Honoring the Chincoteague
Tough, resourceful horses deserve designation as Virginia’s official state pony
So Virginia doesn’t honor the Chincoteague as our state pony? Then it’s about time. Already the idea enjoys all-toorare bipartisan support, thanks to a pair of bills introduced by Eastern Shore legislators, Democratic Sen. Lynwood Lewis and Republican Del. Robert Bloxom. The governor says he’s on board. So is his wife.
The Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department, which owns the herd, has been lobbying for the designation for a while.
Virginia already honors other critters as state symbols. There’s the State Bat (Virginia Big-Eared), State Bird (Northern Cardinal), State Dog (American Foxhound), State Freshwater Fish (Brook Trout), State Saltwater Fish (Striped Bass), State Insect (Swallowtail Butterfly) and even a State Snake (Eastern Garter). Surely ponies are more popular — and better tourist attractions — than snakes and bats.
Even our close neighbors, North Carolina and Maryland, are ahead of Virginia when it comes to honoring equines. North Carolina has as its state honoree the Colonial Spanish Mustang, also a wild breed living at the beach. The kids at Shawboro Elementary School down the road in Currituck County won that designation 13 years ago, with a little help from the Corolla Wild Horse Fund. Maryland won the regional race for a state breed 20 years ago when the Thoroughbred Horse galloped to victory there. (Maryland could have chosen the Assateague pony, really part of the same herd on Assateague Island, separated by a fence at the state line. Our choice will prove that the Old Dominion state has more refined tastes than the Old Line state.)
The Chincoteague ponies are world famous. They won their well-deserved place in literature and horsedom in 1947, when Marguerite Henry published what became an award-winning children’s book, Misty of Chincoteague. The real Misty appeared briefly in the movie adaptation, released in 1961, even though another pony played the starring role. Much of the movie was filmed on Chincoteague and
Assateague.
If you visit Chincoteague, you can see Misty’s hoofprints, pressed into concrete in front of the Island Theater the day she attended the movie’s premiere. You can see Misty and her daughter Stormy at the Museum of Chincoteague Island on the Beebe Ranch, courtesy of a taxidermist.
The ponies deserve to be honored by the state, and not just for their history. They also are a major tourist attraction, especially at the annual Pony Penning. The
Pony Penning, described in the children’s book, involves the “saltwater cowboys” of the fire department rounding up the ponies on Assateague and herding them for a swim over to Chincoteague. The next day, most of that year’s foals are sold at auction. The idea is to keep the herd at a manageable size of about 150 adults, the number allowed by the grazing permit the fire department buys from the National Fish and Wildlife Service.
The hordes of tourists who come to the Pony Penning and throughout the vacation season, money in hand, are a fringe benefit.
Back to the history. One story of how the ponies got to Assateague is that they are descendants of horses brought there in the late 1600s so their owners, who lived on the mainland, wouldn’t have to worry about taxes and fencing laws. There’s not a lot of food or fresh water on the island, so the abandoned horses gradually evolved into ponies — a horse less than 14 hands high. Other people maintain that the ponies, like North Carolina’s Colonial Spanish mustangs, are descended from horses brought to the New World by Spanish ships, maybe via a shipwreck or two.
However they got here, they are tough and resourceful. They are also still wild, as park rangers regularly remind visitors to Assateague. And they are beautiful, plus a lot of fun to watch.
For all those reasons, it’s wonderful to see the Chincoteague Pony bill galloping through the legislature, winning votes on Friday in the Senate and Monday in the House by overwhelming margins. Let’s get it done and have a fitting celebration at the Pony Penning July 26-27.