies are allowed to swim back to the island on Friday.
Even though ponies have been on the island about 300 years, nobody is certain where they came from.
One theory, popularized in the 1947 children's book Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry, is that the ponies swam ashore after a Spanish galleon ran aground.
Others believe the ponies were left there by pirates, or were turned loose by settlers.
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Name: Domestic Horse (Equus caballus)
Primary Classification: Equidae (Horses) Location: Original populations occurred in central Asia. Habitat: Feral populations are found in temperate grassland, forest and rainforest. Diet: Feral animals eat grass; domesticated animals eat hay and grain. Size: Up to 1 ton in weight. Description: Highly variable coloration. Long neck supporting large head. Large eyes and ears. Long hair along neck and forehead. Deep chest. Barrel-shaped body. Long limbs. Solid hoof on each foot. Long-haired tail. Cool Facts: They can twist their long ears to locate sounds without having to move their bodies. Males curl their top lip in what's called the flehmen response, which heightens their sense of smell, allowing them to determine females' readiness for mating. Conservation Status: Domesticated |
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