Chincoteague Pony Breed History

For well over a hundred years, people have argued over the true origins of the Chincoteague ponies, so it's appropriate that the origins of the most famous wild pony are not completely known. The wild Chincoteague pony stallion Surfer Dude captured the hearts of thousands with his distinctive looks: his deep chocolate-brown coloring, his blonde mane, his partial blue eye, and the spot of gray below his '92 hip brand. Surfer Dude in 2010. Photo by Sarah Boudreau. Surfer Dude was born in 1992. The CVFC started freezebranding with the year of the pony's birth in 1991, which allowed for easier recognition and record-keeping. Two years after Surfer Dude was born, the Chincoteague Pony Association was formed. The CPA was organized by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department, and it was the primary pony registry for many years, keeping track of which foals were born to which parents. It is difficult to verify information on many of the ponies born before the CPA, because

After they lost a large percentage of their herd to equine infectious anemia in 1975-76 , the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department sought to introduce new blood to their wild pony herds, so they brought nearly forty wild mustangs to the island. The goal, however, was not simply to replace the ponies that had died.  "The wild ponies were weakened through generations of inbreeding. That's when we decided to add the bloodlines of the wild horses of the West to strengthen the wild ponies of the East," said Harry Clay Bunting Jr., pony chairman. He added, "I thought, here was 38 we could save from a can." Bunting touched on the massive controversy over the management—or lack thereof—of the West's wild mustangs, a controversy that endures to this day. For hundreds of years, mustangs did not have legal owners, and until the early 1970's, that meant that there was little to no oversight on their treatment. Mustangs at this time were being rounded up,

Arabian stallions have been introduced into the herd several times—like Al Marah Sunny Jim, who lived on Assateague in the 70s, and Skowreym, an endurance racer who was leased to the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department for two years in the 60s. Plenty of other stallions and their donors have been erased by time, but Stanley White’s contributions have left a very clear mark upon the breed. Stanley White got his start with Chincoteagues at a young age, as he grew up attending Pony Penning. In fact, his first horse was a Chincoteague: when he was seven, his foster father brought him a black mare named Doll Baby and told him that if he could ride her, he could keep her. White grew up to work for Al-Marah Arabian Horses, then he moved on to Lancer Arabians in Ocala. Eventually, he started his own operation, Grandeur Arabians, in Citra, Florida. It was a family affair on the 200-acre farm, as his children were heavily involved in training and showing. Though he built his career on th

Equine infectious anemia, also known as swamp fever, spiked in the 1930’s and again in the 60’s and 70’s—and it was during the 70's when it infected almost half of the wild Chincoteague pony herd. The disease, spread primarily through biting flies, is characterized by episodes of fever, as well as swelling, weight loss, and loss of stamina. Some infected horses can go up to a year without displaying symptoms after their initial infection, which would make the disease difficult to observe in wild ponies. EIA has been around for centuries, but to this day there is no successful treatment and no vaccine available in the United States. In 1973, the Coggins test, which determines if a horse is infected with EIA, was approved by the US Department of Agriculture. The Coggins test was used on Chincoteague ponies the very next year on two foals that were bought at Pony Penning and taken to New Jersey, where they began showing symptoms. Upon this news, both the Chincoteague Volunteer Fi

Bob Evans, the sausage-maker and restaurant-owner, lived hundreds of miles from the sunny, hoofprint-stamped beaches of Assateague Island, making him an unlikely ally in the fight to preserve the Chincoteague pony breed. Evans grew up near Gallipolis, OH, on a gorgeous farm tucked into the folds of the Appalachian mountains. Despite his success in business, he was known to be a genuine soul. His persona as an honest farmer was no fake—Evans was the real deal. He was also known for his giving nature. The Bob Evans Farm has long been stocked with educational materials, and Evans worked with Ohio’s 4-H program for years, even starting a program that gave away 44 quarter horse colts a year to deserving kids.  Bob Evans Farms in 2019 In ‘72, Evans got interested in the plight of the Spanish barb mustang, a subset of the mustang breed that was quickly declining in number. Wild mustangs descend from the horses originally brought to the Americas by Spanish colonizers, and though