Chincoteague ponies are classic children’s mounts and have seen success in the hunter/jumper, dressage, and western ring… but have you ever heard of Chincoteague as a five-gaited champion? Modern Chincoteague ponies are not gaited, meaning they do not have gaits other than the walk, trot, and canter. Gaited horse breeds like the Tennessee walking horse or the Paso Fino naturally have gaits beyond the standard walk, trot, and canter—for example, the Paso Fino has special, four-beat gaits unique to the breed. Gaits other than the walk, trot, and canter haven’t been noted in the Chincoteague pony breed since the late 1800s, when a Canadian stallion let loose on the island imparted the pace to his offspring. However, in the late 1950s, a girl named Ann Gilliam set out to change that. As a young girl, Gilliam wanted a show pony, so her father bought her a Chincoteague pony in an attempt to dissuade her from showing—his reasoning was that if he bought her a "plain, ordinary pony,&q
The stories behind the beloved breed