The Mt. Sterling advocate. (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) 1890-current, 1896-01-28
cATcAINa MnLp eoNIss.


Hundreds IL Animals Corralied on an
island on yirglnla'a Coast.
-, GS;iiiincoteague "a d small island I'D
the Atlantic close to the shore Of
Acconac county. IL Virginia Assa-
teaguc is long narrow peninsula
/ lying outside of Chincoteague and
protecting It from the assaults Of
the Atlantic Chinooteague is a
glittering littloisisnd. brilliant with
sand and salt WATER densely peo-
pied, well wooded and haunted by
mocking birds There is neither
poverty nor crime there; drunken
ness is almost unknown, and doors
are always unlocked. 1t is the
boast of Chincoteague that no slave
ever lived upon it's soil, and that the
island remained true to the Union
throughout the war of the rebellion.
There are no better sailors anywhere
than the people of Chincoteague,
and there are no stanoher little boats
than the Chincoteague canoe with
double leg of mutton sail.
Nobody knows positively the orr
gin of the Chincoteague ponies. 1t
is only known that they have roam
ed the marshy pastures of the island
for at least a century, aud there is q
tradition that the ancestors Of the
ponies came ashore from a wrecked
ship in the eighteenth century.
These doubtless were full grown
horses, and the Chincoteague pony
of today IS a deeenarata@ thrnngh
droughts in summer and exposure
in the open pastures through long
winters. But, degenerate as he is. :.
the Chinooteague pony is fine,
hardy and often beautiful animal,
with strength out of proportion to
bis size and when we'll broken has
strength, agility and speed. He is
from 10 to - hands high and from
600 to S00Spounds in weight, From
$50 to 400 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
group Of from 10 to 20 mares and
colts. Tho leader is Oh the constant
lookout for danger, and at his snort
his whole polygamous family take
to their heels. The ponies are real
ly far from wild. and one may easily
approach within Is or - yards of a
group at pasture. The older stall
lions become fierce and quarrelsome
and have to be removed from the
pastures from time to time lest they
should destroy one another or the
younger stations.
They are all excellent swimmers,
and when the pastures become bare
on Chincoteague they frequently
swim to the neigh boring islets where
the salt grass is still green. 1t is
not uncommon to see from the top
of Assateague light a groupof horses
bathing in the surf. The colts are
born and nurtured upon the open
pastures, and the annual pony pen
ming is for tho double purpose of
branding these colts and selling some
of the older horses.
Penny penning day is still a fete
day on Cbincoteaeue. The pen for
the horses is built near the center of
the village, and on tho morning of
the pony ponning men and boys
mounted On swift and wei broken
ponies ride ont 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 pen is
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 leapinto the pens.
The colts are thrown to the ground
and held there while the iron is APP
piled. The branding done, the auo-
ton follows. Unbroken horses fetch
from $25 to $40 each. Others bro
ken to harness fetch as high as $50.
Well matched pairs sometimes fetch
$3.50 The ponies have long been
the pets of children of we'll to do
families on the mainland and of late
years have been sold over large
part of the United States. They are
larger than Shetland ponies and
more beautiful. - Cor. New York
Press.