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The Chincoteague Pony Swim
05/26/2008
On Assateague Island, two herds of wild horses make their home – one on the Maryland side of the island, and one on the Virginia side. These small, shaggy horses spend their time eating the long grass and drinking from fresh ponds.
On Assateague Island, two herds of wild horses make their home – one on the Maryland side of the island, and one on the Virginia side. These small, shaggy horses spend their time eating the long grass and drinking from fresh ponds. Legend has it these herds arrived on Assateague Island when a cargo shipment of wild mustangs from Spain sunk just off the coast. However, it is widely believed that the herds were simply set loose by settlers.
Every year, the Virginia herd, owned by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company, is rounded up for the annual Pony Penning and Auction. Penning is a way for herders to round up their loose herds and brand them. By the mid-19th century, it became an event, complete with feasting and drinking for all the community. In 1909, it was established that this event would take place on Assateague Island on the last Wednesday and Thursday of July.
The most popular of all events during the Pony Penning and Auction is the pony swim across the Assateague Channel. In the mid-1920’s, the Pony Penning was moved to the neighboring Chincoteague island, where most of the settlers began to live. The Penning was then combined with Chincoteague Pony Penning event. In order to combine the Penning, the horses from Assateague needed to be on Chincoteague, so they were originally transported via boat. In 1925, the ponies swam across the channel.
Also in 1925, the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company was going through hard financial times, and the town authorized the Company to raise funds during the Pony Penning, and they auctioned off horses and held a carnival – both were huge successes. Combined with the pony swim, this carnival began to garner significant national interest. Twelve years later, in 1937, an estimated 25,000 people came to benefit the Fire Company and witness the pony swim. With the funds from these events, the Fire Company modernized its equipment and purchased and built its own herd, which it moved to Assateague Island to graze.
Every July, the herd is led across the channel and into Chincoteague, where they are herded through town to a corral at the carnival to be auctioned off the next day. The Pony Auction benefits the Fire Company both through financial benefit and by trimming the herd, so that they can continue to receive the permit to keep their herd grazing on Assateague Island. The event has become a tradition revered by thousands who flock to the islands from across the nation every year. This year’s event will take place July 30-31, 2008.
