Skip to main content

About

Chincoteague Pony Breed History endeavors to tell the story of the Chincoteague pony, providing context and information about the events and people that shaped the breed.

The project is run by Sarah, a lifelong pony nerd. She's been collecting articles and photos off-and-on for years, but the public side of the project began with the Chincoteague Pony Breed History Facebook page in January 2018. The blog began in June 2019.

You can support the project by buying Sarah a coffee!

--

You can also check out Sarah's Chincoteague pony artwork on Facebook or on Etsy!






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Surfer Dude: The Pony, the Myth, the Legend

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 ...
1 comment
Read more

Sadie Bell: Trotting Horse, Pride of the Eastern Shore… Chincoteague Pony?

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, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fact or Fiction? Four Chincoteague Pony Tall Tales from History

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 ma...
Post a Comment
Read more