Foal 59 Arrived the Morning of 30 June

Back in 2014, after Pony Penning, a woman started thinking about the high prices of the Buy Back ponies at the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company's Pony Auction.  "Buy Backs" are ponies that the Fire Company veteran cowboys and members of the Pony Committee, as well as the CVFC veterinarians, recommend as foals that should be kept on the islands for breeding stock in coming years.  These ponies are chosen for their bloodlines, their conformation, and their coat colors; all three are considered.  The other item looked at is how many stallions and mares are on the island, their ages, and any losses (deaths) that have occurred over the past year.  Many times the ponies selected to be "Buy Backs" are ponies that a lot of folks would have liked to purchase and taken home.  But Buy Backs stay on Assateague and Chincoteague for life and will never grace a private stable.  If you purchase a designated Buy Back, you get to name it, receive the certificate saying you purchased it as a Buy Back, and have your photo taken with the foal.  For the rest of the pony's life (and/or your life) you can visit it on the island from a distance.
   But, back to the first sentence.  This woman contacted several friends about setting up a group to purchase ponies and the idea was received enthusiastically.  They put their idea on Facebook, and the group blossomed.  They decided to call themselves "The Chincoteague Legacy Group" and they were in business.  (See   https://chincoteaguelegacygroup.com/  )
   In January or February of 2015, Surfer Dude passed away, and it became known that the foals born to his mares in the Spring and Summer of 2015 would be the last of his get.  On 27 April 2015, Got Milk had a baby that caused a sensation: a black filly with a huge blaze, four white socks and two blue eyes.  She was designated as a Buy Back before the Pony Swim, and fate was set.  The Chincoteague Legacy Group wanted to purchase her, and any other foal(s) they could afford.  That Pony Penning of 2015, there was also a Blue Moon - two full moons in July.
   When that filly came up for bidding, the action was hot and heavy.  When the filly was sold, she was hammered down at the price of  $25,000.00 - and the winning bidder was The Chincoteague Legacy Group.  But before payment was made, the leaders of the group held a quick conference - they had raised $28,500; but other Buy Backs that year were selling for much more. The CLG decided to donate the rest of the money to the CVFC, so they paid out $28,500 for the blue-eyed filly black with the blaze.  She was named CLG Surfer's Blue Moon, and has the highest purchase price of any Buy Back pony so far. She is called just plain "Blue."
  Blue had her second foal on 30 June - foal number 59.  The sire is Tornado's Prince of Tides, and the foal is a bright chestnut with four stockings and a large blaze.  Sex is unknown, as yet, and Blue and the foal (escorted by Auntie Dakota Sky) were too far away to see if the baby has a touch of blue in its' eyes...

***  Photos owned and copyrighted by DSC Photography. ***

Foal 58, Out of Wildfire Is a Colt

WH Wildfire, the Misty of Chincoteague descendant who is the dam of foal 58, produced a colt for Surfer's Riptide on 27 June.  There is a small possibility that the sire is the Don Leonard Stud II, but the markings look very similar to foal 27, which is definitely Riptide's get.  (And I don't believe that Wildfire was ever covered by DLSII, myself...)   Here are much better photos of colt 58, taken, as always, by DSC Photography...

And another look at the other definite Misty-descended foal on Assateague, foal 4, a filly out of WH Winter Moon and sired by the Don Leonard Stud II.

Second Misty Descendant Born Wild On Assateague; Misty's Stable Burns To Ground

WH Wildfire delivered a foal on the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge (CNWR) on Assateague Island this morning.  The foal (number 58) was sired by Surfer's Riptide, and appears to be a minimally marked chestnut tobiano, like her dam.  They were spotted across a marsh and behind tall grass and bushes.  This is the best of the five photos taken:

Misty of Chincoteague was bred and born on Chincoteague Island by Clarence Beebe.  Her sire was called the Pied Piper, as in the book with her name, and her dam was a black tobiano named The Phantom.  Marguerite Henry was visiting Chincoteague during Pony Penning 1946, and was interviewing the Beebe family for her book.  She fell in love with the foal, purchased her, and Mr Beebe shipped Misty to Fort Wayne, Indiana when she was weaned.  Misty of Chincoteague was published in 1947 and won the Newbery Award for Children's Literature that year.  The rest is history.
    Misty returned to Chincoteague in 1958, and lived the rest of her life there.  When Clarence Beebe died, she was moved to Ralph Beebe's Ranch, a little further north on Ridge Road, where she lived in a large stall with pasturage, until her death in 1972.  But she never ran free on Assateague Island during her life.
    In the past several years, the Chincoteague pony herds on the CNWR have lost quite a few ponies, both mares and weanlings, due to equine pythiosis (also known as "swamp cancer").  Several people who owned descendants of the real Misty decided over the past three years to donate two colts, two fillies, and seven adult mares to the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company, who are the legal owners of the ponies that run free on Assateague in Virginia.  One colt, named Winter, a cremello, with blue eyes, did not do well in the wild, and is now owned privately again.
   The first donation was a black tobiano colt, and it was announced he was named "Saltwater Renegade."  - I loved that name. - Once his registration papers were opened to the public, it was revealed his name was WH Rainy's Beach Boy; so Beach Boy he is.  there is a possibility that he is the sire of two foals born so far this year - but there is no certainty.  The two possible foals are numbers 31 and 46, those whose mothers' are Little Miss Sunshine and Milly Sue.
   Then the CVFC was presented with seven ponies - one was the colt named Winter, who is now living in Pennsylvania.  The others were all females: the youngest were Calendar Girl and Surfette, along with WH Summer Shandy, WH Sundance, WH Wildfire (see photo above), and WH Winter Moon.  This past year, the CVFC were gifted with WH Bailey's Star, WH Tidewater Treasure, and WH Millenium Moon (aka Oreo).  All of the Misty ponies are now on Assateague, except Star, who is still at the Carnival Grounds on Chincoteague.

   ********************

And a last note -  My Mom was a close relation of Mrs Ida Beebe, Clarence's wife; she grew up calling them Uncle Clare and Aunt Ida.  As a relative, when I was a child, I rode Misty and her daughters, Wisp o' Mist and Stormy, around Misty Meadows, at Ralph Beebe's house, ranch, and stable on Ridge Road.  I knew the stalls of Misty and Stormy very well.  The barn on Ralph's land started out as a chicken house, and was converted for the ponies to use as a barn. It's been there since the mid-1940s.

  On the night of 25 June 2019, there was a huge fire on Chincoteague Island, on Ridge Road, at Misty's old barn.  A few posts still stand, but that is all.  Ralph Beebe's son, Billy, and his wife were away on vacation.  The ponies, goat, and other animal residents were saved from the flames by neighbors and the CVFC, as was the house.  Two homes that were close to the barn and belonged to neighbors suffered some fire damage.

   But Misty's home is no more....   Another bit of island heritage and history is gone.  The house that Clarence and Ida Beebe lived in, and raised six kids plus two grandchildren in, burned to the ground in 1996....

Foal 57 Is a Filly - And a New Maryland Foal

On 21 June, May's Grand Slam and Ken had a baby, but seen only from a distance.  We have one better photo now, taken this morning by Darcy Cole of DSC Photography...   The baby is a bay tobiano filly, and has markings that are close to her mother's on their left sides.  Second photo is the distance shot showing her right side...

Also on the 21st of June, in the afternoon, Ms Macky gave birth to a bay overo colt at the Assateague National Seashore in Maryland.  The sire of her previous foal was Joy, but I am currently unsure of this foal's sire.  The photo is from the National Park Service.

Dams of the 2019 Chincoteague Pony Foals Part 3

The count of foals born this year is now up to 57, with 56 survivors.  (Foal 38 was seen once, but never again.) This  is information on the last 17 mares to have produced a foal so far this year on the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge.  The numbers denote the numerical order in which the foals were born - this will not be the auction order or number on 25 July.  Listed are the registered names of the mares, their coat color, their birth date, and their sire and dam.  If a foal appears in the picture of the dam, it is this year's baby, and will be for sale by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company.  Please note that on the day of the sale, some of the babies will be declared "Buy Back" foals.  These babies will never leave Chincoteague and Assateague Islands.  If you purchase one, you get to name it and have your photo taken with it, but the pony stays in the herd and any and all of it's progeny are owned by the CVFC and will be sold in the future.  (My Buy Back's first foal will be auctioned this summer.)  -  And you will also get a tax write-off, as your pony purchase of a Buy Back is considered a donation to the CVFC.    ....  So here are the last seventeen mothers (again, so far):

#41 - Ivana Marie Zustan "Zustan"  - buckskin

Born 19 May 2016.   Sire: Little Dolphin   Dam: Jessica's Sea Star Sandy

#42 - Alice's Sandcastle - sooty buckskin

Born 27 April 2012.   Sire: North Star   Dam: Living Legend

#43 - Surfer Dude's Gidget - chestnut

Born 12 March 2002.   Sire: Surfer Dude   Dam: Virginia Bell

#44 - Misty Mills - chestnut tobiano pinto

Born 20 June 2006.   Sire: Courtney's Boy   Dam: Twirling Lace

#45 - Randy - buckskin tobiano pinto

Born 2014.   Sire: Tornado's Prince of Tides   Dam: Baybe

#46 - Milly Sue - black

Born 29 April 2017.  Sire: Surfer's Riptide   Dam: Leah's Bayside Angel

#47 - Gracie - black tobiano pinto

Born 16 April 2013.   Sire: Sockett To Me   Dam: Leah's Bayside Angel 

#48 - A Splash of Freckles - bay tobiano pinto

Born 25 June 2011.   Sire: Leonard Stud   Dam: 15 Friends of Freckles

#49 - Kachina Grand Star - buckskin

Born 3 June 2003.   Sire: North Star   Dam: Too Grand

#50 - Poco's Starry Night - black overo pinto

Born 9 April 2012.   Sire: Leonard Stud   Dam: Poco Latte PW

#51 - Leah's Bayside Angel - bay

Born July 1999.   Sire: Ocean Star   Dam: Summer Breeze

#52 - Black Pearl - black tobiano pinto

Born 2014.  Sire: Sockett To Me   Dam: Leah's Bayside Angel

#53 - Shy Anne (Half 'n' Half) - bay tobiano pinto

Born July 1999.   Sire: Top Gun (MD - Hot Air Balloon)   Dam: Sunshine

#54 - Little Bit O' Joansie - chestnut tobiano pinto

Born 2014.   Sire: Courtney's Boy   Dam: Cinnamon Blaze

#55 - Anne Bonny - chestnut tobiano pinto

Born 25 April 2011.   Sire: Yankee Spirit   Dam: MIZ Terry

#56 - Two Teague's Taco - bay

Born 12 July 2005.   Sire: Cinnamon Hologram   Dam: Merry Teapot's High Bid

#57 - May's Grand Slam - bay tobiano pinto

Born 23 April 2012.   Sire: Miracle Man   Dam: Spanish Angel

(May is in center of photo and very pregnant at the time...)

Photos of Foal 56, And One of Foal 57 - Chincoteague Ponies

Darcy and Steve Cole finally got close enough to get some good photos of foal number 56, who arrived on Wednesday, 19 June.  Equine genetics fooled me (again!) in this foals' coat color - the mare is a solid bay (Two Teague's Taco), and a photo surfaced proving that Ace is the sire.  Ace is a minimally marked black overo pinto; so I figured the foal would be a bay pinto.  Wrong!   A beautiful bright chestnut tobiano is the result - and it's a beautiful little filly!

Foal number 57 was spotted this morning, at a far distance.  The dam is May's Grand Slam, and the sire is Ken.  May is a bay tobiano pinto; Ken is a minimally marked chestnut overo pinto.  The photo was taken looking into the sun, so the colors are not true - but the baby is a pinto, chestnut or bay...  (I think it is a bay, myself.)  Better photos will be provided when available.

Dams of the 2019 Chincoteague Pony Foals Part 2

No new foals to report, and no better photo of Two Teagues Taco's pinto foal by Ace...
 So I'll continue with my photos, coat color descriptions, dates of birth and pedigrees for the dams of the 2019 foals born on the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia.  These are dams of the foals numbered 21 through 40, which is their birth order and/or the order they were first seen.  This will not be the order in which the foals will be auctioned on 25 July at Pony Penning on Chincoteague.  -  If a foal is pictured with the mare's image, it is this year's 2019 baby.

#21 - CJ SAMM'N  - chestnut tobiano pinto

Born 7 May 2006.   Sire: North Star   Dam: Slash of White

#22 - Suzy's Sweetheart - chestnut

Born July 1998.   Sire: Cherokee Chief (MD - Roan Patch)  Dam: Voyager

#23 - Surfer's Shining Star "Gingersnap" - chestnut

Born 23 Marrch 2015.   Sire: Surfer Dude   Dam: TSG's Elusive Star

#24 - Surfin' Chantel - chestnut

Born September 2013.  Sire: Rainbow Warrior   Dam: Surfin' Scarlet

#25 - Chickadee - bay tobiano pinto

Born: 15 April 2013.   Sire: Courtney's Boy   Dam: Black Star

#26 - Got Milk - bay tobiano pinto

Born 8 October 2000.   Sire: Top Gun (MD - Hot Air Balloon)  Dam: WaterKolor

#27 - Loveland's Secret Feather - bay tobiano pinto

Born 1 May 2012.  Sire: Wild Thing   Dam: Galadriel

#28 - White Saddle - bay tobiano pinto

Born 5 April 2013.  Sire: Witch Doctor   Dam: Wild Island Orchid

#29 - Marguerite of Chincoteague - bay tobiano pinto

Born 25 April 2013.  Sire: Tornado's Legacy or  Archer's Gambit

Dam: Miracle's Natural Beauty

#30 - Seaside Miracle - bay tobiano pinto

Born 7 May 2011.   Sire: Miracle Man   Dam: Seaside

#31 - Little Miss Sunshine - palomino tobiano pinto

Born 3 July 2015.   Sire: Tornado's Prince of Tides   Dam: Baybe

#32 - Precious Jewel - chestnut

Born 2014.   Sire: Phantom Mist   Dam: Unci

#33 - Sweet Jane / Duckie  - chestnut tobiano pinto

Born 6 April 2006.   Sire: Courtney's Boy   Dam: Left's Checkmark

#34 - Kimmee Sue - chestnut

Born 2 May 2012.  Sire: Courtney's Boy   Dam: Cinnamon Blaze

#35 -  Bling Bling - bay

Born 24 August 2014.   Sire: Tornado's Legacy   Dam: Unforgettable

#36 - Lorna Dune - palomino tobiano pinto

Born 5 May 2013.   Sire: Leonard Stud   Dam: Jessica's Sea Star Sandy

#37 - Witchkraft (aka Friendly Girl) - chestnut tobiano pinto

Born 1992.   Sire: -     Dam: Water Kolor

#38 - foal did not survive; seen one time only

at a great distance.  Mare without foal at next sighting.

#39 - Judy's Little Smooch - dark chestnut

Born 9 August 2016.   Sire: Surfer's Riptide   Dam: Butterfly Kisses

#40 - Shy and Sassy Sweet Lady Suede - palomino

Born 2014.   Sire: Chief Golden Eagle   Dam: Pony Ladies' Sweet Surprise

**  The photos above belong to the people or company that took them.  They are used here with

permission.  If there is a DSC Photography watermark onthe photo, it is their property.  If

there is no watermark, the photo is the property of Gina Aguilera.   **