Chincoteague Pony Round-Up Begins Today

At the time that Marguerite Henry wrote and published Misty of Chincoteague, the Pony Penning round-up happened the morning of the Pony Swim - these days, with all of the checks by the veterinarians and farriers, the actual round-up begins on the Saturday before the Swim.  Most people will tell you that "Pony Penning" encompasses two, or possibly three, days.  The two "main days" of Pony Penning are on the last Wednesday and Thursday in July - this year, those are 30 and 31 July - if Thursday is 1 August, then Pony Penning happens the week before...  The folks who say Pony Penning is three days long are counting the following Friday (1 August, this year), when the ponies will swim back to Assateague.  I think we should refer to Pony Penning Week, just because the Saltwater Cowboys start working on the Saturday before the Swim, and work through the following Friday.
   I did give wrong, or inaccurate, information in an earlier blog.  I wrote that the ponies on the northern side of the Virginia section of Assateague would be rounded-up today, Saturday.  That is wrong.  The ponies on the southern end of Assateague will be brought in to the Holding Pens by Tom's Cove today; the northern herds will be gathered tomorrow, Sunday.  I apologize for the mistake.
  Currently, the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company owns the wild ponies that wander over the Virginia section of Assateague Island.  Assateague is owned by the United States government, and the Virginia part of the island is run by three US agencies - the National Park Service, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Department of Natural Resources.  The CVFC has a contract, negotiated with all three agencies, to keep the ponies on the Virginia end of Assateague.  This contract limits the number of ponies on the island, and calls for strict guidelines regarding the ponies' care - including veterinarian care, vaccinations, hoof care, emergency care, extra feed in times of grazing hardship, and a routine daily visual check of the herd members.
   All of the ponies have had standard blood tests run - including the foals. Most of the foals have already been "matched" with their mothers - notes are taken when they appear, and which mare had what foal.  This information will be carefully checked, and double-checked, so that dam and sire are recorded by the CVFC; their vaccination and blood records are available, and then - most importantly - the blood test results for the new foals are logged and recorded. If you visit Chincoteague for the express purpose of buying a pony and taking it home with you, having the foal's blood test records and vaccination records are extremely important.  You must produce these records at every state line that you cross, or your foal will be impounded.  If you don't bring a horse trailer of your own, you will either (a) need to rent one, or (b) be prepared to pay others to transport your foal to it's new home (the amount is usually charged per mile).
  If you buy a foal, please realize that it has not been handled daily, as a domesticated farm-raised foal would have been.  You will have to gentle the foal - gain it's trust, and make it want to be near you.  You will need to spend a lot of hours with the foal each day, to begin with. You will need to teach it it's name, to happily place it's head in the halter, to stand still and steady, to allow you to groom every inch of it, and to handle it's feet.
   And, I can happily assure you that ponies that are purchased and removed form the salt marsh diet of Assateague do not become ponies with sagging backs and huge bellies.  With a proper diet of grass, grain, and hay, these ponies will turn out to be one of the best-looking equines you've ever seen.  Feed them well, groom them well, and exercise them well, and you will have an outstanding pony to ride or drive!