February 2023 Issue

Page 4 February 2023 EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN Chincoteague Island Loses Oldest Stallion, Wild Thing By Lois Szymanski As winter approached Assateague Island, the oldest wild stallion on the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge left this world at age 27, without linger- ing and with his devoted mare, Summer Breeze at his side. In a December 1st post on the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company’s Facebook page, pub- lic relations officer and saltwater cowboy Hunter Leonard wrote: “Wild Thing was the oldest pony in our herd and the longest living stallion in quite some time. Wild Thing was known as the “Pope Island Stud” by cowboys because nearly every roundup he would be on his own island where he stayed almost all year. Our boat crews would have to walk the entire island to get him to swim back to Assateague, and it usually held up the roundups quite a bit!” “In 25 years, he fathered many foals, many of which be- came buybacks. He was a constant sight for many boat tours that traveled to his home territory to see the ponies. Most of the time, Wild Thing’s herd was out more than any other group in Virginia. “He has crossed the rainbow bridge and joined the big herd in the sky, we are thankful for his service to us and the rest of the herd.” Born in 1997, this bay tobiano splashed white stallion with a blaze and four stockings sired many foals who were kept as “buybacks.” These are ponies kept on the Chincoteague Na- tional Wildlife Refuge to live out their natural life. They include mares - Danny's Girl Splash, Doc Amrien, Grandma's Dream, Loveland’s Secret Feather, Sky- lark, Beau of Artemis, and CLG Pennies from Heaven, as well as island stallions – Ken, Maverick, and Henry’s Hidalgo. Hunter remembered Wild Thing and his frequent crossings to nearby Pope Island. “He spent a lot of time on Pope Island,” he said. “It’s funny. I noticed that in the summer - once he had all of his foals - he kind of knew it was time and he would come back to Assateague, but he could have also been coming back for water, since the water supply on Pope’s Island is not good in the summer. Most spring and fall roundups we had to go get him. The brush is really dense on Pope’s Island and that was not easy. Guys on foot would chase him north until he finally went into the water and swam across to our guys, waiting on horseback. He seemed to make a game out of it.” Hunter shared more about the terrain. “It's such a small island that we didn’t go through on horseback. There are a lot of oyster cages in that area, so it is not really safe, but he seemed to know where to go. Not a lot of ponies know how to get over there or to navigate the brush,” he said. “But that was like home to him. I always said he lived so long because the water on Pope Island must have had something special in it. I believe he could be the longest living stallion.” In 2020, when Wild Thing’s mare, Witchkraft passed, people marveled at her age. Also known as Friendly Girl, she was nearly 28 years old and the oldest living mare in the memory of most. Remembering past roundups, Hunter laughed. “One time, when I was a kid about 14, one of his mares went around the cowboys and tried to go back to the island. They had to go back to get him and one mare and foal. Even though he was aging, he looked really good last year. This year you could tell he was starting to age, but I really thought he had another year in him.” With his company Cowboy Cruises, Hunter takes tourists on tours around the island. Most vis- itors are looking for ponies and Hunter said Wild Thing almost always delivered. “My favorite memory is of the foal we purchased [and named] Pocohantis. His herd was on Pope Island at the time. They never blinked an eye when the boats came through, but she took a liking to us and came right up to the boat,” he said of the foal. “I remember thinking, this is not normal.” That incident spurred Hunter and his new wife (at the time) Rebekah to purchase the foal. “One time my brother and I were riding, just north of the turn circle to the northwest. It’s all trees there. We hadn’t seen Wild Thing yet and when we passed a fresh stallion pile I made a joke. I said, ‘I smell Wild Thing.’ We came around the cor- ner and there he was. They took off running.” After he started his tour busi- ness, Cowboy Cruises, Hunter said there were days when most of the ponies were not out on the water, but he could count on Wild Thing. “I always headed for Virginia Creek, knowing there was a good chance I’d see him, and sometimes Chief. He was my guy. You know how [in the movie] if you say Beetlejuice three times it would make him appear? I would text [my wife] Rebekah three times, ‘Wild Thing, Wild Thing, Wild Thing,’ and then he would be there! I can’t imagine how me, or Cap- tain Dan, or the others would be around without him. We would see him more than all the others put together.” Hunter said Wild Thing knew what he was doing. “He’d find a spot where the wind was just right to keep the bugs off them, and he knew that. He was smart.” Every pony has its quirks. Hunter laughed when he spoke of Wild Thing’s most notable quirk. At each roundup, the ponies are run into a chute, one at a time for shots and/or worm medicine. Most go into the chute without hesitation, but Wild Thing hated it. “I think Wild Thing was an “anti-vaxxer,” he said. “When he got into the chute, he would take his back legs and walk them forward and sit down like a dog and then lower his front legs down, somehow laying down in the chute with that little bit of room - anything to avoid the shot. I would tell new vets he was going to do it and they would look at me like I was crazy. Then he would! We’d have to put a rope under his front shoulders and phys- ically hoist him up and out of there. It was amazing to watch, and he is the only one I have ever seen do that.” Darcy Cole hikes hundreds of miles annually, tracking and recording pony data while taking photos for DSC Photog- raphy, the company she and her photographer husband, Steve run. She has been following Wild Thing’s herd for just over eight years. “I started tracking band com- position around Fall Roundup 2014,” she said. “Back then Wild Thing had a band of nine ponies. His territory [encompassed] two miles south of the Maryland bor- der. Even if we could see them from the trail, they were usually just specks in the distance, but if I could confirm the combination of colors, I always knew for sure it was them. The best way to see his band was from a boat tour, because hiking to the ten-mile mark was no guarantee you’d see them.” Darcy said she never saw any other band swim to Pope Island like Wild Thing did. “We used to joke that he liked to summer on Pope Is- land and winter on Assateague. That makes total sense because they could catch a breeze in the summer to cool off and keep the bugs off and then tuck into the thicker woods on Assateague in the winter to shelter from the cold wind.” On December 1, 2022, long time pony follower, Meme Nel- son posted photos on Facebook to honor beloved Wild Thing. She said he was one of her very favorites and she shared her grat- itude to Daisey's Island Cruises for all the boat trips north to see him. “I'm also so thankful that his lady, Summer Breeze, never deserted him and he wasn't alone in his final days,” she wrote. “How appropriate it is that his last buyback baby is named Pennies from Heaven,” she shared. “When you find a penny - along with thinking of lost loved ones - think of the wonderful Wild Thing. Rest in peace beauti- ful boy.” Wild Thing (right) grazes with mare, Tuleta Star on the north end of the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in May, 2022. Photo credit: Lois Szymanski www. EquineColicReliefUSA.com • Email: zebecash2@hotmail.com