Well, I got to mark something off my life's "to do" list-we spent the last week camping on beautiful Chincoteague Island for Pony Penning! It very much like the book, Misty of Chincoteague, we even stayed at Tom's Cove campground, off of Beebe road.
The campground was beautiful (but crowded!) and overlooked the channel where the ponies swim across.
For those who have not read the book, their are wild (feral, really) ponies off the coast of Virginia on an island called Assateague. In order to control the population, the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department rounds up the herd every year, swims them across the channel to Chincoteague, walks them through the tiny town to the fairground, and auctions the foals and yearlings off. Marguerite Henry famously described the island life and ponies in her book, Misty of Chincoteague, and its been a world famous event ever since. The round up has been going on for 82 years now!
The day of the actual swim is SO crowded with boats its nearly impossible to see the ponies swim across, so we headed to Beebe road to watch the herd come down to the fairgrounds after their swim. First the "Saltwater Cowboys" ride up in a line, then down the street comes the herd! The ponies are muddy from their climb out of the marshy channel, and some of the foals are a bit frightened, but the cowboys drive them calmly up the road,and the older ponies are all familiar with the routine. it was amazing to see them go by!
The next stop for the ponies is the corral at the fairgrounds, where they stand in little groups, one stallion and several m
ares and foals. It is a little sad to see the foals snuggling up to their mothers, knowing they will be sold the next day! The fair is so quaint and old-fashioned-the rides are straight out of the 50's. We went to the Ladies Auxiliary lunch (its in the book, too) and had lots of good fair food. Gryphon got a darling little cowgirl hat, too.
Thursday is the auction, where the foals and yearlings are taken into the arena and auctioned off. There is a buy-back committee who buy a good chink of the available ponies and send them back to the island, and they purchased the most expensive foal this year (or ever!) for $17,500! While it is admirable to have the ponies forever free through the buy-back, it struck me as unfair to those who come to buy a pony they have their heart set on, and are outbid by a group of people with much more available money than most.
We liked this little guy with the white star, and though I have no idea how much he went for at the auction, I'll bet whoever got him is very happy! (We were unable to talk Mark into pony, I'm sad to report. I even called my Dad- no dice. Apparently "Daddy, will you buy me a pony doesn't work in your 30's, either!)
We also hit the beautiful white sand beaches of Assateague, and visited the Assateague lighthouse. The weather was just perfect-not hot or cold- and the surf was wonderful.
Our last day was the day the ponies swim back to freedom, and much less crowded, so we got front row seats on shore! It was just amazing to watch them plunge into the channel, with the cowboys in boats urging them on. Everyone cheered when they made it to the far shore of Assateague and ran onto the beach-simply amazing. It really was a dream come true for me, and for the girls too!
