Betty's Critters - & History Views

In 1925, the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company began their management of the annual Pony Penning that had been taking place on Assateague and Chincoteague Islands in Virginia for over a hundred years.  Pony Penning was an annual event when the owners of the livestock, running free on both islands, were rounded up and identified.  The stock that the owner did not need in the foreseeable future, was sold off at an agreed upon price, and was usually removed from the islands.  It had been a well-known event for many years, with people gathering from the Carolinas, Virginia, Washington D. C., Delmarva, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.    When the CVFC began managing Pony Penning, they got county and state permission for a Carnival, set up games and different types of races (boating, swimming and horse and pony), as well as having the Pony Sale.  And the CVFC advertised the Carnival and Pony Penning events in newspapers.  It became a big event ....

 The ponies that belong to the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company that "run free" on Assateague Island have produced 40 foals as of the 3rd of May 2023.  The ponies belong to the CVFC and live on the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on the southern end of Assateague Island in the state of Virginia.  All of Assateague Island is designated a National Seashore; the smaller part, in Virginia, is the CNWR where the CVFC ponies live.  There is a much larger part of Assateague Island in Maryland, which contains both a State Park, and the National Park (Seashore).  The ponies that live in Maryland "belong" to the National Park Service, are considered wildlife, and receive no care - unless one is deemed to be in distress and a veterinarian is called to decide whether or not to euthanize the pony.  The ponies that belong to the CVFC are watched over by the public, by the CVFC Pony Committee, and there is a local veterinarian on call every minute of every day....