The Maryland Assateague Ponies
Along the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Virginia, loose livestock was a well-known phenomenon in the mid-1600s. In 1662, the problems caused by roaming cattle, horses, sheep and swine were so great the Virginia decreed all livestock must be penned - or kept behind fences - or the owners would be liable for monetary fines for (a) roaming livestock and (b) any destruction caused by said livestock. People with money began buying islands and marshy areas that could be easily sealed with a single short fence across a narrow "neck" of land. There were also church tithes expected from the parishioners that depended on the numbers of livestock that were living on the property where said parishioners were housed. Keeping your livestock on an island, away from your home, reduced church tithes and county and state taxes. The islands of Chincoteague and Assateague were already populated by a wiry breed of small horse, or pony. They were...