Chincoteague Island Pony Swim

Written By: Gail Clifford | Published By: Weekend Notes |  July 7, 2021

https://www.weekendnotes.com/chincoteague-island-pony-swim/

Like most girls, I fell in love with the romance of Chincoteague Island after reading Marguerite Henry’s children’s book, Misty of Chincoteague (1947) and then seeing the movie (1961). And growing up in Maryland, vacationing in Ocean City each summer, I can’t remember a year that we didn’t visit the Assateague Island National Seashore to climb the lighthouse and play in the sand dunes.

Yet the most exciting time of year was always around the Pony Swim and auction. Not being able to keep a horse in the city didn’t make me dream of buying my own “Misty” any less.

And seeing those ponies swim across the water from one island to the other made me appreciate them all the more.

Now as an adult, knowing that the “wild” horses more likely came from 17th century landowners placing their horses on the island trying to avoid the Maryland fence tax, rather than on their way to a viscount in Peru, can’t remove the allure.

Established in 1965 to “preserve the barrier island and surrounding waters, and provide recreational opportunities,” Assateague Island National Seashore is a unit of the National Park Service and Maryland State Parks. The northern two thirds of the island belong to Maryland, while the southern third of the island belongs to Virginia.

The Virginia section contains Chincoteague Island, Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, the Assateague Lighthouse and is home to the Pony Auction held as a fundraiser for the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department. About 60 foals are born each year and the sale assists with population control.

Local “saltwater cowboys” round up the ponies and sort those to be removed from the island. This causes the exciting Pony Swim and, next day, the Pony Penning.

Children do get involved as shown in this documentary: www.kcet.org/shows/the-wild-ponies-of-chincoteague/episodes/the-wild-ponies-of-chincoteague

With the pandemic, things are a little different this year. The round up and swim will still occur on July 24. But the auction bids start on July 22 and close on July 29. We all look forward to the return of the live events open to the public.

The original Assateague lighthouse, originally a candle lantern, was constructed in 1833 for a price of $5,000. In 1860, a taller, more powerfully illuminated lighthouse was begun, but construction was delayed due to the Civil War. It was finally completed in 1867.

The Coast Guard maintained it for years and it was converted to be electrically operated in 1933, now twin rotating lights that flash one after the other from a height of 154 ft above sea level that can be seen 19 miles out to sea.

The top of the lighthouse is accessible to the public and remains one of the most impressive landmarks in Virginia.

You can spend a great day or camp at Assateague, and the best time of all to be able to visit this beautiful island is during the Pony Swim held each July.