Pony Penning Week

Hopefully this week will be somewhat quieter than the past weekend... It's 63 outside with partly cloudy skies, and it was cool enough this morning that I had to pull the covers up over my legs to stay comfortable. At this time of year, the normal Temperature for daytime is in the low to mid-90s. An Arctic cold front is coming through this afternoon/evening, and we're expecting high temps in the upper 60s and low 70s for the rest of the week... Spring and fall weather for the end of July! The kits are fine, and I start house-sitting the red kids on Wednesday.

Wednesday - a special word for me at the end of July. Were I on Chincoteague, I would already be at the holding pens on Assateague - and forget about blogging! Wednesday is Pony Penning Day, with the pony auction on Thursday and the swim back to Assateague Island on Friday at slack tide. What, you may ask, is slack tide? Chincoteague and Assateague are islands in the Atlantic Ocean - and tides run through the Assateague Channel between the two. (The Chincoteague Channel is on the west side of that island, between it and the marshes and mainland.) For a short period between the daily high and low tides, the water between the two islands is not "pulled" in either direction - a time when, if you threw a float onto the channel, it would move whichever way the wind blows, rather than north or south with the current. The US Coast Guard is on hand on both Wednesday and Friday, and they fire a flare from their cutter to signal the Saltwater Cowboys that it's time for them to herd the ponies into the water to start their swim. In the past, the round-up of the ponies would have taken place on Wednesday - in today's world, the members of the Pony Committee start hunting the various herds on the northern portion in Virginia on Thursday. These herds are rounded up and kept in a holding pen on the north end of the island, and then are herded, en masse, down the Assateague beach on Saturday morning to the southern holding pens (which are conveniently located by the road to the National Seashore). Saturday and Sunday, the horsemen round up the ponies that are on the southern portion of the island, as well as strays, and take them to the holding pens. All the ponies - stallions, mares and foals are checked by a certified veterinarian - their blood is taken to be certain they carry no infectious disease, and the ponies are evaluated by the vet to assure that they can make the one-eighth mile swim between the islands. Those ponies that are about to drop their foals, those whom are in poor condition, who have open cuts, etc., and newborn foals (and their dams) are trailered over to the Pony Penning Grounds on Chincoteague. I have heard a lot of people over the years comment that it is cruel to make the ponies swim the channel. They have not been around when the ponies take themselves into the water to cool off and to get the flies away... It's always an awesome sight, even though I've seen the herds all my life, both in and out of the water. ...

I am seriously worried about my "Spell Check" - which I know is silly... but yesterday's check hit on my "double entendres" , and suggested that I meant entities, entreaties, or entrails (Yuck!) And you ought to see what comes up for the two island names!!! ... Since it's Pony Penning time, expect more Chincoteague thoughts this week. - Have a super Monday!