– Robert Boswell, publisher. Errors and additions may be sent to my email, boswell.robert@gmail.com.

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By Misty Thornton

Each year thousands of pony lovers arrive on the island of Chincoteague, Virginia the last week in July just to wrap their eyes around the famous Chincoteague ponies, many for a whole week full of fun and sight-seeing.

The Saltwater Cowboys, almost as famous as the Chincoteague ponies, begin their work on Saturday, the week before Pony Penning,  with the roundup of the southern herd. Then, on Sunday they move to the northern range at the tip of the Virginia side of the island to round up the larger herd of around 100 ponies plus foals. Where the land is so much bigger than the southern range, it  takes longer to round the ponies up and put them into their corra l. The northern herd is less seen by the public because the access road, which runs 7.5 miles into the wilderness, is only open to hikers.

Both the southern and northern ranges are part of the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. The ponies are owned by the Chincotegue Volunteer Fire Company.

The swim which takes place on Wednesday of “Pony Week” is the event that brings 30,000 to 40,000 visitors to this small island off the Virginia coast, but on the last Monday in July what’s known as the Beach Run has become its own attraction. More than 3,000 visitors made up of  vacationers, pony-lovers and pony bidders line the Assateague beach early in the morning  to see the northern herd escorted along the Atlantic Ocean to the  southern corral on Beach Road.  This day is just the start of the  Pony Penning, a weeklong event.

This year’s beach run started off with traffic backed up just as visitors arrived on the bridge to Assateague Island before 6 a.m. because only one toll booth was open and collecting money. So everyone had to wait in a very impatient line to enter the island. When we finally got onto Assateague, the parking lot for the beach was packed.

Walking north from the parking lot, we joined the crowd in search of the perfect viewing spot. As we walked along the beach we saw family after family with their beach equipment, towels, water, binoculars, sunscreen,  chairs and anything else they could carry to help them pass the hour-plus wait as the sun rose over the Atlantic. Everyone was settling down in what they hoped would be  just the right spot to catch an early morning glimpse of the Chincoteague wild ponies.

One of these early morning families was from Maryland. Their family car wasn’t the regular car with the total of five seats in all. It was a strtch limo, with enough seats for the parents to carry all 10 of their children. “We always thought it would be nice to bring the kids here, and we’ve been coming for a couple years now,” said Tammy, the mother.

The wait was on but it wasn’t so bad. As the sun started to rise, the ripples in the water made it look like the horizon of orange and yellow was exploding into waves that crashed along the island sand. Children played in the ripples with their bathing suits on, and little ones dug holes into the sand to try and build some small sand castles.

After a wait of nearly two hours, at 7:30 a.m. the ponies appeared in a distance through light fog, all encouraged along by the Cowboys in a tight formation. As they passed, spectators cheered, most getting their first up-close look at a Chincoteague pony.

Except for a few “buybacks” the foals, even those just born, would not return to Assateague.  Most would be taken to new homes by owners who cast the highest bids at the upcoming auction on Thursday. Buybacks are a few chosen ponies that are auctioned off but returned to the herd.

The end of their trip on this Monday were the big corrals on the Beach Road curve, where all ponies from both herds and all their foals would spend the night.

Nestled by their mothers, the foals slept and nursed while the parents ate and drank the fresh water that was awaiting them when they entered the corral to join the southern ponies. Groups of ponies played and pranced about sometimes accidentally bumping into their mothers. Life in the corral would only last until early Wednesday morning, known as swim day, when the ponies would either swim or go by trailer lighting up the eyes of thousands who had come from across the nation to see them.

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By Tammy Rickman

In 1839 English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton wrote, “…the pen is mightier than the sword.” Though I suspect he coined the term with somewhat more purposeful intentions, they rang no less true for less intense purposes.

Not unlike Mr. Lytton, Marguerite Henry is famous in her own right for her stories of Chincoteague and Assateague Islands and the wild mustang ponies that roam freely there.

Her words have reached far around the world touching the hearts and souls of many, young and old alike. She no doubt had little inkling how mighty her sword would prove for both individuals and the islands. Her words became the substance of dreams.

In July 2009 one family saw their dreams of the islands, which sit snuggly off the Eastern Coast of Virginia, become a reality.

Anna McAllister 72, her four daughters Nancy Caiazzi 50, Susan Hughes 49, Patricia Stavdal 47, Janice McIntyre 44, and her two granddaughters Courtney Hughes 28 and Jillian Caizzi 12 made their way from Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York to live out a childhood dream.

The girls grew up in Long Island, New York along with their three brothers. When Nancy, the eldest of the four, was about 10 years old Santa gave the girls a three book set of Marguerite’s books for Christmas including Misty of Chincoteague, Stormy Misty’s Foal, and Sea Star. Nancy said, “I loved reading and horses so the books were a perfect gift.”

Anna said she and her husband had decided to give the kids a book every Christmas as something they could keep over the years rather than always getting the books from the library. Nancy was “into” horses then so they bought the set of three books for the oldest three girls, Nancy, Susan and Patti, to share. Anna said she knew little about the story of Misty at the time. However, the girls quickly fell in love with the books and their animated conversations over the books led Anna to read them for herself.

From the moment they read them their imaginations bloomed and it wasn’t long before Nancy began talking about going to Chincoteague someday to see the ponies and the swim. With seven children vacations of that type were not easy and it seemed that it just never developed.  

Years passed and Susan said that she had found a new desire to attend the event when she was able to visit the Maryland span of Assateague Island several years earlier with two of her three children and saw the horses roaming the campgrounds.

In the fall of 2008, after many years of dreaming, talking  and saying “someday,” the girls began planning their trip as a surprise birthday gift for Nancy’s 50^th birthday.  Susan said, “After talking about it for years—2009 was the year we were going to finally ‘make it happen’.”

Nancy said her mother and three sisters knew that seeing the ponies and round up had long been her dream. On her birthday in February 2009 they told her it was about to come true. They had rented a house on Chincoteague Island for the week of the round up, and Nancy and her 12 year old daughter Jillian would be going with them, no excuses.

The group would spend the next few months in anxious anticipation and planning. Finally, after many long years and several months of counting down days, they began their trip south to fulfill a lifelong dream.

The girls would arrive in two groups. The first would be Janice, Susan and Susan’s daughter, Courtney. They arrived on Sunday afternoon, July 26, 2009, 4 days prior to the swim. The anticipation was building as they neared the island, a place they had desired to see for so many years.

Susan said as they crossed the causeway she couldn’t help but notice how calm and beautiful the water appeared before the fishermen who cast lines along the banks. However, the serene scene was soon interrupted by the swarm of gulls that had come out to welcome them to the island.

Once on the island they reluctantly put off checking out the island and visiting Assateague Island in order to pick up their rental key. Shortly after arriving they headed out to the holding corrals off Beach Road on Assateague Island. Susan said that as they stood watching the herds corralled there it finally hit home that they had actually arrived

That afternoon the first of several afternoon storms rolled through the sky. Following the guidance of a few locals they grabbed some takeout form Captain Zak’s Seafood and headed back to the rental to wait out the storm.

On Monday afternoon, July 27, the rest of the girls made their way across the causeway. “Crossing the bridge I remember just about shaking in excitement of finally visiting Chincoteague,” Nancy said of her first reaction to the event. She noted how different it was from the approach to Long Island which is filled with the feel of the city. The open space and marsh filled waters was a pleasant surprise.

The girls spent the next few days exploring the island, window shopping downtown, visiting Assateague Lighthouse and getting in some valuable family time playing games at the rental house in Smuggler’s Cove during afternoon thunderstorms.

They took pictures of the Misty statue and Misty’s hoof prints outside the Island Roxy Theatre. They visited the Beebe Ranch and attended the 84^th annual Fireman’s Carnival which Nancy said was smaller than she had expected. Her 12 year old daughter Jillian rode her first Ferris wheel at the carnival.

They spent many afternoons watching sunsets that set the sky ablaze and walked along Chincoteague Bay. The sunsets across the bay became one of their favorite activities. A few of them took a canoe from the rental house out into Chincoteague Bay. The group also took a sunset boat tour of Assateague Island and Tom’s Cove where they saw dolphins and other wildlife aboard the Assateague Explorer. Nancy said visiting places like the Beebe Ranch, carnival and Tom’s Cove was especially fun due to their parts in the books they had read so many times.

The girls had matching pink tank tops and sweatshirts made that read “Girls Round Up—Chincoteague.” Along with the shirts, they each had a different colored cowboy hat. Some even wore bandanas.  On Wednesday morning July 29, 2009 they donned their hats and tank tops and headed out at 5 a.m. for the event they had waited to see for so long.

Prior to that morning, they had scouted out the best places to park, facilities and the perfect viewing spot. What they had not expected was the mucky, marshy trek they would make to their perfect spot.

The ponies came ashore on a grassy beach near Pony Swim Lane. A boardwalk bridge that aids emergency personnel, cowboys and other staff to access the water and floating barges that help with the swim reaches from the lane to the water’s edge. When scouting they had used the bridge. What they had not known was that the bridge would not be accessible to the public the day of the swim.

Mucky marshes are part of the landscape of the islands. The area between the lane and the beach can be semi dry or soupy and swampy. The series of afternoon thunderstorms throughout the week had left the area looking more the bayous of Louisiana rather than the marshes of an island.

A large pool of murky, muddy water stood between viewers and the more solid ground near the viewing area. With hundreds of feet wading their way through the area and then back again, when someone needed to use the facilities, the ground was soupy, slurpy, and deep. In some spots one step left you knee deep in thick suctioning mud that was reluctant to let you leave with your shoes still attached to your feet.

The girls were not completely ill-equipped. Their outings around town, and conversations with locals had at the very least warned them that there could be mud and to find form fitting shoes. With that information, they had found shoes which stayed on their feet and allowed them to make it through the muck with their shoes intact.

Susan said they were glad to have “marched” through because it was all part of the experience. She also noted they had expected large crowds and long waits pre-swim.  She didn’t feel the crowds grew as large as they had thought, but then again they are New Yorkers and large crowds come with the territory. Had they ventured over to Memorial Park, they would have noted several thousand more people who had not marched through the muck.

The group enjoyed the wait with an Amish family whom befriended their mother and shared their chairs. Their anticipation grew as swim time neared and they waited to live out a once in a life time experience.

 Nancy noted that she had visions of what she thought the swim might be like from the books she had read. However, she was reluctant to expect anything for fear of being disappointed. She felt it better to just experience the events as they occurred.

She would not be disappointed. The excitement built as the long awaited ponies neared shore and finally gathered on the marshy shore to graze on marsh grasses and rest.  A moment the girls had dreamt about for years was now happening, and a dream became reality as the famous ponies of the childhood stories mulled around only feet from where they stood. Nancy even bought a chance on King or Queen Neptune. King or Queen Neptune is the first foal to step onto land after the swim. Tickets are sold for a drawing to win the foal at the carnival grounds after the swim. This year’s foal was a boy and so called King Neptune.

The excitement and emotions are not something easily described. The realization of a dream is a high nothing can duplicate, especially a dream so long in the making.

After the swim they made their way to the parade route. This is the route the ponies take after the swim and a rest down Pony Swim Lane and Main Street to the carnival ground corrals.

With their gear they attracted lots of attention and comments, even from one of the famous “Salt Water Cowboys” who yelled to them during the parade that he wanted one of those tank tops. “It was a wonderful Girls Round Up,” said Susan.

The girls went to the Auction on Thursday, but some of them missed most of the actual auction when they were distracted by a vendor selling souvenir photos of the swim. Jill and Susan spent some time watching an artist sketch some of the ponies through the corral fence, and watching the famous “Surfer Dude” and his newest foal prance through the corral.

Surfer Dude is one of the few studs who roam the marshes of Assateague Island. He is famous for his coat of amber and blonde mane and tail which gives him the illusion of a trademark surfer. The name fits with some irony given he roams the beaches and marshes of an Atlantic Ocean island.  Surfer passed his trademark coloring to a previous foal, a mare named Gidget and to his new off spring who will also roam the island with his father. The foal, later named Riptide at the auction, was one of the “buybacks” which are bought and then given back to the herd. Males are rarely kept, but Riptide was kept due to his father’s age.

Nancy said not seeing the auction was not necessarily a bad thing since she would have had to disappoint her husband by bidding on one after she had made him happy by informing him she had not won King Neptune.

Nancy and Susan said it was alright that they missed things like the Beach Run which brings the Northern herd down Assateague Beach to the corral on Beach Road to join the Southern herd, because it is reason to come back again. Prior to this event the Northern herd is corralled in a more secluded corral on the northern end of the island after being rounded up.

Courtney and Janice left on Thursday following the auction. The rest stayed through Saturday and enjoyed the cruise, Friday’s swim back to Assateague by the ponies and a day on Assateague beach to wrap up the week.

Nancy said just being on the island was magical and even overwhelming at times, like when visiting Beebe Ranch and seeing the actual mounted statues of Misty and Stormy. When asked what her favorite part of the whole experience was she said, “Seeing a dream become reality in the company of my mom, sisters, niece, and daughter was the best part of the trip.

Nancy’s mom Anna said that since returning home she has spent a lot of time telling the children’s dad, Jim, about the experience.  She has also promised to take him there in the not too distant future. She said, “I know he will also share my feelings, because over 50 years of marriage we have spent innumerable hours on beaches.  For us, it’s the best place in the world.” 

The beach has been a big part of the family life with dad an avid swimmer and lifeguard, each one of his seven children at some point lifeguarded and/or taught swimming lessons and now eight of the 16 grandchildren have followed suit.

Nancy, Susan, and Anna all mentioned return trips to see the round ups, beach run  and maybe even one of the spring or fall round ups that are used to monitor the health of the herd twice a year.  Who knows,  maybe next time they’ll even invite the boys!

Tammy Rickman is associate publisher of Wild Pony Tales.

     Pony Penning in 2010 will be held the week of July 26-July 30. The Swim will be Wednesday, July 28 and the Auction, the following day, Thursday, July 29. For full schedule go to http://www.chincoteaguechamber.com/

  By Misty Thornton and Robert Boswell

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Here in the middle of winter on the Eastern Shore of Virginia may be an odd time to be looking ahead to summer and the grand event that is known as Pony Penning, which brings thousands to Chincoteague Island around the end of July. But actually the planning for pony week goes on all year long.

The ponies, unknown to many, are rounded up not only in July, but also in October, the fall roundup, and again in April, the spring roundup. No ponies are auctioned off at these roundups but Dr. Charlie Cameron, the long-time pony veterinarian, gets to see every one of them. The ponies don’t like it much, but Dr. Cameron makes them open their mouths anyway, and gives them each a squirt of worm medicine and other protections against the elements of living in the wild of Assateague Island.

The ponies also get to see the Salt Water Cowboys who come to the islands three times a year for the roundups.  

In July, visitors who plan to get up early Monday morning to see the ponies as they are herded along the Atlantic Ocean waterfront, or plan to get up even earlier to see them swim Assateague Channel on that Wednesday morning, might keep in mind it is the Cowboys who get up earlier than anyone. Their work begins on Saturday, two days before Pony Penning even begins.

The Cowboys, almost as famous as the Chincoteague ponies begin their work on Saturday with the roundup of the southern herd. Then, on Sunday they move to the northern range to round up the larger herd of about 100 ponies and foals. The Cowboys come from near and far places including Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia.

All of them bring their own mounts in trailers along with hay, water, and riding gear. Some leave early in the week for what is an annual family event, meeting old friends and children of friends they have known for years.

Generations of Cowboys have ridden in the roundups. The current  July pony week came about after a string of disastrous fires in the Town of Chincoteague. The villagers realized their fire fighting equipment was seriously inadequate. In 1925 the town authorized the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company to hold a carnival during Pony Penning to raise funds.

That year over 15 colts were sold to benefit the fire company and the carnival was a huge success. Bolstered by the interest in the pony swim, visitors began arriving from across the country for the annual penning. The crowd in 1937 was estimated at 25,000. The increased revenue from the carnivals and auctions enabled the fire company to modernize its equipment and facilities, and in 1947 it began to build its own herd by purchasing ponies from local owners. They moved the herd to Assateague where the government allowed, publicly owned, not private, herds to graze on the newly established Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge.

That same year, 1947, Marguerite Henry published “Misty of Chincoteague,” the story that made Pony Penning internationally famous. A movie followed, as did several sequel books. The tale of the wild pony Phantom, her foal Misty and the children who buy and raise her has become a classic, still loved and enjoyed by each new generation.

As much as pony week has become an occasion they look forward to, no one should fail to realize that rounding up the ponies from the ranges of the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in July is a hot, sometimes dangerous task in prime mosquito and biting bug territory.

The July roundup for Pony Penning can take place in extreme heat. The fall roundup, in October, and the spring roundup in April, can have unbearable weather conditions too.

Cowboy Tom Garner drives 250 miles from his home in North Carolina to get here, pulling Buzz in his trailer.

During spring roundup a few years ago a nor’easter moved in, he said in a previous interview. “In the morning we had thunder and lighting and by the time we finished the rain had turned to sleet.”  In the driving rain, he said, if you don’t keep your horse in motion he will turn his back to the wind. “It was the wettest and coldest I have ever been in my life,” said Mr. Garner.

Mr. Garner said he has been thrown off  twice because the horse’s hooves got stuck in the mud.  ”The job is definitely harder than it looks,” he said “Getting out there and just riding through marsh and grass sounds easy, but it’s not. Each step your horse takes you hear the sound ‘squish, squash, squish, squash’. Bringing in the ponies is a lot of work and taking them through the town, they seem to wander off every once and a while.”

But Garner, nor any of the other cowboys, would rather be anyplace else. “It’s a real honor, to ride,” he said, “and I enjoy seeing spectators enjoying the horses and look forward to it each year.”

Another veteran cowboy who has many stories to tell is Walter Marks, riding for some 28 years. Like so many other riders, he plans to keep it going in the family. His son, Tyler, now a 10th grader, is going to take the reins at the spring roundup as a full fledged Cowboy. Tyler has been by his dad’s side as long as anyone can remember.

The senior, Mr. Marks, a retired state trooper recalls being injured twice. Once was when ice caused his horse to rear up, catching his stomach on the saddle horn, sending him to the doctor.

About 20 years ago, a horse snagged a foot in the sand and “did a summersault on top of me.” That time he broke his leg.

The work of the Cowboys is not done when the ponies are herded into their pens. The northern herd is brought in on Sunday. At daybreak Monday, the ponies are herded down to the beach front and follow along what has become known as the beach run. The ponies are kept in a tight formation because some try to break out. It is often foggy this time of morning on the beach and quiet, except for the lapping waves. So the appearance of the cowboys with ponies in tow can be sudden. The first signal may be the crack of a bull whip, the sound used by the cowboys to move the ponies along. As the whole parade nears Beach Road, the road that runs all the way to the beach, applause breaks out from some 3,000 people who now turn out for this event.

The Cowboys move the ponies into the turn and continue up beach to the big holding pen on the curve. There, the northern herd and the southern herds are joined together, remaining there until the next step of their journey, Wednesday morning. Once again the ponies are moved across sometimes difficult terrain down to the water’s edge. At the first slack tide, the Coast Guard sends up red smoke signaling that the swim is underway.

That brings an uproar from the tens of thousands waiting on banks of the west side of the channel for this storied event to take place.

The wait can be long. To be assured of getting a decent view, people begin arriving as early as 5 a.m for a swim that may not take place for hours. This year visitors should check the latest word from the fire department and on the radio for the time of the swim.

No matter what time it is held, it is another very early day of work for the Cowboys. As the ponies swim over, with only their heads above water, they are watched over by Cowboys, fire department and medical staff. When they come ashore, they are steered into a holding area to rest for about 45 minutes before moving along to their final destination, the Chincoteague Carnival grounds on Main Street.

Many visitors take advantage of the rest to get a close-up look at these famous animals, even getting close enough to pet a forehead or two, but always under the watchful eyes of the Cowboys.

After resting, the ponies are again put into a tight formation and moved along Pony Swim Lane to Ridge Road, where thousands of people line the route cheering and just taking in an experience that bought them to Chincoteague from around the world.

The ponies, with a fire vehicle loaded with members of the press and usually a news helicopter overhead, moves slowly along Ridge to Beebe Road, turning right and going on to Main Street, turning right for the final leg of the journey to the carnival grounds where the auction will take place Thursday morning.

Every step the ponies take is aided by the Cowboys who watch out for people who get too close and see that the roadway is clear of people and vehicles.

The cowboys remain on the job at the auction, then Friday morning, the adult ponies and the few buybacks are marched back down to the Assateague waterfront and returned to the pastures they call home. Only then can the cowboys pack up their own horses and go back home, until the next roundup. ]

   Misty Thornton is editor of www.wildponytales.info and Mr. Boswell is the publisher.

This article appeared in the October 18, 2006 edition of the Eastern Shore News and the October 19 edition of the Chincoteague Beacon. Assateague Island is located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia on the Atlantic Ocean.

It is quiet Friday afternoon, far out on the range, where the famous Chincoteague ponies of the southern herd were lazing around in the afternoon sun.   Chewing on their favored cord grass, and swatting the remaining flies with their tails, they were probably unaware that carloads of visitors were pulling over to the side of Beach Road, straining to get a look at them, these mystical ponies of Assateague Island that so many come so far to see.

Suddenly, there is the crack of a bullwhip and riders on horseback are coming at them from all sides. Whatever plans the ponies had for the rest of the day are ruined. It is the October roundup, time for the ponies to visit the doctor for a dose of worm medicine and a check to see if they are fit for the coming harsh winter months.

These ponies of the southern herd are headed toward a large holding pen just off the curve of Beach Road, about a mile from the Atlantic Ocean on Assateague Island. Waiting there as darkness grows near is a small crowd of anxious onlookers, standing around the outside of the corral. They have been there for almost two hours.

Among those waiting are a group of ladies who call themselves The Buyback Babes. Coming from various points on the East Coast, they pool their money each year at the July pony auction and buy a pony that is returned to the herd. They are there to see their ponies, about the only time they can.

Without a sound, the first pony appears through the brush, bringing a hush to the crowd. He stops, takes a cautious look and is soon leading the way for the rest of the herd that comes at a run with the riders who interrupted their afternoon not far behind. The ponies trot along side the pen, through the gate, and mill around, checking out their unaccustomed confinement. There they will spend the night.

Early the next morning, one by one, the mares, foals and their stallions will be driven into a stanchion that restricts their movement while they await an unpleasant intrusion from Dr. Charlie Cameron. He is waiting with a squirt gun of liquid medicine on the end of a 10-inch metal tube that will be inserted into the ponies’ throats.  

“The only differences between working with the Chincoteague Ponies and working with domestic ponies is that these ponies are not trained, so their not as disciplined. As far as the health issues they are about the same, but I think the Chincoteague ponies are more hardy and brave. They’re basically survivors, their tough and their dispositions are gentle, that’s why I think they work well as kids’ ponies or horses,” said Dr. Cameron.

Dr. Cameron, employed by the Chincoteague Fire Company that owns the ponies, has been working with these ponies for some 17 years. By the end of Saturday he and his associates will have treated all 150 ponies plus foals that roam the ranges of Assateague Island, first the southern herd, then the much larger northern herd.

Dr. Cameron, who said he was inspired to become a veterinarian by his friend’s father who was also a vet, runs the Eastern Shore Animal Hospital in Painter.  Part of his work there is to treat ponies as well as other animals. People will trailer them in, he said, or he will go to the horse owner’s house.

The pen, where he treats the Chincoteague ponies, is divided in half by a fence. This separates the ponies that have been treated from those that haven’t. There is space to move around that keeps the ponies comfortable until Dr. Cameron is ready to give them their worm medicine.

The worm pump is a long metal tool, called a liquid drench. This tool has a larger tube in the middle where the medicine is held until he injects it. He will inject the medicine by pushing a handle into the larger tube holding the medicine, pumping it into the pony’s mouth.

While Dr. Cameron is getting ready, various helpers chase the ponies into the other half of the pen. One by one the ponies are run through a chute, and then into a wooden stanchion that allows for little movement. Once in the stanchion, an assistant to Dr. Cameron will take a wand and wave it around on the left side of the pony’s neck. The wand actually reads a micro chip put in their neck so Dr. Cameron will be able to identify which pony they are working on.

When they find the micro chip, numbers and letters will appear on the screen. Dr. Cameron will then, with the help of an associate, open the pony’s mouth and place the metal tube at the back of the throat where there is a place with no teeth. When the pony has swallowed the medicine the assistant will open the front of the stanchion that leads to the other side of the pen. They will repeat this procedure until every pony has had its medicine.

Dr. Cameron finishes his work on the southern herd by 9:15 a.m. Then it is time to load up and move much further into the wilderness of Assateague to the pen that would later that morning hold the northern herd and three bands of the southern herd that had escaped the cowboys on Friday.

With the southern ponies released back to the wild, the cowboys begin to round up the northern herd, numbering 50 to 60 ponies more than the southern group. They do not bring this group of ponies to the same pen; the northern herd’s pen is located out in an isolated area of the island. The only way to get out there is to walk, unless you are part of the veterinarian’s crew or one of the cowboys. Then it is accessible by vehicle or horseback.

The northern herd is not seen by most of the visitors to the island. Access to these ponies is only by taking one of the charter boats that cruise the shoreline, go out on the tour bus that is operated by the Chincoteague Natural History Association, or you can walk. But this walk is for those with hiking experience, as far as 7 ½ miles out, where in warm weather the flies, mosquitoes and poison ivy are plentiful. And bring along your camping skills. There are no bathrooms.

The northern pen is about four miles out, and the area where the northern ponies roam has a seven mile range. As a result of this, it takes the cowboys much more time to round up the northern herd. The northern ponies also have a sense of what to do when round up time comes, and some bands even start moving before the cowboys round them up.

The Salt Water Cowboys, as they are known, are nearly as famous as the ponies. They come not only from Chincoteague but from nearby communities. The roundups mean early days for these men who begin loading their own horse trailers and moving to their meeting point in darkness.

There are four pathways for the northern ponies to get to the pen; they could come from down the road, along one of the fences, from between the trees, or from cross the water. When all the ponies are in the pen, there will be conflicts, even fighting between the stallions. When they fight they will kick and bite each other for control, they do this so they won’t lose any mares. The stallions make sounds that tell their mares to come to them even if they get mixed up with the other mares.

The northern herd is wilder then the southern herd so it’s harder to give them the medicine. When the cowboys get the ponies into the stanchion and Dr. Cameron tries to open their mouth they will kick the back of the stanchion and try to put their heads out of reach of the assistant’s hands. Not only is it dangerous for the people inside the pen that are helping get the ponies into the chute, but it’s also dangerous for Dr. Cameron and his assistant. If the ponies get really riled up, they will turn around and charge at the people. Dr. Cameron has been bitten and kicked in his years of working with the ponies.

Sometimes when a stallion has been given his medicine and has been moved to the other side, he will stand and wait for his mares to come out. He will count them making sure that each and every one has returned to where they need to be, with him.

The Chincoteague round up is traditionally held three times a year. The cowboys will ride again in April, up bright and early, old friends out on the range taking care of the wild ponies of Assateague.

Harley Gooldrup is a staff writer and Elizabeth Fread is editor in chief of this website www.wildponytales.com. Harley is also an editor of The Nandua News, the Nandua Middle School newspaper. Elizabeth was editor of the paper last year.

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By Tammy Rickman

Lightning flashed through my window at two in the morning, waking me from an already restless sleep. I laid there and listened as thunder clapped and roared outside. Within moments another bright flashed crackled across the sky splitting the heavens. 

I was already tired and running on sheer will from the weekend of early mornings and late nights watching the roundup activities that preceded the 2009 Pony Swim which would take place in just two days.  This would not be my first Pony Swim and it had not been my first roundup but each and every year is different, new, and exciting.  Like life, wild animals are never predictable and that means Pony penning is never exactly the same. 

This year was different because I was no longer the tourist but the resident. Familiar faces rounded up the ponies, monitored crowed control, and waved hellos.  

It was also different because for the first time I was going to the beach to watch the ponies of the northern herd run the few miles of the beach to be corralled with the southern herd on Beach Road. There they would rest before swimming Assateague Channel Wednesday morning, July 29^th, 2009. This event is part of the annual activities of Pony Penning each year and takes place on Monday morning just around sunrise. 

As I lay there, staring at my clock and watching the reflection of the lightening in the mirror of my dresser, I wondered about the morning that was quickly approaching. 

The next few hours passed in restlessness. The clock buzzed as the numbers changed to 5:00 a.m. Unsure of the weather I dressed, combed my hair, brushed my teeth, and gathered the camera and equipment in between the many peaks out the window.  

The weather had set in before midnight dumping rain as the skies boomed and bellowed in loud bursts. I had settled into the idea that I may not get to shoot any photos if the rain did not let up. As I stepped out the door a little before six I was relieved to find only a drizzle of rain still falling from the skies. Above the trees the skies appeared to be calming and the first light of the day was crawling skyward. 

By the time I reached the beach the rain had dissipated and clear skies rose above the water, dancing in brilliant colorful patterns across the ocean. Not many people had ventured out yet because of the rain so parking was easy. After grabbing the camera bag it was a short walk down the beach to find a spot I liked.  

By 7 a.m. the beach had filled with the expectant faces of adults and children. Cameras were set up behind the cones marking the safe distance for those awaiting the arrival of the ponies.  

While we waited children ran between the water and the cones, couples strolled in the early morning rays of an ocean sunrise, surfers played in the waves of the warm Atlantic waters, and sea shells were gathered into piles. Other, like me, toyed with camera equipment, attention focused on getting the perfect shot. 

They appeared in the distance, floating out of the fog. Like something out of a storybook they came toward us splashing through the surf. The whips of the Saltwater Cowboys cracked the air as they flanked the ponies on three sides using the water as a fourth barrier.  

Silhouetted by the sun the Cowboys rode down the beach. The picture they created seemed from the pages of forgotten western. They rode with dignity and pride that is born of tradition and dedication.  

Then the picture they created was broken by a yell as several cowboys bound over the dunes to wrangle a pony who had escaped their tight formation. The others halted the progression and waited for the arrant pony to be brought back to the herd. 

After the chase, the Cowboys returned with the pony and the ponies moved forward. A foal, which was less than the well behaved child, darted in and out of the formation. He was a pinto whose coloring only broke the white of his coat on his head and in a small patch at his hip on one side. He ran toward the back of the group only to be turned by a few riders. Briefly he would return to the herd only to resurface and scamper up and down the length of the group. At times he paused, appearing to consider his options. The sight of him running and playing in the sand made children giggle with delight and adults sigh at his cuteness.  

Within minutes the long awaited arrival had come and gone. The ponies left the sand of the beach and began a slow progression past the parked cars and flashing cameras toward the corral. Within moments they would join the Southern Herd and rest among a flurry of on lookers.

The writer is associate publisher of www.wildponytales.info.

 You never know what can come from a group of ladies standing around, talking with time on their hands. Just ask the Buy Back Babes.

 From across the country, they are trickling into Chincoteague, preparing to attend the roundup, swim and auction during Pony Penning. But they have important business to attend to, too.  They will spend their money on several ponies at the auction.

 It all started in 2001. No one knows the details better than Jean Bonde, a member of the Buy Backs, whose home on the Island is the unofficial headquarters for the group.

She and her husband moved to Chincoteague, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, 14 years ago after spending a lot of time hunting the perfect retirement location. According to Jean they drove around in their RV. She said they knew they wanted to retire on the water but with costs in California where they lived, they knew it would not be in California. They happened to land at Tom’s Cove Camp Ground on Chincoteague. She said they didn’t even know there was a road to Assateague the first time they came. They just planned to drive to the edge of the island and look over at Assateague.

After arriving and settling in they drove out toward Assateague and discovered the bridge between the islands and wild ponies roaming freely; this was before fences were put up along the road. Jean said, “I knew when I saw them this was where we would retire because anyplace that lets horses walk around on the road is ok by me.” 

Jean had grown up with horses and her husband’s family raises race horses. Over the years her love for horses stayed. In her words, “All little girls love ponies, some of us just never out grow them.” Wayne chimed in, “Girls need their horses and guys gotta have wheels.”

Who are the Buy Back Babes and where did they come from? Well the group met by accident and their love of horses has bound them together and expanded their group over the years. In 2001 the ponies not sold at the auction were supposed to be delivered to the fairgrounds corral at 1 p.m. There waiting to see them were a group of women who had no idea what fate had in store for them.

The ponies arrived later than expected, nearly 2:30 according to Jean. During that span of time the women now known as the Buy Back Babes began talking and getting to know one another. Ideas flowed and over time as they kept in touch the BBBs came to be.

In 2002 they purchased their first buy back pony, a filly they named Gidget for $7,800. It was the first but it would not be the last or the most expensive. Ponies can generally be bought for around $1,100 if they are going home with the purchaser. Because the fire company’s permit to keep the horses on the refuge on Assateague only allows for 150 ponies, the number of buybacks vary year to year.  If they have lost many to age, sickness, or other factors they will keep more.

Many of the members have purchased ponies individually that they have given back as buybacks. Some have taken ponies home with them but as a group they have purchased a total of seven buybacks. Gidget was the first in 2002 followed by Lady in 2003, one of the few solid colored purchases, in 2003 for $3,100. In 2005 came M&M at their lowest purchase price of $1,500 and Freckles in 2006 at $7,500.

Stallions are rarely kept as buy backs due to herd size and other factors. But in 2007 the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company, which owns the ponies, decided to keep a total of five after losing several stallions to age. Jean says they had always wanted to buy back a stallion and knew instantly that it had to be the creamy colored pinto colt.

Because the number of buy backs is limited and the number of people wanting to purchase them is high the prices are often very much higher than the ponies auctioned off to owners who will take a pony home. The chance to buyback a stallion increases the competition dramatically. The record high bid for a buyback was set in 2001 at $10,500. Jean and her friends would break that record fighting for the creamy colored foal who favored the famous Misty of Chincoteague in 2007. Finally, after it was all said and done, they paid $17,500 for the foal they called Prince.  A record they would not even break in 2008, when for the first time they would purchase two buybacks that together cost $17,000.

Jean says it is a love of horses and animals in general that binds this group who accidentally met that day at the corral. They spend each year preparing for the next roundup and Jean says getting to the Island for those who don’t live here is the greatest preparation. Buyback members and friends are scattered from Alexandria, Virginia to Oakland, California and Jasper, Texas to Dayville, Connecticut and everywhere in between. Some are wealthy and some not so much.  They started out as 10 and now they are a group of 62.

Of the 62 members 33 have actually contributed financially to the buyback fund and are officially Buy Back Babes. They gained two new members in 2008 and so far this year they have one new member. However, Jean says two members are not actually babes but men. When asked what they called them she said with a laugh, “I don’t know.” At which point a suggestion came from around the table to call them Buyback Buddies.

Only two or three of the members live locally; the rest travel from near and far. They stay in vacation rentals, hotels, and campgrounds and some own property in Chincoteague. Some bunk together and some even bunk with those who live here.  Some trickle in early and meet for dinner. The real fun begins the weekend before the swim which is the last Wednesday of July each year.

They gather to go and watch the horses rounded up from both southern and northern herds. This is a big event prior to the July swim but they also come up for the fall and spring roundups when the ponies are treated by their long time vet Dr. Charlie Cameron and his staff.

The roundups are not small tasks and take a lot of man power. The Saltwater Cowboys themselves come from several states, pulling their horse trailers. To bring in the southern herd, they spread out over range of the island and run the ponies into a holding area off Woodland Trail.

When they are all gathered at that location they escort the ponies through the woods and into a big corral that sits next to the Beach Road going to Assateague beach. That normally happens in late afternoon. The following morning, bright and early, they are out on the northern end of the island repeating the maneuvers, but covering a much more expansive area.  It is four miles out on a service road to the northern corral and no vehicles are allowed, not even bikes. Some of the Buybacks have walked out each year to see “their” ponies, but last year, Lou Hinds, the manager of the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, made a bus available. It will run again this time.

The Buyback Babes also go to watch the northern herd run down the beach to be corralled with the southern herd in what is known locally as “The Beach Run.”  It is done very early on Monday morning of swim week and the fog is usually thick along the beach at that hour.

In July, once the ponies are all gathered in the southern corral, the group hangs around to check out previous purchases and chat with old friends about this year’s new additions. This is usually on the Friday and Saturday prior to the swim.  The roundup of the northern herd is a long day, even on the bus.  They leave early packing food and drinks because they spend six hours out on the refuge with no civilities, not even toilets, before being bused back.

After all the roundups and runs are over and they have seen all the ponies they get together for a big meal on Tuesday prior to the swim, a meal that has become tradition. In the past they have normally gone off the island to a restaurant.

However, this year they are in for a real treat. One of the new members from last year who loves to cook and whose family used to run a catering business came prepared to feed them. On Tuesday July 28 they will all meet at a specified rental house and be served a meal by one of their own. She came in a week early to prepare for the event. She and her husband arrived this week with the bed of their truck loaded down with food and cooking supplies.

After the auction which is held early on Thursday each year following the Wednesday swim, they meet for lasagna at what they call the “Naming Party.” Jean says the way they pick a foal varies. Sometimes one stands out and they know early on which one the group will bid for. Other years it just happens once the auction starts. According to her the naming isn’t much different. The names are not formal. In other words, this is not an official Pony Penning event held by the fire department. It is for their records only.

Jean says they make a list of suggested names then call them out one by one. They remove the obvious dislikes and then vote on what remains until they have a winner. She said some like customary names while others like “funky” names. In the end it is all mutually agreed and yet another buyback is named.

Photographer Kelly Lidard is a member of the group. She is group’s official photographer. Jean’s house is adorned with pictures of the buybacks, many of them no doubt Kelly’s works. Jean knows most of them by the names the Buybacks have given each pony. And each one has its own story. It was clear Jean could spend hours in her room of photos that sit in albums along the book shelves. She has sorted them into years and herds. There are albums for certain ponies and even some very old photos that go back beyond her time on the island; just another testament to her devotion to these majestic animals. 

Though the roundups and auctions are main attractions for the group, many come for a chance to see the ponies. Members communicate via email and without it they would not be who and what they are today. Email allows them to communicate from across the country, coordinate trips, find housing, and talk about what is or isn’t happening with one pony or another. It allows them to mobilize and communicate while mobilized.

The love for these animals shines brightly in Jean’s blue eyes. Her love and passion for these wild and beautiful creatures is intoxicating and addictive.  If it is matched by the other members of the group by even a minute amount the fun, joy, and merriment in the upcoming 2009 activities will surely be a sight to behold.

Unfortunately this year’s auction will be a bit harder for many. In February  one of their dear friends lost her battle with pancreatic cancer and passed away. Her name was Suzanne Craig from Yorktown, Virginia. Jean described her as a wonderful and sweet lady who had a passion for the ponies.  Jean, with a loving smile and light laugh, also said she kind of became the leader of the group because, “she was so determined and spirited we just couldn’t tell her no.” Suzanne and Jean both were among the original members who met in 2001. According to Jean she was instrumental in the group’s beginnings and in its continued success.

This year’s buyback will be purchased in honor of Suzanne. When asked if any names had been discussed she said yes but indicated the pony would not carry Suzanne’s name at Suzanne’s request.

The group also has a new venture this year. An organization called the Feather Fund which donates a pony to a needy and deserving child each year will be donating three this year. One of which will be bought with funds donated to the Feather Fund by the Buyback Babes. Jean says it is a new venture they hope to continue supporting each year.

Tammy Rickman is a staff writer for www.wildponytales.info, a website that covers Chincoteague and Assateague. She lives on the Island with her family and teaches special education for Accomack County public schools.

Men beware.

If you perk up one ear, lick or chew on your lips a little, or watch your mate with only one eye you have given yourself away. You are the submissive type and from here on out you are at the will of your trainer.

When Katye Allen steps into the ring to begin training a horse, these are the signs she is looking for. Once she sees them, she knows she has her subject’s attention. Before long, no matter where she moves in the ring, the horse will face her and follow her. “When I see those signs,” said Katye, “I will step in front of him and back up. I want him to turn and face me; I never want their butt toward me. That is a sign of disrespect.”

Katye is the lead trainer at the Chincoteague Pony Centre on Chicken City Road, Chincoteague, and captain of the Chincoteague Pony Drill Team. Her day begins early and ends late. She is up at 5 a.m., facing what most young women would not choose for that time of day, 15 stalls with poop to scoop, tack to clean, manes to clip and saddle pads to be washed. This is her side job.

By 8:15 she is at the pony centre. There she joins other members of the drill team who work at the centre. There are pony rides to give out front, riding lessons in the ring, water tanks to fill, hay to bring out, and more brushing and bathing and ponies to be trained.  She helps out with other duties throughout the day. Katye may get away for a few hours but by late in the day she is back, staying until around 10 p.m.

 Katye will be appearing with the drill team at the Chincoteague Pony Centre pony shows during Pony Penning week along with other drill team members.

 One horse Katye is training now is Misty II’s Henry, the 11 year old son of Misty II, who is buried on the pony centre property. Henry missed out on being trained at the usual age of 3 because he was given other responsibilities. “Henry was a stallion for the herd for a number of years,” said Kendy Allen, manager of the Chincoteague Pony Centre.  ”He is the sire of Misty III.”

Henry, by the way, is named for Marguerite Henry, the author of Misty of Chincoteague,. She was a great friend and inspiration to the family, said Mrs. Allen. “He was born the same year she died and we wanted her name to live on. So we incorporated the name of his mom, Misty II and Henry to come up with Misty II’s Henry.’

Katye has grown up in a horse family. Before moving to the Eastern Shore, the Allens lived on a farm in Lancaster, Penn. There is Keith and Kendy and their three children, the oldest now Kerra Allen Johnson, Katye and Kenneth.  Kerra Allen Johnson, is the manager and riding instructor at a farm in Assawoman. She rides with the drill team and is past captain.  Her brother, Kenneth, also rides with the drill team.

They got their first Chincoteague pony, Misty II, in the 1980s. She was the granddaughter of Misty of Chincoteague fame, 13 years old and untrained. The Allens gentled her to ride and she went on to become a hunter champion. Since then they have developed a herd of about 30 Chincoteague ponies and continue to breed, raise, buy, and sell and according to Mrs. Allen, “always love” Chincoteague ponies.

Katye describes Henry as “incredibly smart.” But he has a little bit of a stubborn streak, she said. “Once in a while he will swing around and kick his heels at me. With Henry, I just ignore it, don’t make a big deal out of it and keep on going.” Each horse has a unique personality and so, too, does Henry. “Henry likes to get dirty in the mud,” said Katye. “He likes to roll over and get dirty and I have to bring five changes of clothes just to give him a shampoo.”

If this sounds like she hates her work, she does not. Despite being bitten, kicked, bucked off, and thrown through a glass bookshelf, she rides every day and wouldn’t think of doing anything else. Well, almost nothing else. She does plan on starting classes this fall at Eastern Shore Community College with a long range goal of becoming a teacher.

Around horses, Katye said, you can’t be afraid. They will pick up on it. “Hesitate, they will know.” In any situation, she said, you always have to act natural and cool. She said her mother always says, “It takes a hundred falls off a horse to make a good rider.”  Mrs. Allen said her daughter qualified a long time ago.

When she begins to train a horse, said Katye, within a month she can be on his back. In two or three months he can be completely gentled.  But it takes a year or two, putting on as many training miles as you can, taking them to new places, to say they are “fully gentled.”

“I stand in the center of the ring, making them lunge (run) around me,” she said. They need to be able to listen to you on the ground. “If they try to swing their butts around, by the way I move my body in the center of the ring, I’ll push them right back around. I want them to turn and face me, and eventually I won’t need to hook a lead. “I want them to follow me, so I can move wherever and his head will always face me.”

It was evident Henry had learned his early lessons. As Katye moved around the ring, he faced her and yes, gave those fateful signs of submissiveness. “Some horses want to please you, pick up on things right away. Others are stubborn and seem to say, I don’t want to do this and you can’t make me,” she said.

Just like people, horses, said Katye, can have bad days. “Some days they will not listen, will not focus. Maybe they are bored. You have to do something to get their attention.” She said every now and then one of the stars of the pony show won’t feel like doing something. “You just have to smile and pretend it is part of the show.”

“Henry has the heart of a champion and soul of an angel, just like his mom, Misty II,” said Mrs. Allen. “She was a very special pony with great athletic ability and a loving heart.”

While some ponies at the centre are for sale, Henry and five great grand foals of Misty are not. “They will spend the rest of their lives with us,” said Mrs.  Allen. 

In addition to training Henry, Katye is also working with a yearling and helping with other Misty descendents, Heart of the Storm and Icicle. “I help my mom with the weanlings and all our horses in general as do my brother and sister.”

Katye, 23, has been training horses for 12 years. She graduated from Manheim Central High School in Manheim, Penn. She had her first pony when she was 3 years old and has been showing horses and competing in horse events ever since.

Her biggest moments come when a horse she has gentled goes to a show and wins. “There is no feeling like it,” she said, “knowing that all the hard work has finally paid off.”

A day after the interview for this article she took riders and mounts to a competition, the Evening Shade 2, at the Old Hope Farm in Elkville, Md. She won her event on a half-Chincoteague “Andante” that she had raised and trained herself. She competed in dressage, stadium jumping and cross country jumping.

Having already put in a long day, by 7 p.m. the team members who are riding in the show begin to arrive. All kinds of preparations take place, brushing manes and tails, and finally, blankets and saddles. The ponies get a dose of bug spray and at 8 p.m. the music begins. Katye’s mom goes to the center of the show ring and welcomes her audience for another hour long performance.

But when the show ends at 9:00 and the horses have been returned to their stalls, or to the paddock in front of the centre, Katye’s day still has time left in it. With help from the drill team members, a final poop scoop takes place out front and in the stalls and anywhere else the ponies have been. Tack has to be taken apart and cleaned, the glass displays and windows in the surrounding museum have to be wiped down, cobwebs are whisked from walls and the carriages outside the ring have to be dusted.

Then, it is out the door, hoping the ice cream parlors are still open.

For more information go to www.chincoteague.com/ponycentre.             

The writer is publisher of www.wildponytales.info, a website that covers Chincoteague and Assateague. <Mr. Boswell is a retired newspaper editor Accomack County journalism teacher.

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By Robert Boswell and Kate White

It is an hour before show time.

But unlike on Broadway, for this show some performers have to be brought in from the paddock out front, manes have to be brushed and braided, and girths tightened so saddles won’t slip.  Instead of the dressing room, trips are made back and forth to the tack room, for bridles and blankets.  And by the way, don’t forget the bug spray.

Chincoteague ponies are being pampered and saddled but there is work ahead.  At 8 p.m. they will carry their riders, members of the Chincoteague Pony Drill Team, into the indoor ring at the Chincoteague Pony Centre before an audience of excited children and parents. Chances are the spectators will not be disappointed. Chincoteague and Assateague are islands on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

For the next hour the ponies and their riders will perform skilled maneuvers that call for expert horsemanship, working as a team to coordinated music. But probably no one will take home a memory that means more than being able to go up to the ring and pat the ponies at the end of the show. And for those old enough to have read Marguerite Henry’s “Misty of Chincoteague,” it will be a special memory to take home because some of the ponies are descendents of the famous “Misty.” Misty’s last grand foal, Misty II, spent her final summer at the pony centre and is buried on the property.

Misty has a heavy presence in the museum that surrounds the show ring, with a photo display from the movie, “Misty,” with Grandma and Grandpa Beebe, and a Misty family tree on a wall and a display of all of Marguerite Henry’s books.

If that’s not enough, there are the neighs and movement of Misty descendents in nearby stalls wanting attention or excited about their upcoming time in the ring.

The latest Misty descendent to make an appearance is one-month old Smoke n’ Mist who bucks and romps, showing off his frisky self to the delight of the young audience. He will be the only one, pony or rider, to enter the ring who hasn’t spent many hours of practice and training preparing for the  drill team at tonight’s show as well as other appearances. The pony show goes on at 8:00 every night except Sunday and during Pony Penning there will be a 4 p.m. performance each day.

The drill team will present a special routine July 30 at the widely attended annual pony auction.

The show is the creation of Kendy Allen, horse trainer, breeder, author and at show time, mistress of ceremonies. Her daughter, Katye, is captain of the drill team and mom’s “right hand assistant” in the running of the drill team and pony centre.

Both put in countless hours during the summer at the centre and at their farm in Assawoman, on the mainland a few miles from Chincoteague, where the Allens can get away from their long days in public life and the ponies can relax in roomy pastures and paddocks.

But it is not much time off. Katye rises early each morning and mucks stalls at a neighboring boarding stable, a job she takes to bring in extra money. Later in the morning she might be giving riding lessons at the centre or training Henry, another Misty descendent, and as the days goes on she will attend to details for the night’s show. Tack has to be cleaned, floors swept, poop scooped, and before they leave every night, the carriages and displays have to be dusted.

Katye’s mother also puts in exhausting hours. During interviews for this article Kendy Allen left a note after a long night. “We had a baby born Tuesday at 5 a.m. and another Wednesday at 3 a.m. which means I was basically up two nights in a row and then here most of the day. …right now I’m pretty sleep deprived and may sneak off this afternoon for a nap.”

But at 8:00 Mrs. Allen is standing in the center of the ring, mike in hand, telling the audience what is about to take place and reminding the audience, seated only a few feet from the ring, not to get too close during the show.

For anyone who doesn’t know much about horses, it would be impossible to imagine the amount of effort it takes to train and conduct the drill team, which Mrs. Allen says is the only mounted drill team in the world made up entirely of Chincoteague ponies.

The riders, some teenagers and some in their twenties, come from various points around Chincoteague Island and nearby Virginia and Maryland communities, with some having come from as far Michigan, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Nearly all of them have five or more year’s horse experience and some have been riding with the drill team for years. Some of them own their own horses and all of them say they have a special attachment to horses, starting to ride as early as age 3.

“I have loved horses every since I can remember,” said Ashley Northam of Stockton, Md. Kenneth Allen, 20, son of Kendy, who is in the National Guard and awaiting deployment, said, “Sometimes they are the only friend you have that understands.”  About horses, Georgia Kalmoutis, 18, of nearby Gargatha said, “They are the one constant in my life.”

Mrs. Allen can easily relate to these feelings. You cannot spend time with her and fail to see that as much of a business as pony centre operations have become, her goals go far beyond the commercial undertaking. She is a teacher and that is where she started. As a school librarian for more than 20 years in Pennsylvania she has worked with students on student council, yearbook and coached girls basketball.  

Now instead of working in a school she is working in the horse business but she is still teaching.

Mrs. Allen has written four books and the entire activity program at the centre is aimed at pony education, including foal seminars and training tips, riding lessons and training opportunities.  A fifth book is being released during Pony Penning, about Ember, the Miracle Misty Pony. For more about Ember, go to www.chincoteague.com/ponycentre.

“So many of the ponies have done so much and won so much. Chincoteague ponies are just so talented and athletically gifted,” said Mrs. Allen. “It has been a joy to train them and work with them,” she said.

 If you listen to her script to her nightly audience, which she delivers without notes, you will hear the voice of a teacher, who carefully explains everything so that the youngest spectator will leave, knowing a lot more about Chincoteague ponies than they did.

 One of her students, Olivie Kruis, now a student at Lancaster Mennonite High School in Lititz, Penn., knew Mrs. Allen as her elementary school librarian. That relationship has brought her here this summer to try out for the drill team.

Most of the young men and women who ride got started in 4-H riding clubs and many of them have won riding titles either on their own or with the drill team. Mrs. Allen can point to a list of awards and titles the drill team has brought home.

“Having the drill team named World Champion Youth Team at Equitana USA in Louisville, Ky. several years ago was an experience I will never forget,” she said. “And being invited and having the team perform at the Kentucky Horse Park where they honored Misty II was quite an honor.”

As coach Mrs. Allen comes up with the music and the drill. Practice begins in the spring with riders who live within 100 miles. “One of the challenges of the drills is that every ring is a different size and shape,” she said, “so trying to make a drill that can work in all of them is a real challenge.”

“Drill is very good for riders,” said Mrs. Allen, “because they have to worry about not only their own horse and themselves, but everybody else on the team.” She added, “Sometimes you have to make a quick decision as a drill member to keep that drill going, and I am always amazed at what the team can pull off.”

A week before the pony centre opens on Easter weekend practice begins by going through the routines on foot, then with the horses. Each maneuver is gone over, with the older riders helping the new ones. As prepared as she would like to be by her opening show Ms. Allen said you never know what will happen in a ring.

“I remember one time a couple of years ago, Kenneth (her son) rode a horse into the ring that had never given any problems, and for some reason it freaked, and proceeded to buck him off, not an easy thing to do. After the show a lady came up to me and said that was so neat to see, and wondered if we did that every show.”

The riders must be 15, have a minimum of five years horse experience, ride hunt seat and western, work long hours and help with fund raising. The drill team is a non-profit enterprise. Drill team members must know a lot about Chincoteague ponies and the Misty family heritage they represent. “A genuine love of horses is a must,” said Mrs. Allen, “they must put their horse and drill team ahead of themselves. They work long hours and often don’t have time to eat when they are preparing and doing a show.”

Before moving to the Eastern Shore, the Allens ran a farm in Lancaster, Penn. There is Keith and Kendy and their three children, Kerra, Katye and Kenneth. They got their first Chincoteague pony, Misty II, in the 1980s on a vacation trip to Chincoteague. She was the granddaughter of Misty of Chincoteague fame, 13 years old and untrained. The Allens gentled her to ride and she went on to become a hunter champion. Since then they have developed a herd of about 30 Chincoteague ponies and continue to breed, raise, buy sell, and according to Ms. Allen, “always love” Chincoteague ponies.

 For 30 years she was a 4-H leader and they would take in “horseless kids who wanted to learn to ride.”  Nine years ago the Richard Conklin family of Chincoteague opened the Pony Centre on Chicken City Road. The Pony Centre horses are owned and managed by the Allen family. Their partners, Richard, Carolyn and Mark Conklin own the pony centre and the gift shop.

Veterans of the drill team, returning this year are, in addition to the captain, Katye, her brother Kenneth, Matt DesJardins of Lambertville, Mich.; Sara Miles, Pocomoke, Md.; Natalie Whealton, Chincoteague; Georgia Kiamoutis, Gargatha; Laura Hopkins, Pocomoke, Md., and Kerra Allen Johnson, New Church.

Kerra is the oldest daughter in the Allen family. She has been riding since age 3 and is now the manager and riding instructor at an Assawoman farm. She is the past captain of the drill team, a torch now passed to her younger sister, Katye. 

The newer members are twins Ashley and Shelby Northam, Stockton, Md., Crystal Kinard, Temperanceville; Amelia Monroe, Myersville, Md;  and Olivia Kruis, Lititz, Penn.

For more information go to www.chincoteague.com/ponycentre.

Mr. Boswell, a retired newsman and journalism teacher, is publisher of www.wildponytales.info, a website that covers Chincoteague and Assateague.  Kate White, an 8^th grader at Arcadia Middle School, is a staff writer for the site.