The 89th Annual Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company's Pony Penning and Swim will happen today between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on the islands of Assateague and Chincoteague, in the state of Virginia. The ponies swim across the Assateague Channel at slack tide, which the US Coast Guard will declare by shooting off a red smoke flare. A couple of years ago, someone asked why the ponies couldn't swim at any time; the answer is because the tidal flow would carry the ponies either north or south, and they would have to swim much farther, plus, there would be no knowing where the ponies would achieve land-fall on Chincoteague. A slack time swim means an approximately one-eighth-mile-long swim, without stress to the ponies,and a clearly known and marked (with buoys) swim lane across the Channel.
Ponies thought to be "Too ..." have been trailered across to the Carnival Grounds by the Saltwater Cowboys already. The "Too ... " group is decided by the on-call veterinarian, Charlie Cameron, and includes foals too young, mares too pregnant, mares and stallions too poor or old, and ponies with injuries.
Firemen will be keeping a close watch at the end of the swim to be certain which foal arrives on the Chincoteague shore first; this foal will be named King or Queen Neptune, and will be raffled off. Raffle tickets are sold at the swim site and on the Carnival Grounds.
Here are more photos of the ponies and foals in the holding pens:
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