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   Wild US ponies herded off for auction

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Topic: Wild US ponies herded off for auction (Read 172 times)

darnchts
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Wild US ponies herded off for auction
« on: Aug 1^st, 2003, 8:26am »

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Wild US ponies herded off for auction
CHINCOTEAGUE, Virginia (AFP) - Local cowboys hollered and cracked whips as they herded hundreds of wild ponies across a narrow waterway for auction.
Visitors flock from around the country each year to this small resort town to watch the event, part of an annual ritual aimed at keeping the equine population of a protected island manageable.

"It's so much fun, it's like Christmas," said Suzanne Taylor, who works at the Chincoteague Chamber of Commerce (news - web sites).

The crowd of spectators -- estimated at 40,000 -- ignored the rain and cloudy skies, and cheered and clapped when the ponies reached land after their swim.

Roe Terry, with the Chincoteague Fire Company, said that about 170 ponies made the swim, which lasted about nine minutes. "Everyone made it across safe and sound," he said.

A number of over-enthusiastic spectators got up before dawn to set their lawn chairs at a choice viewing site on the marsh banks -- only to see them covered in water when the tide rose.

The ponies rested in a park for an hour, and then paraded down the town's main street to a carnival site, where the youngest ones will be put up for auction on Thursday.

Crowds of spectators lined the streets clapping and snapping pictures as the herd went by, Terry said. "They were fantastic -- they stood in the rain all morning," he said.

Each year in late July ponies living on Assateague island, a federally-protected park on the central US Atlantic coast, are rounded up by members of the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company and checked by veterinarians.

By arrangement with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the fire department -- which legally owns the herd -- must make sure there are no more than 150 ponies on the island. Too many ponies could upset the natural balance of the small island and deplete food for the animals, officials say.

On the last Wednesday of July the firefighters, now dubbed "saltwater cowboys," mount their own horses and herd the ponies across a 500 meter (yard) wide channel to the town of Chincoteague for auction.

The swim and the auction, which have been held since 1924, are the biggest events for this town of 3,500.

"The entire community volunteers one way or another" to make sure the event is a success, Taylor said.

The ponies fetch an average price of 1,800 dollars, with a record bid set in 2001 of 10,500 dollars, Taylor said. Auction profits go to the firefighters for herd upkeep.

Unsold ponies are allowed to swim back to the island on Friday.

Even though ponies have been on the island about 300 years, nobody is certain where they came from.

One theory, popularized in the 1947 child's book 'Misty of Chincoteague' by Marguerite Henry, is that the ponies swam ashore after a Spanish galleon ran aground.

Others believe the ponies were left there by pirates, or were turned loose by settlers.

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azure
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Re: Wild US ponies herded off for auction
« Reply #1 on: Aug 1^st, 2003, 10:29am »

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is this not a bit mean to the horses? Or am I overanalyzing it?

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darnchts
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Re: Wild US ponies herded off for auction
« Reply #2 on: Aug 1^st, 2003, 10:39am »

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Well being the animal lover I am..this event is mild and for a good cause. The horses are a little traumatized for a few days but are well taken care of during the event. They are brought down and put in corals that are more than big enough for all of them, checked over by vets to make sure the herd is healthy, fed well and the youngest ones are stripped from the herd. Unfortunately that sometimes means that babies are taken from their moms.

But considering the alternatives, this is not a bad deal. They could let the horses get to be too many and starve, or allow hunters to go over and shoot them or worse yet, most places would allow men to come in and truck away the extras to be sent to be slaughtered for dog meat and other things. I have an uncle that spent years trucking horses for that (he is not an uncle that I will have anything to do with by the way) and I can tell you right now that those horses are treated horribly and left to suffer for long hours on the road till they arrive at the slaughterhouse where the deed is also done in not the most humane manner.

So considering the alternatives, having all the horses rounded up once a year and making it into an event to raise money to keep the tradition going is pretty humane. The horses are actually treated very well throughout this whole thing and the people there really care about them.

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MzWings
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Re: Wild US ponies herded off for auction
« Reply #3 on: Aug 1^st, 2003, 11:02am »

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This is a good article Dar and I'll have to tell you (since I didn't know about this situation), I read it very slowly, holding my breath. You and I being the animals lovers/protectors that we are, I didn't expect the ending would be as wonderful as it turned out to be.

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azure
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Re: Wild US ponies herded off for auction
« Reply #4 on: Aug 1^st, 2003, 11:05am »

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ok, as long as it is humane! Grin

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darnchts
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Re: Wild US ponies herded off for auction
« Reply #5 on: Aug 1^st, 2003, 11:19am »

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I'm kinda shocked that you all didn't know about this event already anyway..I have always kept up on this cause it is one of the few places that still allows horses to run free and tries to maintain a healthy herd. I remember reading the book that is mentioned when I was barely learning to read and loving it. Yes..this is truly one of the happy ending type stories...and the horses swim back across and I'm sure go back to eating and forget all about it till the next year. There are no whip marks on them and most of what is done is done for show. Most horse owners don't take as good care of their horses as what these people all do and most do it for free. I would love to buy one of these horses but I'm more interested in one of the burros from the Grand canyons cause they aren't as fortunate...most of the unadopted ones from there are slaughtered. In fact there are still wild horses somewhere that become a nuisance and have hunts on them now and then. That is my dream in life..when I'm ready to retire..I want to save some of these horses and Burros and bring them back to live out their lives on our farm land in Vermont...

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Re: Wild US ponies herded off for auction
« Reply #6 on: Aug 5^th, 2003, 4:49pm »

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This is always a fun event here in Virginia each summer. The ponies inhabit and run free on the island on the eastern shore of Virginia. The once a year auction is very necessary to cull the herd to keep it at a managable number. If they didn't cull the herd, there would not be enough food sources for all of them.

It really is a pleasure to see families with children at the auction, bidding on their favorite wild pony. At the end of the day, there are a lot of very happy boys and girls.

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