Chincoteague Pony Breed History

 It’s an understatement to say that Misty of Chincoteague has captured the imaginations of thousands of children–for many of us, reading Misty has lead to lifelong friendships, a deeper love of horses, and quite a few mosquito bites from hanging out on Chincoteague and Assateague. For author Susan Friedland, revisiting the Misty story has led to a remarkable research journey. Marguerite, Misty and Me is Friedland’s 2023 memoir that chronicles the author’s research and adventures as she sets out to uncover the life of Marguerite Henry, the author of Misty of Chincoteague . Friedland was living the big city life in California, but after personal turmoil brought her back to her hometown of Wayne, Illinois, she gained the opportunity to reconnect with her horse-loving, Misty -reading childhood. The book alternates among personal experiences as a horsewoman, Henry’s biography, the real Misty's life, and Friedland's experience conducting research. At the heart of the book lies a si...

It’s almost Pony Penning week! If you’re bound for Chincoteague for the first time, or simply want to brush up on your wild pony facts, this is the blog post for you.  This blog covers the history of the Chincoteague pony, but today, we're going to talk about the present. Since newcomers to Pony Penning tend to have a lot of questions, I’ve put together a FAQ about the ponies and Pony Penning at large.  Full disclaimer, I’m not associated with the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department and I'm not speaking in any official capacity–I’m just a pony nerd who’s attended every Pony Penning since 2004 and has heard a lot of the same questions asked around the corrals.  Who owns the wild ponies? The wild Chincoteague ponies are owned by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department (CVFC), who have a permit from the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge to keep ponies on Assateague Island. The wild foals are auctioned to benefit the CVFC. The auction provides the money for firefigh...

It’s often been said that the Chincoteague breed’s beloved pinto coloring originated when Shetland was introduced to the wild herd, but mentions of Shetland outcrossing have been vague. I’ve found confirmation that at least one Shetland pony was released into the wild: in the early 20th century, Edward P. Timmons introduced Shetland to his wild Chincoteague ponies. Background: Early 20th century pony management Let’s back up and talk about herd management at the time–in the early 1900s, wild Chincoteague ponies were managed much differently than they are today. Nowadays, the wild herd lives on Assateague island and are owned and managed by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department, but back then, the wild ponies lived on Assateague, Chincoteague, and Wallops Islands and were owned by individuals on Chincoteague.  During the annual Pony Penning event, the Chincoteaguers came together to round up everyone’s ponies and sell the offspring for a profit. To keep track of whose ponies be...

The anecdote goes like this: George Washington owned a Chincoteague pony named “Chinky” that he once rode 147 miles from Mount Vernon to Williamsburg in a single day. This information has been printed in several sources, both online and in print, but is it true? To answer that, let’s explore Washington’s equine history, the research behind this claim, and some ideas for the story’s origins. George Washington the horseman Washington was considered a skilled horseman: Thomas Jefferson once wrote that he was “the best horseman of his age, and the most graceful figure that could be seen on horseback.”During the Revolutionary War, he primarily rode Nelson (a chestnut) and Blueskin (a gray half-Arabian), both of whom retired to his home of Mount Vernon after the war. Washington depicted riding Blueskin in "Washington Rallying the Americans at the Battle of Princeton" by William Ranney (1848). Washington took great interest in equine breeding operations at Mount Vernon and offered ...

Some have dismissed the legend of the Chincoteague ponies’ origin as overly romantic, but researchers recently uncovered evidence that supports the story. As captured in the opening chapters of Marguerite Henry’s Misty of Chincoteague, the legend is certainly a dramatic one. The story goes that a storm ravaged a Spanish galleon, and in the shipwreck, only the ponies in the hold made it out alive, swimming to nearby Assateague Island. The ponies have called Assateague their home ever since.  1893 illustration of a Chincoteague pony published in the Abbeville Press and Banner. Alternative theories range from the equally fantastic (The ponies were left on the island by pirates!) to the utterly mundane (The ponies were left on the island by townspeople who didn’t want to pay taxes on them). Experts aren’t sure when exactly ponies began living on the island, though they’ve been written about for over two hundred years. Horses themselves are not native to the Americas. In his second trip...

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 ...

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,...