The Wild Ponies of Chincoteague

The legend says that a Spanish galleon, carrying ponies, crashed along the Virginia nish coast in the 16th century.

crashed along the Virginia coast in the 16th century.

The ponies swam free of the broken ship and reached the barrier island of Assateague.

The wild ponies living there today are decenents of that lost band The Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company owns the herd now To keep the population in check, the firemen hold a public auction every year and sell the foals.

For the people bidding It can be a stressful time.

Chincoteague Island, Virginia Is located about two hours north of Virginia Beach.

We're stuck about five miles out in the ocean England is next thing past Assateague don't make any turns, left, right, You leave Assateague, you head easter' you gonna' hit England sometime.

Right now we're standing on Chincoteague Island If you look over my left shoulder you will see Assateague Island.

People say it's a stones throw away from Chincoteague Assateague Island is where the wild ponies of Chincoteague live.

In the 1940's, the Federal Government, even though they were involved in fighting World War 2 they were concerned that the East Coast was being overdeveloped.

If you follow the coastline down from Maine to New York City to the costal beaches of New Jersey Follow it on down.

It's all being developed.

As the birds migrate - down they wanted to preserve land for the birds.

What's the next best stop along that flight?

Assateague Island Assateague Island was left in its natural state So the Government, in their wisdom and foresight, said we need to purchase Assateague Island before someone buys it and turns it into Atlantic City south.

Because they bought it they take control of it and the ponies were just another asset for the Fish & Wildlife Service to control.

They allowed the fire company to continue their grazing of their ponies over on Assateague Island.

There you go.

We had a permit for 150 we bought all the last remaining herds up and today we're the owners of the world famous Chicoteague wild ponies.

Lock, stock, and barrel.

The grazing is good in the summertime.

It'll sustain 200 - 300 head easily.

Winter time grass will die off.

The number has to come back to 150.

A manageable level.

What's the alternative?

June, July - April, May, the foals are being born the numbers go up to 225 - 230 Fish & Wildlife says no problem we know you're gonna get rid of 'em We swim 'em over.

We sell of the young ones.

We sell off the foals.

We run a fireman's carnival for 16 nights and 2 days that coincides with the July roundup and auction So the auction is the main fundraiser that the fire company has If your going to have mares and studs on Assateague and you got the grazing permit Why not put it to the best use possible?

I mean they're happy.

They're natural.

We round them up and it works good for everybody.

Ever since I saw one of the foals I was completely in love.

I wanted one But at the time I was a lot younger so I didn't realize how much work it actually took.

But I have wanted a foal since I first saw one.

Mostly my aunts.

They would try to get her out of horseback riding They would take her to like tea parties and stuff and dress her up like little dolls and they I think they one time they even told my mom that Sabrina didn't want to go riding anymore even though Sabrina didn't say that they were like trying to channge her into a girlie girl They failed.

I didn't really care if people thought I was weird because horses were my life.

And they still are and I, That's kinda how people talk about me I hear people they're like Who's Sabrina?

She's the horse girl.

Ohh.

I'm kinda the quiet sister and she was always kinda like trying to drag me into things I was like no no I don't want t We'll you're doing it anyway.

Their uncle built them barns to play with their plastic horses.

and they did not They had some Barbies.

Barbies were not that important.

It was the horses and the riders and the jumps and building a farm and having the tack.

They would get cork boards and hang the tack up in little tiny peices. little pieces all over She would never get along well in the tea party because she wouldn't eat the little sandwiches.

Are they wild animals?

They are wild and we keep them as wild as we can for 360 so days a year.

About 60.

We have at least three roundups a year We give them their vaccinations.

Their shots.

They are wild.

We do have to catch them We've never had one come through the turnstile yet and volunteer to get a flu shot.

They don't bang on the door and say would you give me some worm medicine.

My name is Charlie Cameron.

I'm a veterinarian.

I've been working with the Chincoteague fire department and their Chincoteague pony herd for 26 years In the spring roundu up we do the basic routine things we vaccinate them for eastern and western encephalitis, tetnus, and west Nile virus.

also rabies.

we deworm them with a drench and we draw blood samples for the Coggins test to certify the heard is free of equine infectios anemia With that certification they will be able to have their pony sale in July.

There are things that are done that you wouldn't expect to be done on a herd of complet wild mustangs out West say.

I worked three jobs right now I only have two.

I work here at Suttler Post and at a fast food company.

I way prefer here more.

Its so much more relaxed I love working with the horses.

They are so docile.

The people here are awesome.

They want me to do everything to make the horses better which I love to do anyway so it's not really work for me.

its just kinda playing around with some horses I think she's ready We've gone a progressive route with horses.

We started with taking lessons.

We've helped at a horse rescue so that they understand that even when the weather is bad you still have to feed the horses.

you got to take care of them.

We did that for several years.

and they've leased horses where they've had to pay for their board.

and taking care of them making sure they're taken care of So I think she is ready to have her own now.

One thing I have let her know all along is this is her responsibility.

She wants a pony she is going to have to take care of it.

I'll support her but it will be her project.

For me the I think the fascinat Chincoteague pony is the fact they were born wild.

They've had no human interaction.

So before I get this foal its pretty much a raw slate.

I get to shape it how I want to shape it instead of someone who I buy a house from who has shaped it that way It's going to be hard but that is not going to push me away from something I really want.

because I've wanted this forever.

Like every crazy horse child.

This is a Clydesdale shoe.

It is a nine long and this is a Chincoteague pony shoe.

which is possibly a size three.

I am petrified because it's going to be hers now It's not someone she's leasing and that we can return Touching a horse is like trying to To me, everyone is looking to be accepted They all want to fit in somewhere.

They all want to have people that like them.

they understand them they accapt them They will do anything for them.

and when I touch a horse its like I belong there I belong with horses.

It's like touching a piece of freedom.

Everything I do is for the foal I haven't even gotten yet so I'm really excited for that foal to finally be called mine.

I'm walking around the carnival grounds one night and this lady comes up Lois Szymanski and she explained to me what she wants to do.

I'm Lois Szymanski, I helped form the Feather Fundme what and I am a Board member.

I'm Lois Szymanski, I helped form the Feather Fund and I am a Board member.

She wanted to raise money to give it away.

I said, huh, sounds like Robin Hood.

Except you ain't stealing it.

The Feather Fund is a nonprofit organization that we started because of my friend Carolyn Suplee who for the eight years she survived cancer purchased a foal for either a child, or a buy back foal every year as a way of giving back for another year of life.

She explained to me the problem some kids have with buying a pony They just don't have the resources.

Chincoteague ponies are not cheap.

Especially since they started the registry in 1995.

They have skyrocketed.

I think the average pony is between two and three thousand dollars.

She said she wanted to set a little tent up in the back pony penning days and solicit donations to help kids buy ponies I went to the President and the Chief and we had a little pow and bam it was a done deal We also have basket bingos, horse shows, lollipop sales everything you can think of to make money.

That started something.

It worked out.

He hugged me!

Yes you can do this.

He looked at the other guys, "Don't you think" She said we are going to make this happen These kids aint going home with a tear in their eye they're goin gome with a Chincoteague pony.

And Roe said to me that day, "That what this is all about.

Ponies and kids" This year the Feather Fund is giving Sabrina Dobbins one A young teen who is in love with horses and applied.

And a pair of twins, Courtney and Trisha Gagne are getting one.

I really like animals that have been wild.

Their wild spirit.

And Chincoteague ponies are one of the wild animals.

They are kinda like mustangs but with Chincoteague ponies I've heard they are sweeter.

I've heard Chincoteague ponies It's just the breed.

I guess they're different.

And I really like pintos.

Well we reaally like pintos And there are a lot of those They go to our website, they download the application, they fill it out, they send it to us.

They have to have saved some money on their own.

They have to have a means to keep a horse.

We have twenty or so chickens that we sell the eggs off of.

We have three cats.

One dog.

Four rats Three guinea pigs A fish.

And soon to be a horse.

We had four goats but we sold some to a nice home and brought some to auction.

That was part of the deal with getting the horse though They have to have parental permission.

We actually can't ask for any more animals for nine months.

Actually she never said nine months.

Dad did.

Oh.

And finally they have to send us an essay too that tells us why they want this pony.

I thought her's was very good.

She liked how I put in little details while she put in the main idea and didn't' go into detail a lot You want me to read the whole thing?

Sabrina told us all the right things.

that she is in 4H.

She loves horses.

and she has been in love with Chincoteague ponies in particular for years.

and she was a prime candidate for us but then she opened up.

Recently I have been dealing with one of the most difficult things I have ever faced.

Depression.

I kinda noticed she started acting a bit differently.

after I went off to school When I came back she just wasn't the same Sabrina that I remembered I just there were things I started noticing and I was like Mom you need to talk to her I didn't want to be the one to be like look what's wrong with you.

I felt that was my Mom's area.

I was like Mom you need to talk to her It's a shocking thing.

You think your child is fine and happy and then find out they have been harming themselves It's like, oh my gosh, what went wrong?

In 2008 my parents got divorced I could not believe what was happening.

Was it my fault?

I started blaming myself for our family being ripped apart.

She used to come home and play with me And we used to run outside and jump over jumps like horses and um but when she came really when she hit high school I think it was like sophomore year or maybe junior year she would just come home and sleep.

She didn't want to play outside with me anymore.

I did what I thought I had to do to help her.

It wasn't you know I wasn't trying to get her in trouble.

I just didn't want to see her hurt.

I panicked.

I cried.

Because I knew she was hurting herself for...

It was like, why, why do you feel like you have to go to that point?

because I thought you were happy.

I tried to go on with my regular life but its really really hard when have no desire to do anything So it is, Depression is really hard.

People think your oh you're just sad.

It's way more than that.

I hate when people are like Your'e so happy.

There is no way you can be depressed.

No way No way you could hurt yourself.

Your so happy.

You are always smiling They have no idea what you do at three in the morning.

We actually had a big discussion over this because there was concern Perhaps a Chincoteague pony could be just the thing she needed to pull her out of depression.

Well you know the depression was a big part of my decision to let her go ahead with getting a pony because I knew it would be something positive in her life.

The Board told me when you call her go ahead and make the decision.

So I said well then can I talk to Sabrina?

and her called her to the phone.

She started crying immediately She was so happy she could not contain it.

She kept saying you don't know what this means to me.

I am going to cry remembering her.

She was so happy that I immediately knew we had done the right thing.

When I learned this when I got accepted everything turned around.

Everything changed.

It was kinda like the light in complete darkness I was surrounded in.

What next?

We're just looking forward to going to Chincoteague Bidding on a pony.

And having a good time there.

When you are driving along the causeway and go by the NOAA base and round that corner You can see the island.

All the locals will roll down their windows.

They get the smell of salt and that smells like home to them as you're driving across the causway you get that richness that aroma of the salt marsh You get closer to home.

The aroma gets stronger.

As you're crossing over the drawbridge you can see home.

You still get more aroma of the island.

You're home.

When you cross that causeway you're coming home.

And when you drive over the bridge and stop at the stop light you realize you're actually home.

You're on the island.

Here you go.

Pass that around.

Be very careful that lip is sharp.

That's an oyster that is a Chincoteague cultured salt oyster.

Before the ponies we were famous for shellfish.

and the shellfish industry continues to be one of our leading industries although diminished from what it one was.

The waters around Chincoteague are well documented for creating a very unique taste in our oysters.

Because of the proximity to the Ocean and the flushing of the water twice daily our oysters are some of the best oysters in the Country.

Coastal Living, one of the big magazines I guess it was, voted us the top ten beach in the Country or friendliest towns.

We've been voted a nice place to be.

We're a good bunch of folks to be around.

The ponies kind of work into that.

Summertime, hundred thousand, fifty thousand.

Anytime you get past 3700 then you've had a high day.

In the winter time I leave my house I go down to check my boat on the south end of the island and I pass four cars and we all wave to each other.

Memorial Day, Labor Day, whew.

Skateboards in the road, three wheel vehicles, little electric cars If you've seen the movie Jaws when Memorial Day got here - kinda looks like that.

Can you imagine?

I've got five or six customers a week that come in here and now I have fifty!

And most of them that come in - you want to buy a decoy?

Well we would really like to know something about these ponies.

What can you tell us about the ponies?

You're a local.

The hot item is something related to a pony It's not Shamu the whale or a model rocket.

It is a pony item.

Whether that's a tee shirt, a calendar, a post card, it's going to have a pony on it.

The ponies drive the economy of the island.

That's what we do.

That's who we are.

We have speckled ponies, brown ponies, black ponies, white ponies, grey ponies, tie dyed ponies, ponies with manes Ponies that look like cows we've got pastel ponies, we have them on with little jackets on If you can't find a pony you love here your'e not going to find it anywhere I think its the legend of Misty Misty of Chincoteague is a children's book that is iconic.

Marguerite Henry came along in 1947 and put us on the map.

She wrote a book called Misty of Chincoteague.

Its pretty cool to be a part of it.

People come to Chincoteague to see where Misty came from.

Every year we have people come in and say this was on their bucket list Because they read Misty when they were six years old And now there are here.

Coming to Chincoteague has been a childhood dream of mine I read Misty of Chincoteague when I was little The very first Bryer pony I got, I have a big collection, was a little Misty.

I read it probably six and a half year ago I thought it was completely fictional, this place didn't exist like there's no way there could be wild ponies.

We see women to this day we'll have 60 year old ladies 70 year old ladies come with their original copies Misty weeping because they are finally seeing where Misty of Chincoteague was born and raised and the wild ponies.

It's magical.

I have never read Misty and that's on my to do list I should go ahead and read it since I've been coming here for 35 years.

We got a bunch coming out of the woods now and we got a bunch way out on the point.

Out by the bay.

You would not believe the people who spend hours and hours seeing that they are going to 13.7 hands high they are going to have a better head conformation they're going to have a better hind quarter structure We don't name them.

They name them.

Go online.

Go on FaceBook.

Oh my God Matilda, Blue Bird, Lady Luck.

They've named every one of them!

They're kinda a little bit like celebrities in a sense and it is fun to pick your favorite one learn all about them.

You can look up their lineage you can see you sired and damed them all the way back to great, great, grandparents it's so much fun.

I've done a selfie with everyone of these ponies behind me.

Back in the early 20's half the town here on Chincoteague burnt down.

We didn't have a fire company.

It was basically a bucket brigade.

Guys went along with buckets trying to put the fire out.

Finally did.

Couple years later.

The other half of the town burnt down.

Hey, it's time to do something here.

We need a firetruck.

So they passed the hat, collected a few bucks, and bought a firetruck.

housed it in somebody's shed over on Mumford street That's how the fire company came to be.

They had no way of raising funds.

In the 1920's there wasn't a benevolent group where they could start and buy fire fighting equipment.

So they brain stormed and found ways to raise money.

one of the ways that they knew to to raise money was there were wild ponies on Assateague Island that no-one owned.

They knew that if they could round the ponies up and sell them that would generate a few dollars for them.

For 20 years or so it was a regional event.

The pony penning Pony swim.

All that was regional.

People would come from throughout the region to see it.

Then in the later in the 40's is started to become a national event.

And then Marguerite Henry came along and POOF!

It went national and international when she wrote Misty.

They say it's better to have and not need than need and not have.

We can't have - we can't afford all the equipment we might need in any given fire The old joke years ago was we didn't have any three story motels or b&b's most of them were two story - The joke was, We didn't have a ladder truck.

We didn't have a telesquirt and just went there and waited for the first story burn down and fought the second story when we got to it when it got to us.

That's.

pretty much the old joke Now we have a ladder truck We have a new $400,000 pumper on the way It's quite expensive to have everything you need.

And now we have three story Hampton Inns, Comfort Inns Comfort Suites, big motels now Gotta have the equipment you need to save those people if something happens.

Our citizens do not pay a fire tax.

We don't go door to door soliciting our citizens We want to make the money we need to buy a half million dollar fire truck and $150,000 ambulances We want it to come from our hard work and our efforts involved with the ponies and during our annual carnival We are a small island.

We are a small fire company.

Fire dept We eat drink During July we eat, drink, and sleep, Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company wild ponies.

We have them on our shirts.

We have tattoos of them We have them painted on buildings on the stands at the carnival grounds What's not to love about them?

There's everything to love about them.

The main roundup we have in July where we make the money at the auction We start on the Saturday afternoon prior to the last Wednesday - always starts on Saturday Sunday morning we get up early We go up the the Maryland and Virginia line we fan out from the ocean to the Chincoteague Bay and the barbed wire fence and we push everything to the south.

Monday morning we get up early 6: 00 walk them across the dunes to the ocean Make a human fence on horseback.

We use the ocean as one fence and on the other three sides are riders on horseback and we walk them for a couple miles south on the beach.

It makes a great buffer - the ocean does We don't run them we walk them very slowly.

We get them down the road and combine the northern bunch on the Virginia portion to the south herd Now they are all in one big pen Monday morning we will start using the vet to look them over And we separate the ones he feels are to or old to swim and too young to swim We put them in a trailer and bring them over the bridge We transport them to make sure nobody gets lost.

Nobody gets hurt, nobody drowns I think the people of Chincoteague are very proud to take care of these ponies This whole community is built around these wild ponies.

It's pretty amazing.

That one right there.

That little chestnut.

She's lighter and darker in the face.

Right there Oh, they keep pushing here in the corner.

She doesn't care.

They are so raw.

They don't have any human interaction.

They are how I make them Instead of someone else training I don't want or like Then I'll be able to shape it the way I want to shape it.

Hopefully her.

Our main driver for the ponies are children.

They get what they call the "oh its so cute fever" If you haven't witnessed the "oh its so cute fever" come to the roundup and you will see it.

Young children five, six, seven, years old.

They pick a pony out of the herd.

Mom, look at that one.

Its cute.

Isn't that one cute mom?

You know, giving them Mom...I want that one.

And mom's going, "yeah that's kind of cute" Give it a day or two and you'll come to the auction and there will be dad Yup I'll pay you a thousand dollars for that pony We are going to take that one home.

So that's Tuesday Wednesday morning wow it takes .

This is the big kickoff.

Boats are on both sides.

You can walk from boat to boat to boat 40,000 people on the shoreline The ponies will be swimming right past us We just got to be careful of the mud.

It's getting real bad.

Don't come down there with you $100 pair of sandals Don't come down there with your $200 pair of short pants and nice tee shirt Get the cheapest hat you can find The cheapest shorts you can find The cheapest flip-flops Because when you get home your going to want to throw them away They come back with mud....ugh.. For me to tell you to come see this - if your one of the few people Even though there is suppose to be three hundred million people in the Country I would think all three hundred million have already seen it Judging by what I've seen But I guess there are a few who have missed it announcer: allrighty were gonna have a good time today.

Hope you're having a good time.

and we'll be lookin for the ponies here shortly they'll be little specks on the other side of those boats down there because that's the way the coastline goes We're out in the channel.

The tide stops.

We signal the Coast Guard.

They shoot a big flare a red flare And buddy when the red flare goes off here come the ponies.

Crowd cheering and music I don't see Cheyenne let me know if anyone sees Cheyenne I was freaking out.

There she is!

There she is!

It was lots fun.

Very nerve wracking but lots of fun.

It was so exciting to see then all swim over And the babies who aren't even a year old swim right there next to their dames and sires swim right there next to their dames and sires who have been doing it their whole lives like they are pros.

You can see how they look after they make landfall They are hardly winded.

They shaking off and go right to grazing.

The key thing for me is culling out the ones who are too old to do the swim.

Honestly, a week old foal, now we won't let them swim but I'm satisfied they could make it.

They're so buoyant.

As long as they don't get separated from their mother They get separated from their mother then we got a problem.

They get confused.

They are looking for their mother.

We've all had over the years I've had one in the boat with me I pulled one out Harry Thornton, the Pony Chairman for so many years I've seen him pull 2 or 3 out so thy get a ride across in a dinghy.

People line up where they come ashore to see the ponies go down Main Street We take them across the marsh and walk them down Main Street to the fairground It's a big parade of a hundred and some wild ponies.

Cheering crowd This is the real deal You can give me a million bucks and tell me to take a trip around the world But I have to do it pony penning week I'd say you keep your trip and your million bucks Because this is the only place I am going to be Is on Chincoteague Island Pony penning week.

That's it.

I'm not faking it We are a little island off the coast That magic and the lore of the Spanish shipwreck and the wild beach and the wild animals I think it touches a chord in people Chincoteague Island is what it is today because of these d in Chincoteague ponies Chincoteague Island is what it is today because of these Chincoteague ponies and the love little children have for these ponies.

It's pretty much a big media blitz for about four miles until we back to the fairgrounds where we have another corral behind the fairgrounds and that's where they are held overnight for the auction the next day.

I was the Public Relations Officer for the fire Chincoteague Vonunteer Fire Company for about 25 years I had to give it up.

It's a whole lot easier to catch 150 head of ponies than deal with the media Oh my God I've dealt with every news media.

I don't know if I can name the names but From Good Morning America, to the Today Show, Radio Free Europe FX, Nickelodeon, TV Tokyo I mean I've dealt with them all.

The one stud, who's name was Miracle Man, one year, a week before the carnival and the pony swim he swam the channel with his entire herd and found his way to the carnival grounds.

This was without any prodding or guiding by humans.

He did it all on his own.

He swam the channel Found his way to the carnival grounds and then stood at the gate.

Like - Let me in.

I want to be in the carnival grounds Please let me in I want to beat the crowds I know what's going to happen!

Let me in!

He stood at the gate until the firemen got down there opened the gate, his whole herd went in and they stayed there until Pony Penning.

They have no idea.

This is kind what their future is.

As soon as they swim across that's the last time they are going to be on the island.

and to me that's amazing.

They are going to a new home with hopefully me I'm so excited.

I can't express how excited I am.

since I started riding 11 years ago I've fallen in love with horses I have been counting down for eleven years to get my horse and its actually happening in a day.

Tomorrow is the day my eleven year countdown is finally going to end.

Usually its very exciting but knowing there is a specific one she may want and may not get that is stressful.

It will be very stressful for her.

As long as she is happy at the end of they day I'm okay.

I know there is certain ones that she wants but she has learned over the years if you don't get that you try something else so hopefully it will turn out good.

I think it's my am I on my 12 hour countdown yet?

Almost.

Almost twelve hours.

We like plan on like working together with the horse you know and in the future we do plan on possibly getting another one Second one.

So we can both ride together.

And probably in the end since we have a big sister we'll probably get three.

They are held there Wednesday.

All the people look at them Wednesday afternoon - evening.

The carnival's going on the fair's going on then Thursday morning Everybody is starting to set their chairs up for the auction.

6:00am.

The auction starts at 8: 00.

It goes to 12: 00 We try to sell everything in a four hour period.

We don't just go down auction day, pony penning day Thursday, and say look we're going to sell 55 of them We got to make certain they bring a certain amount of money I want my buddy from Montana to buy this one because he's a good friend of mine Somebody says I want my friend from Florida to buy one That's not how it happens.

You get in the auction and you bid.

And the chips fall where they may.

This is the most terrifying, petrifying, most nervously...

I don't even know I am in the mix of pure absolute terror and absolute excitement There's real no in between.

Oh they are so nervous.

Especially waiting for their foals.

They have other Feather Fund kids telling them who is in the shoot.

Ok that's not your favorite one in the shoot but it may be the one behind And the get their hopes up and, no that's another pinto, that's not yours.

auction sounds We have a buy-back program where we pick out some for future broodstock We'll put it on the the block.

We identify it You can buy it but you have to give it back to us It's a buy-back.

It's a donation.

Its not your pony.

We get the money.

You get to say you helped us out and that pony will never be sold again.

It will live its life on Assateague for ever and ever.

The first year we implemented this, the first one we advertised four thousand dollars.

We are the Legacy Group.

We are a group of FaceBook friends Our pony was twenty five thousand dollars We started spreading the word to everyone that we were a FaceBook page that was set up with the purpose of hoping to raise enough funds to purchase a buy-back.

And the donations started pouring in we had some larger donations but nothing extremely large We had kids sending in money that they broke into their piggy banks We had no requirement for a minimum donation.

Whatever you could send you were a part of it if you sent in five dollars you were just as involved as someone who sent in five hundred dollars.

It's a no lose situation.

You have the pony that you can consider yours situation.

You have the pony that you can consider yours you can watch grow up, you can watch her, so and yeah, it all goes for such a worthy cause.

Anyone else?

Sold it thirteen hundred Feather Fund.

I used to be one of the kids that caught the ponies in the back of the corral.

Manhandle them up be auctioned off Got bit and stomped on and kicked and loved every minute of it.

All the girls would come up, ah look, he got bit!

He's bleeding!

Yeah, that's cool.

Not no more.

People say how do they survive being away from their mothers at four or five months of age.

If you've ever had kids then you know sometimes its just time to kick the little birdie out of the nest.

I've had two kids Now they are young adults.

They are out of the nest.

Every month or so they threaten to come home to see us and me and the wife try to find some kind of excuse not to be home God love them, I wouldn't take a million dollars for either one of them and wouldn't give five cents for another one just like them.

But that's the way the mares are I mean you take them away and in a very short few minutes the mares are back with the studs in the back of the corral the foals are going to guy's or woman's house They are getting sweet stock and sugar cubes and feed Every morning the door slams shut and they know the kids are going to come feed them and take care of them and brushing their coats and combing their manes Its like, You want to go back to Assateague?

they say, I don't think so.

It benefits the mares because you have a colt nursing on the outside and a colt developing on the inside the mare has to feed three going into the winter.

By removing that colt it takes away one of the mouths she has to feed So it makes it easier for her for the upcoming winter to build up fat.

It must be the worst thing you have to go through because they are a ball of nerves and knowing there is a price limit.

We tell them to pick a second and third favorite because A - there's could be a buy-back that is going back to the island which has happened and B - we can't spend thousands of dollars Thirteen fifty, all in, all done, anyone else?

Sold it!

Congratulations girls.

I am mixed between freaking out and numb so I'm like, I don't know I don't really know, I don't like it.

When we would see somebody bidding against a Feather Fund child We're yelling at them.

Stop it!

Stop bidding!

This is a Feather Fund kid.

Give her the pony This is it.

When that foal came out we were like okay here it comes, that's your baby, that Cheyenne's baby.

and the auctioneer said, we have a colt here.

Here we go a three and a half month old colt.

A little boy.

And she wanted a filly Here we go who will give a thousand dollars?

aution sounds I even yelled out to people in the ring.

Are you sure that's a colt?

Its not?

Are you sure?

She threw her hand up and threw it down and shifted gears and spun her tires.

And she looked back at her friends and said I though it wa a filly.

Sabrina looked at me and said, is that the right one, is that her?

And I said I really don't know.

Well, the auctioneer is barking and someone is yelling at me Is it a filly or a stud?

Check to make sure It's a colt?

It is a ....colt.

I didn't know if it had three legs and one eye by then.

Roe go check!

Are they sure?!

They lifted the tail up and one of them said, stud, filly.

They lifted the tail up and one of them said, stud, filly.

Even though everyone was all worried and confused and stressing out I was like, this is her.

I don't care.

If its a colt its a colt.

She knew in her heart she didn't even need to ask me the minute I said go with your heart she was in there bidding all over Seven and a half, who will give eight, seven and a half.

What are you going to do Rick?

Who will give eight... All in All done.

Sold it!

Feather Fund!

She is absolutely beautiful Its all right Congratulations you own a pony Mother is crying, I'm crying, auctioneer is crying, God is crying.

Everybody is crying.

Its a fantastic time.

Come here.

Its okay I just got the pony.... ownership certificate for the pony I just got.

A lot of times in that certain period of time when everybody is shedding a tear sometimes the wind blows sometimes and these big old fireman get a little bit of sand You watch them, they get a little bit of sand in the corner of their eye They'll be..we aint' crying..we're tough We ain't going to shed no tears over nobody But sometimes we get a little bit of sand in our eye and we got to turn around and get it out but its all right.

It will work out.

Once we had the vet check because that was the next step did you want the vet to look it over Do you want to do your Coggins and the different shots that were available We decided to go ahead just coming off the island to go ahead and get most of that taken care of.

And I said I just have one request.

I want you to tell me if this is a filly or a colt.

And they're like, it says it a colt.

I said, I know what the paper says I want you to look at that horse and tell me what horse it is.

Is it a male?

Is it a female?

They all kept looking at me funny it says its a colt.

But I want you to look I want you to pick up that tail and look and one of them looked and said yeah, I think its a colt.

and I said, are you sure?

And the vet and the other one came in and said, it's a filly.

So it ended up being a filly like she thought it was.

It was definitely the horse she wanted.

It was perfect.

You don't want to be depressed forever.

You really don't.

Its not good.

and you just need to realize you're worth something.

You are worth the entire world.

Someone out there loves you.

I love you.

And it just You can't give up.

Because if you give up there is no way you can reach that goal you set.

There's no way you can get that Chincoteague foal there's no way.

You need to set yourself a goal and go for it.

You can't stop.

Go full steam ahead.

There's just is so much there's so much worth living for.

You think there's no getting out of it you think you are at bottom You think there's no getting out of it up You just need one light.

One little light.

Feather Fund was my light.

and it was just pull yourself up.

It sounds cliche.

It sounds hard.

But you don't want to be depressed forever.

You really don't.

Its not good.

Shhhh.

You're too fat for that sweet pea This is what happens with a piece of the wind.

This is what happened with a piece of history.

These Chincoteague ponies right now you walk out this door on the way home you look up you'll see a cloud shaped like a Chincoteague pony its floating up there watching you.

You'll go to bed tonight, you'll start dreaming, you will dream of Chincoteague ponies.

I don't even know how to describe her.

I don't even know how to She is amazing.

She is perfect.

She is amazing.

She is perfect.

My little sister calls her a spoilt brat but she's perfect.

I don't know how she does it or why she does it or anything but she is so understanding.

She knows when I am not okay and she knows how to make me okay.

I don't even have to say anything to her.

I can come in and feed her and she knows what is happening She knows how I'm feeling.

She knows why I'm feeling it.

I named her Blessing because it just fit.

Horses have amazing healing powers.

Blessing has done that for me.

and I don't know where I would be without her.

I love my pony.

That little foal.

The little filly girl.

My little Chincoteague pony.

Its got something to do with vanishing America We are part of that Americana Small town - small town values Getting back to you know when kids could be kids they weren't locked inside being afraid of the boogey man outside The kids in the book, they were allowed to ride their bicycles they were allowed to go out in a boat by themselves, go clamming.

All that stuff and people cling to that.

They want to open be able to they want to open their door and walk out and have ponies in their yard.

It really is magical I mean Its unbelievable.