The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1897-04-01
PONY PENNlNG.
A Favorite Sport of the People c
Chincotoague Island
How Hundreds OF the Little Animals =
Rounded Up and oapturca by the
Men and Doys--A Gala
Occasion.

Chincotesgue and Assateague have
had their hundredth annual pony pen
ming. Chincoteague is q small island
in the Atlantic close to the shore of Ac-
somack county, Va, Assateaeue Is a
long, narrow peninsula lying outside OF
ChincoteaKae and protecting 1t from
she assaults of the Atlantic. Chin
.oteague is glittering little island,
brilliant with sand and salt water,
icnsely peopled, well wooded and
haunted by mocking birds. There is
neither poverty nor crime there, drunk
mess is almost unknown, and doors
re always unlocked. 1t is the boast
/ chincoteague that no slave ever lived
,pon it's soil, and that the island re-
iained true to the union throughout
lie war. There are no better sailors
nywherc than the people Of Chin
oteague, and there are. no stancher
title boats than the Chincoteague ca
zoe with double leg-of-mutton sails.
Nobody knows positively the origin Of
he Chincoteasue ponies. 1t is only
ynown that they have roamed til,
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
ghteenth century, These. doubtless,
aere full grown horses, and the Chin.
oteague pony of to-day is degerer-
tie, through droughts in summer and
xposure in the open pastures through
ong winters. But degenerate as
ie is, the Chincoteague pony is
fine, hardy end often bcauti-
III animal, with strength out Of
roportion to his size, and, when well
roken, has strength, agility and
1eed. He Is from ten to twelve hands
igh and lrvm six to eight hundred
,ounds in weight, From two hundred
nd fifty to four hundred of these little
reatures roam the island pastures.
here are, perhaps, half as many on the
over end o; Assateague.
A stallion leads upon the pastures a
'roup of from ten to twenty-five mares
nd colts. The leader is on the con
tant lookout for danger, and at his
mort his whole polygamous family take
their heels, The ponies are really
ar from wild, and one may easily ap
roach within fifty or twenty yards Of
group at pasture. The older stations
iecome fierce and quarrelsome, and
ave to be removed from the pastures
rom time to time, lest they should de-
troy one another or the younger stal.
ions. They are all excellent swimmers,
md when the pastures become bare on
Chincoteague they frequently swim To
the neiRhboring islets, where the salt
grass is still green. 1t is not uneom.
mon to see from the top of Assateague
light group Of horses bathing in the
surf. The colts are born and nurtured
in the open pastures, and the annual
pony penning is for the double purpose
of branding these colts and selling
some OF the older horses.
Pony-penning day is still fete day
on Chincoteague. The pen for the
horses is built near the center of the
village, and on the morning of the
pony penhing 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
pen is neared the guards thicken, Sc
that the whole band is easily driver
,ito the iuclosure, Branding irons ar
icatcd; men with rope nooses on tbs
nd Of long poles leap into the pens.
Tho colts are thrown TO the ground anl
held there while the iron is applied,
J The branding done, the auction fol.
lows. Unbrolicn horses fetch from
twenty-five 70 forty dollars each. 9th
RS, broken 10 harness, fetch as higli
rs sixty dollars, Well-matched pair
ometimcs fetch one hundred and fift
lollars. The ponies have long beer
he pets of children Of well-to-do far.
hes on the mainland, and Of late year
'ayo been sold over q large part OF this
nited States. They are larger than
llctland ponies and more beautiful =
4. Y. Press