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$6,700 Highest Bid at Chincoteague Pony Auction

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By Zackrey Hoverson

          Hands flying up, the auctioneer talking so fast it sounds like gibberish and little foals whinnying, trying to escape their wranglers. These are some of the things that stay in your memory after attending the Chincoteague Pony Auction.

          The purpose of the auction is to raise money for the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department, and to maintain the size of the herd that lives year-round on nearby Assateague Island. A grazing permit issued by the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge allows about 150 adult ponies to stay there.

         On Thursday, July 29, 2011, 69 foals were auctioned off , bringing in $99,500 for the fire company.

          The annual auction begins at 8 a.m. But by 6 a.m., almost and nearly all the good spots are reserved with fold out chairs, many put out the night before. Even the bleachers have towels and names taped on them reserving seats for prospective bidders and visitors. With each passing minute the auction ring and surrounding area come to life.

          While the soft drink vendors are setting up behind the seats, and various officials begin arriving, the Salt Water Cowboys and volunteers are beginning their work. The foals to be auctioned off to new owners have to be separated from their mothers. The cowboys are old hands at this operation. To the rear of the auction ring is a row of pens with a long runway in front. The ponies are herded into the runway and when a foal comes along a gate is opened. The mother usually runs on ahead while her foal is shooed into the open gate. This process is repeated until all the foals are separated from the mares who are then let out into the big corral where they and all the other ponies have spent the night.

          Bidders who have not gotten their eye on the pony they want are allowed up close enough to see the little ones as they come by.

           The actual auction is run with a simple routine that can often have hilarious moments of foals trying to be independent. Inside the fenced in auction ring the foals are  held onto by wranglers who try to move the little ones around the ring so bidders can get a good look. The wranglers are cowboys and volunteer fire company members, some middle school age sons of fire officials.

           As the foals are moved around, four spotters stand at different posts around the ring, anxiously looking for any wave of a hand that could indicate a bid. The amount of each bid is passed on to the auctioneer, on a high up platform in the middle of the ring who goes on n his cadence, trying to get a higher bid.

          During the serious business of bidding the audience is kept in a lively state by the protesting foals who try to escape their handlers. One foal just laid down and came up with a wranger’s leg across her back, and needed extra help to get her around the ring.

          Early in the auction several buy back ponies came up for sale. A buy back is a pony that can be purchased and named but is released back into the herd to maintain a healthy herd size. Each year the fire company designates a charity to get the proceeds from a buy back. This year it was the Ronald McDonald House.

          The highest bid was $6,700 for a buy back. This foal was purchased by a group known as the Buy Back Babes. The reasoning for spending so much on this particular buy back was explained by the BBB spokesperson, Jean Bonde. She said, “The foal is the fourth generation of the lineage that the BBB’s had bought throughout the years.” The purchased foal was named Splash of Freckles after its mother, Freckles, a pony the buy backs purchased back in 2006. This isn’t the first time that the BBB’s made the highest bid at the pony auction. Back in 2007, the BBB’s set the all time record by purchasing Prince, a stallion for $17,500.

          Another recurring group at the auction is the Feather Fund. The Feather Fund is a non-profit organization that assists a few children chosen by the Feather Fund board in purchasing a pony. This year 15 year old Lindsay Gieson of Johnstown, Pa. bought a pony with the aid of the Feather Fund for $2,000. Several others also purchased ponies with help from the Feather Fund.

          Every foal is sold at the auction. But those deemed too young to leave their moms by their veterinarian, Dr. Charlie Cameron, will remain at the carnival grounds with their moms until the spring roundup.

Zackrey Hoverson, a senior at Nandua High School, has been a staff writer and photographer for Wild Pony Tales for five years.

 

By the Time Most People Arrive, the Cowboys are Already Riding

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     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

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.

Ponies’ Visit to the Doctor Disrupts Quiet Afternoon

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 By Harley Gooldrup And Elizabeth Fread

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.