Chincoteague

We expected to be surrounded by the Chincoteague ponies for which this barrier island is famous. However it’s November now, and they have moved inland.  They appear when only you are not looking, say, outside your camper first thing in the morning.

Assateague is a national park and at great pains to protect the ponies.  Speed limits are fifteen miles an hour.  Visitors are instructed to stay a schoolbus length away.  Visitors to the park live in a kind of parallel universe, generally unnoticed by the ponies.  There is a sense of removal.

In July it’s total mayhem here as the Salt Water Cowboys drive the ponies from Assateague Island to Chincoteague Island. It’s a three minute event generating much fanfare, followed by an annual auction to thin out the herd. 

The rest of the year it’s quiet.  In the summer the ponies lounge on the beach, while tourists battle the horse flies.  Grazing is plentiful, and attention is closely paid by the park staff to those showing signs of trouble.  Keeping the herd manageable level, mares are darted with PZP, a birth control method.

During our visit the winds grew stronger and the temperatures continued to drop, and so we found ourselves one of the last campers to remain at the campsite. We hunkered down in Olive, turned on the furnace, and thought about playing Honeymoon Bridge.

Originally Published November 11, 2021