Chincoteague Pony Breed History

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...