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Chincoteague ponies

I thought this was cool.
I’m sure most have read Misty.

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It’s very cool.
What has been somewhat horrifying is following the comments and reactions to the news and social media of the recent pony swim. The general public is growing increasingly and ignorantly animal-rights influenced, and appears to be immune to education on what is necessary and beneficial to maintain the herd. Just another indication that we in horse sports are in a precarious position and publicity is not necessarily a great tool.

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The NYC carriage drivers are still dealing with hate photos claiming horses standing with a cocked leg are lame. :roll_eyes:

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You make a good point, but there are definitely other ways to manage the herd than the annual pony swim and auction. The Maryland herd is managed through contraceptives, with a few foals born each year. None are ever removed from the island, with the exception of poor stallion Chip, who recently got shipped to Texas for being too aggressive with beachgoers. The problem with the VA herd is that they’re owned by the fire department and have been a source of revenue for them for decades. They’re not likely to ever give that up willingly, and they are still getting inflated selling prices for pony foals based only on nostalgia. I don’t personally have a problem with it, and even owned a Chincoteague pony for 30 years (got as a 3 year old from his original adopter), but I do agree that the entire spectacle is totally unnecessary.

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Are there any stats on ponies swimming over and getting hurt /injured?

I would believe there are records since these ponies are Federally owned

The National Park Service manages the Maryland herd. The Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company owns and manages the Virginia herd, which is allowed to graze on Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, through a special use permit issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The permit restricts the size of the herd to approximately 150 adult animals in order to protect the other natural resources of the wildlife refuge. It is the Virginia herd which is often referred to as the “Chincoteague” ponies.

From your link

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The wild horses on Assateague Island are managed by the National Park Service

https://dnr.maryland.gov/publiclands/Pages/eastern/Assateague/Wild-Ponies.aspx

managed normally means they are responsible and will have records, or at least should have

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I think there’s a bit of a trade off, with the auction supporting the vet care and winter feed for the ponies, which I’ve seen figured at $45k a year. I don’t know enough about specifics to talk about the different ways the two herds are managed, but I’ve heard complaints about the MD horse welfare management from people that know more than I do. Again, I don’t have direct experience and I don’t want to claim either side is doing it properly. But I do want to see public opinion understand that “leave them totally alone” and “the poor babies will drown”… are not reasonable or true, and listen to actual explanations of the how and the why. But people don’t do that.

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Only the Maryland herd is managed by the NPS. They are not the ones doing the pony swim, the VA herd is, which is owned/managed by the fire department. As far as I know, the ponies generally make the swim and herding through town safely. They have guys on boats to grab any foals that are struggling. I think I also read one time that they have pens on the island side to contain any ponies they feel are too young or too old/frail to make the swim.

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A little girl at my barn years ago got a foal from the auction (well, her family did). It ended up being a great child’s pony.

Unfortunately, an asshat hunter ended up shooting the pony in the leg, and the injury was untreatable. We were all broken-hearted for the girl, who worshipped her pony.

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appears more are killed by tourist with their cars than the swimming

Assateague’s horses are beautiful, tough, and wild. They have learned to survive in a harsh environment. Feeding and/or petting them is detrimental to both visitors and horses. Horses can get sick from human food. Those that learn to come up to the road to beg for food are often hit and killed by cars. Visitors are kicked, bitten and knocked down every year as a direct result of getting too close to the wild horses.

so the Virginia herd is limited by permit to approximately 150 head, the National Park Service would be counting those and would have records of the herd size

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A friend of mine got one, a gelding who was failing out as a lesson pony cause he took so much leg, as a Christmas gift when she was 15ish?
He was the last lesson horse I rode when I realized I was pregnant with my son.
He was just the most glorious liver chestnut, flaxen maned, wide blaze and high socks pony I’ve ever set eyes on.
She had to put him down recently. Based on my sons age, I’m guessing he was approaching or around 30 and had been retired for a bit.
.

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There are a lot of precautions taken for the pony swim. They do round ups during the year to vet check and vax the herds which they also before the pony swim. The time they do the swim is chosen during the current slack time so they have the easiest paths, there are boats with them entire way, and the youngest get a trailer ride with their moms.
People complaining don’t listen or understand - these are not truly ‘wild’ ponies. They are cared for and maintained and owned. They wouldn’t exist as they are otherwise.

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