Chincoteague Ponies Are Moved Due To High Water

Visitors to Assateague Island will find fewer Chincoteague wild ponies in the meadow to the right of Beach Road. Some of the southern herd, usually totaling about 50ponies, has been moved to the larger northern range until spring.

Denise Bowden, who took over public relations duties this past October, said they were moved due to the accumulation of water on the range where the ponies normally . “To get them through the winter, we moved them up on the northern end. In the spring, they will be moved back,” said Bowden.

The decision to move them came out of the flooding of the grazing area, for them to have grass to graze on and higher ground to get to,” Bowden explained. “The Pony Committee chairman (Harry Thornton), along with his group, makes the decisions.”

“This is the first time that I can remember them being moved due to weather,” Bowden said. “It wasn’t so much the snow. It was because of the pounding nor’easters that flooded the area.”

The Chincoteague ponies live in two herds on the Virginia end of Assateague Island. The estimated 50 ponies in the southern herd can often be seen by visitors driving to the beach or by hikers who go to the Woodland Trail overlook. The northern herd numbers about 100 ponies, but they are not seen by the general public until they are brought into the Beach Road corral for the July auction.

Referring to the impact winter weather can have on the ponies, Bowden said, “This past storm they made out great. They’re smart animals. They know where to get food and to seek higher ground if it’s too wet. In this past storm, we had people go over that Monday. They took 35 bales of hay. The ponies had water in their troughs that they were drinking.”

As to their behavior in rough weather situations and their reaction to snow, Bowden said, “I think they’re just like any other animal. They’re used to it. They’re used to the cold weather. I would think that some of the younger ponies probably like to frolic in the snow and play. I don’t see where it affects them much.”

Bowden said she believes their least favorite weather is rain. “If it’s a hard rain, they’ll relocate themselves. They will seek higher ground. It’s just a natural instinct to them. They’re not dumb animals whatsoever. If it gets to be where they are actually flooded out, that’s when we decide to move them up to the northern end where there is more of a highland area.”

Although it has not been an issue so far this winter, the biggest concern for the ponies during the cold months is a hard freeze. “Definitely during a hard freeze when we have to break water,” said Bowden. “This happens when there are a cold couple of days with temperatures below 32 degrees.”

While the majority of the ponies remain on Assateague, a few can be seen at the Chincoteague carnival grounds. This year’s buyback ponies — those purchased at the auction that will be put back into the herd — are being kept at the carnival grounds until spring.

Bowden said the ponies do not require much care. “We throw out hay a couple of times a week. The Pony Committee checks on them every day. There is still grass for grazing at the carnival grounds and we don’t keep hay there all the time, because too much hay is not good for their diet.” The ponies have the luxury of automatic water lines on the carnival premises.

“Every day someone from that Pony Committee goes out to the beach to make sure everything is OK,” said Bowden. “Everyone pretty much knows what to do, but if something does arise that needs to be addressed, the chairman will select a couple of people and ask them to go out and correct it. And,they'll correct it.”
www.easternshorepost.com
Windy Mason is a staff writer for www.wildponytales.info which is an online publication that covers Chincoteague and Assateague islands.

Chincoteague And Neighborhood Nicknames

CHINCOTEAGUE -- John Jester realized younger generations on Chincoteague Island have forgotten about some of Chincoteague's neighborhood names and their origins.

Jester, a 67-year-old town councilman, is a native of Chincoteague who moved back in 2006. Soon after, he saw this first-hand when he asked a youth if he lived in the neighborhood called "Up the Neck."

"The young guy didn't know what I was talking about so I could tell that the culture was disappearing," said Jester.

Today, placed throughout Chincoteague are small aluminum signs adorned with the names of the island's oldest neighborhoods.

Since the 1930s, locals have been referring to neighborhoods by their quirky and legendary titles -- "Snotty Ridge," "Chicken City" and "Tick Town." They now are designated with signs that serve as a testament to the town's rich history.

During his 2008 term as chairman of Chincoteague's 100th Anniversary Committee, Jester came up with the idea of putting up neighborhood signs as a way to offset the island's lost folklore.

"I thought the signs would be a good way to promote the history and culture of the island," said Jester.

Jester contacted Ollie Reed, a sign designer who works with the town, and they discussed a design for the neighborhood signs.

Jester and Reed agreed upon having an illustration of a Chincoteague pony and the Chincoteague lighthouse right above the name of the neighborhood.

They felt that the famous symbols of Chincoteague would "tie the signs to the community."

In 2009, the town and many locals, including Jester, bought signs to place in some of the neighborhoods.

Jester bought the sign for his neighborhood, "Mad Calf," located on Clark Street.

According to Jester, the neighborhood's name derived from an old tale, just like some of the other neighborhood names.

One night, a boy was walking down Clark Street heading toward his girlfriend's house. As he was walking, he tripped over what he thought at the time was a stump. But to his dismay, it turned out to be a small calf.

The calf quickly jumped up and knocked the young boy down in a frenzy, hence the name "Mad Calf."

Other names, like "Tick Town" and "Chicken City," describe some of the largely populated inhabitants of the area long ago.

For Jester, the signs not only help spread the history of the island, but they also help to remind locals and tourists of what it used to be like on the island many years ago.

"(The signs) bring memories back to people. They take you back to a different era," said Jester.

http://www.delmarvanow.com/