The Ponies of Chincoteague

Some Points About Virginia Nags Noted at an Annual Penning.

"Here's the pony, gentlemen. There ain't no finer traveler on the island. Whoa, thar! durn ye!"

The speaker, a tall angular chap, with unkempt hair, a cardinal shirt, blue overalls and barefooted, a typical specimen of the native, was holding by the long mane a restive, diminutive pony, the raising and penning of which has, within the last decade, made the island of Chincoteague, Va., in connection with its great oyster deposits, famous throughout the country. And while he was vociferously expatiating upon the speeding qualities of his charge the crowd was constantly augmenting in size -- a curious, heterogeneous congregation of people, who came in boats from the Virginia shore and in the cars from the back counties in Maryland. This year, however, the attendance has not been confined exclusively to residents of the immediate neighborhood, but Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore and Washington have contributed largely to swell the crowds from the rural districts. Conspicuous among this great audience are the colored people, who regard the event as a holiday and are always present in full force.

These pennings take place annually in August, and for weeks great preparations are made by the people who attend them. The avant courrier is the corpulent colored woman with her toothsome squares of old fashioned gingerbread and spruce beer. The rapid development of internal improvements and the inexorable march of progressive intelligence have somewhat shorn these pennings of their antique and novel features, but there is still much left to make them profoundly interesting and highly amusing to the northern spectator.

It is almost impossible to learn anything definite as to the origin of the Chincoteague pony. The oldest inhabitant cannot give a correct or intelligent version of whence he came. They all have their theories, some of them plausible enough in their way, but there is a lack of authenticity in these narratives that leave impressions of dubious character. A great many claim that they are an offspring of the pony of the Shetland isles and must have found their way to Chincoteague from a large steamer that was wrecked on the island before it was inhabited. Certain it is, at one time they roamed the island in vast numbers, but when the great storm of forty years ago devastated the country and almost submerged Chincoteague, it came near annihilating them.

In size the Chincoteague pony approximates that of the Shetland. The hair on their bodies is thick and shaggy and their manes and tails are long and glossy. They are strong, hardy little fellows, roaming wild on the extreme southern end of the island, feeding on the hay and tender roots which grow in luxurious abundance in the salt marshes bordering on the bay and the Atlantic ocean. When they are brought in they are divided off into what is known in the vernacular as herds, and each herd has its own peculiar mark or brand to distinguish it from the others and thus obviate the difficulty of dispute as to identity and ownership when corralled for branding. These branding irons are made according to the notion of the owner, representing the initials, stars, spearheads, crosses, etc., and are easily distinguished.