As an amateur Chincoteague pony historian, I’ve combed through a ton of old newspaper articles, book chapters, and magazine stories. Lots of people speculate on the origin of the breed—did pirates leave their ponies on Assateague? Is the Spanish galleon shipwreck a true story? Here are four anecdotes about the breed that made me say, “Wait, what???” Enjoy! 1. Fish-eating ponies? This 1915 article in The Evening Star gets more wrong than it does right. “There was at one time a peculiar breed of ponies to be found on the coast of the Carolinas. They were known as “Chincoteague marsh” ponies. They were, of course, in a very wild state, and it is claimed that they subsisted on crabs and fish. This probably would render their flesh unfit for food.” The writer is confusing the Chincoteague pony and the marsh tacky , which is a very special breed of Colonial Spanish Horse from South Carolina that even has its own unique gait, the “swamp fox trot.” There are only about 400 marsh tackies le
The stories behind the beloved breed