Pony Swim and Pony Parade 2018 - with Photos

Despite rain, sometimes heavy, the 93rd Annual Pony Swim and Pony Parade went off without a hitch - but with a minor glitch.  All of the ponies made their swim, or were trailered to the Carnival Grounds.  However, the four adult Misty-descendant mares had never made the swim before.  They started across the Channel twice, then broke away and returned to Assateague.  They are there now.  The glitch, however, was that Suzy's Sweetheart and Riptide's colt had decided to connect with those four mares before the swim.  He, too, turned back to Assateague - and went back ashore.  But don't worry. The Saltwater Cowboys rounded him up, put him on the horse barge, and ferried him across the Channel, re-uniting him with his Mom.  Everything turned out fine.  King Neptune was raffled off Wednesday evening; he was Tunie's colt.
   The Pony Auction will begin at 8 a.m. at the Carnival Grounds.  I'll be reporting on the prices Friday....
   Hope you enjoy the following photos of the swim and parade to the carnival grounds.

Suzy's Sweetheart's colt leaving the barge to find Mom

After a 45 to 60 minute rest, the ponies then travel the streets to the Carnival Grounds:

My girl's butt has the 15 brand in this photo

King Neptune:

Dam: Tuney, Sire: Hoppy

Chincoteague Pony Swim 2017, Yesterday - Photos

It seems to me that in the past 15 years or so, slack tide between Chincoteague and Assateague Islands for the Pony Swim has occurred between 9:30 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon.  This year slack tide happened at 7 o'clock, in the middle the Coast Guard's predicted time of 6 and 8 a.m.  People were lining up along the fencing of the ashore area and the Chincoteague shore line well before sunrise, and boats, Ski-Dos, kayaks, canoes and paddle boards lined the marked swim lane.
   The ponies left the holding pens on Beach Road in the dark and were herded across Black Duck Drain, along the marsh, and over to the area opposite Pony Swim Lane.  There, they grazed and rested, and a few stallions bickered, until the Coast Guard sent up the red smoke flares indicating slack tide.  The Saltwater Cowboys then drove the herds into the Channel, and two designated boats herded them through the water.
    The first foal to arrive on the Chincoteague shore was a dark chestnut colt with a star, sired by Riptide and the dam is Bay Girl.  He was spotted and then marked with an orange neck cord, and was raffled off as King Neptune in the afternoon.  (Chances were being sold at the swim area in the morning, also.)  After a rest of 45 to 50 minutes, the Cowboys surrounded the herds and paraded them from Pony Swim Lane to the Carnival Grounds on South Main Street.  There the ponies were turned loose to return to their own herds and settle in for 48 hours.
   The Pony Auction began at 8 a.m. this morning.  I'll report on it tomorrow....   Here are a few photos from yesterday: