88th Annual Pony Swim and Auction, Chincoteague, VA, July 24-25, 2013
Every year in July the wild ponies of Virginia’s Assateague Island are rounded up, herded to the island’s south end, swum across the channel to Chincoteague Island and then sold at auction. Although today’s “pony penning” is a formalized annual event that economically benefits both the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company and the town itself, it began as a practical necessity to manage the island’s wild pony population.
Chincoteague’s Annual Pony Swim and Auction is sponsored by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company. Although the tradition dates to as far back as the early 1700s, according to Kirk Mariner’s Once Upon an Island: The History of Chincoteague, the earliest known account of pony penning comes from July 30, 1835. Thompson Holmes, in a letter to the Farmers Register, he described the practice as an “ancient custom whose origins stretched back beyond memory.” Pony penning during much of the 1800s was a rowdy affair noted for heavy drinking and wild debauchery-hardly the tourist friendly festivity it is today. In 1925, as a result of two devastating fires in 1920 and 1924, the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company was authorized as an independent organization by the Town Council. The Company’s funding would come from an annual carnival, which effectively gave the Fire Company control of the pony penning.
Ever since the first successful event of July 30, 1925, for the past 101 years the Saltwater Cowboys have rounded up the wild ponies and swum them across the narrowest part of the channel between Assateague and Chincoteague Islands. The ponies are then herded to downtown Chincoteague where they are auctioned with the proceeds, upwards of $100,000, benefitting the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company.
Living on the East coast, Chincoteague became a regular long weekend destination. Accessible year-round its wildlife, forests, and beach hold natural wonders during all seasons. We attended the pony swim only once, though, in 2013. Witnessing the swim across the narrow channel separating the two islands was made even more exciting by the thunderstorm that quickly passed through.
Getting up early to secure our spot on the beach to watch as the saltwater cowboys drove the ponies down the beach, scurrying to the opposite shore to watch the ponies scramble onto the mainland, lamenting the separation of foals from their mothers at auction. The event, like most involving large animal husbandry, was at its core, an exercise in wildlife management, emotionless and straightforward.
The swim itself lasted only minutes, the channel crossed by the horses a mere ribbon of water, and except for the thunderstorm, was largely uneventful. However, the carnival and auction were scary and heartbreaking. I’ve always found carnivals slightly creepy, but it was the shrill neighing of the mares and foals being separated at auction that left me shaken. Even dressed up as a family-friendly tourist event, the sometimes harsh reality of wildlife management is never quite hidden.
(All photographs @Mark Caicedo/PuraVida Photography)
Oof. Necessary doesn’t always feel good. Fantastic photos. I can feel the frantic nature in these.