The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1896-11-12
PONY PENNING.
4 F2vurite Sport of the People Of
ohincoteague Island


O1A4ktIQeCLAuG anu A100NSatS1C h0NC
had their hundredth annual pony PEN
ming. Chincotesgue is . small island
in the Atlantic close to the shore Of Ac-
comzck county, Va. Asssteaeue is
long, narrow peninsula lying outside of
Chincoteague and protecting it from
the assaults OF the Atlantic. Chin
coteague is q glittering little island,
brilliant with sand and salt water,
denssly peopled, well wooded and
haunted by mocking birds. There is
neither poverty nor crime there, drunk
enness Ia almost unknown, and doors
are always unlocked. II Is the boast
Of Chincoteague that no slave ever lived
upon it's soil, and that the island re-
manned true to the union throughout
the war. There are no better sailors
anywhere than the people of Chin
oteegus, and there are no stancher
title boats than the Chincoteague ca.
noe with double leg-of-mutton sails.
Nobody knows positively the origin Of
he ChiEcoteague ponies 1t is only
tnown that they have ruamed the
narshy pastures of the islands for at
east century, and there is a tradition
hat the ancestors of the ponies came
shore from a wrecked ship in the
ighteenth century, These, doubtless,
Here full grown horses, and the Chin
oteague pony of to-day is degener-
A,e, through droughts in summer and
xposure in the open pastures through
ong winters. But degenerate as
lie is, the ChincoteGgue pony is
fine, hardy, and often beauti.
ul animal, with strength out OF
lroportion to his size, and. when well
lroken, has strength, agility and
need. He is from ten to twelve hands
iigh and from six to eight hundred
pounds in weight. From two hundred
and fifty to four hundred of these little
creatures roam the island pastures.
There are, perhaps, half as many on the
lower end OF Assateague.
A stallion leads upon the pastures a
group of from ten to twenty-five mares
and colts The leader is on the con-
slant lookout for danger, and a his
snort his whole polygamous family .alse
10 their heels. The ponies are really
far from wild, and one may easily APP
proach within fifty or twenty yards of
q group at pasture The older stations
become fierce and quarrelsome, and
have to be removed from the pastures
from time to time, lest they should de-
stroy one another or the younger stall
hons They are all excellent swimmers,
and when the pastures become bare on
Chincoteague they frequently swim to
the neighboring islets, where the salt
grass is still green. 1t is not uncom-
mon to see from the top of Assateague
light group of horses bathing in the
surf. The colts are born and nurtured
n the open pastures, and the annual
pony penning is ior the double purpose
If branding these colts and selling
some of the older horses.
Pony-penniug day is still fete day
on ohincoteague. The pen for the
horses is built near the center Of the
7illage, and on the morning of the
pony penning men and boys mounted
on swift and well-broken ponies ride
out to the pastures to drive in the wild
creatures The groups of ponies are
slowly driven together on the pasture
and then started downward. As the
penis neared the guards thicken, so
that the whole band is easily driven
into the inclosure. Branding irons are
heated; men with rope nooses on the
end Of long poles leap into the pens.
The colts are thrown to the ground and
held there while the iron is applied.
The branding done, the auction fol-
lows Unbroken horses fetch from
twenty-five to forty dollars each. 9th
ers, broken to harness, fetch as high
IS sixty dollars. Well-matched pairs
sometimes fetch one hundred and fifty
dollars The ponies have long been
the pets Of children Of well-to-do fam
ilIes on the mainland. and of late vears
hage beon sold over large pagt OF the
United States. They are larger than
Shetland ponies and more beautiful
n. 7. Press.