Chincoteague Pony Breed History

On March 27, 1877, the front page of Norfolk, Virginia’s The Public Ledger declared: “A trotting race is to come off at Campostella race-course on the 5th of April between Mr. Daniel Steever’s Maryland horse Carrollton and Sadie Bell, the famous Chincoteague pony, owned on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.”  Sadie Bell Sadie Bell was a trotting legend from Accomack County, Virginia who astounded crowds with her speed. The mare was reported to be about 15hh and was a light chestnut color. She had two back stockings that went halfway to her hocks, and she did not pace.  Media at the time often called her a Chincoteague pony. Let’s explore Sadie Bell’s life and lineage and celebrate a remarkable racehorse of dubious origin.  Sadie Bell’s breeding Was Sadie Bell born a wild pony on Chincoteague? No, but she possibly had Chincoteague blood through her mother’s side, with emphasis on the possibly .  In newspapers, Sadie Bell was frequently referred to as a Chincoteague pony, ...

Long before Misty of Chincoteague made him famous as the lovable Grandpa Beebe, Clarence Beebe owned a considerable number of wild Chincoteague ponies. In 1952, the Suffolk News-Herald reported that Beebe had a herd of 200! Today, we’re going to explore two possible instances of outcrossing in the Beebe herd.  Pony management Let’s start with some extra context. Nowadays, the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company owns and manages all of the wild ponies, who all live on the Virginia side of Assateague. That wasn’t always the case—historically, wild Chincoteague ponies have lived on Assateague, Chincoteague, and even Wallops Island and were owned by private owners. From time to time, those owners sought to improve their stock and added in horses and ponies from other breeds.  Beebe kept his herd on Chincoteague, but on Pony Penning Day, all the wild ponies were rounded up and the foals sold, and Beebe’s ponies mingled with the fire company’s and other private owners’ ponies. ...

The hurricane-strength Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962 was one of the most destructive storms to hit the mid Atlantic, and it caused significant damage to Chincoteague and the surrounding islands. You may be familiar with the storm and its effects on the island from Stormy, Misty’s Foal , the Marguerite Henry book that tells a fictionalized tale of the nor’easter. Dozens of wild ponies died as a result of the storm.  Three years later and hundreds of miles away, Illinois was dealing with a flood of its own. In the spring of 1965, the Mississippi River rose about 22.5 feet, causing $125 million in damage to the Quad Cities region—the equivalent of almost $1 billion today.  Patricia “Tish” Hewitt of Moline, Illinois had read articles about the Ash Wednesday Storm and Chincoteague’s plight, but seeing the flooding in her own town spurred her to action. She reached out to the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company to see if they would be interested in using one of her Arabian stallions, ...

Welsh ponies dramatically rose in popularity around the 1950s, with many ponies imported to America from Wales to meet demand. Some pony breeders around this time decided to breed Welsh-Chincoteague crosses—in this blog post, we’ll look at three cases of this!  Bayside Farms Bayside Farms of Berlin, Maryland focused on what they described as "the development of a superior type Chincoteague pony."  They wanted a large children's pony, and the thought was that Welsh blood would add refinement to the "thriftiness, hardiness, and stature" of the Chincoteague. They felt that their 3/4 Welsh, 1/4 Chincoteague crosses achieved their ideal.  A pony they produced, Bayside Prince Charming, played the part of Watch-Eyes in the 1961 Misty movie. Bayside Prince Charming, Welsh/Chincoteague cross.  Bayside Farms started breeding in 1952, crossing their Chincoteague mares with Welsh stallion Farnley Morning Star. They soon purchased Farnley Sun Star and began breeding him as w...