September 2024 Issue

Page 30 September 2024 EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN Pony Penning 2024 Sets Record for Foal Sales By Lois Szymanski Pony Penning 2024 is in the books. As auctioneer Tim Jennings says when taking a winning bid at the foal sale, “All in, all done.” The 99th Annual Pony Penning Roundup on Chincote- ague Island in Virginia was held July 20-27 and what a week it was! Approximately 40,000 people attended the pony swim. The fire company set an all-time record for foal sales, bringing in a whopping $547,300 with a record number of foals sold. The ponies are owned by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company (CVFD). Money raised not only pays for expensive fire company equipment and supplies to protect the community, but also funds the cost of shots, worming and healthcare for the feral ponies living on the Chincoteague Nation- al Wildlife Refuge - the best cared for herd of wild ponies in the USA. The week began with crowds waiting for the south roundup on Saturday morning. The northern bands were rounded up on Sun- day, and then on Monday, thou- sands gathered for Beach Walk. Against a backdrop of the sun rising over ocean surf, saltwater cowboys brought the 14 northern bands down the beach, escorting them to the pens on Beach Road to join the three southern bands. On Tuesday, veterinarians checked every pony, marking po- One of the 88 foals sold at the 99th Annual Pony Penning Roundup in Chincoteague, VA is handled by volunteers from the local volun- teer fire department, which benefits from the auction. Photo credit: Lois Szymanski nies too old or too young to swim with red spray paint. These ponies travel to Chincoteague by trailer. Buybacks were marked with blue paint. Each foal was tagged with an auction number and any horse needing vet care was transported to the pony medical building. Wednesday’s swim was held at slack tide, just after noon. Slack tide is that time between the tide coming in and the tide going out, when the water is still. It is the safest time for the ponies to swim and it came at high tide this year. Chincoteague ponies are familiar with water and often swim on their own, so they didn’t hesitate to plunge into the channel, making the quarter mile swim across the bay. No pony has ever been lost in 99 years of this annual swim. The first foal to hit the shore is named King or Queen Neptune and is raffled off. Twelve thou- sand tickets were sold. This year, foal #6 won the honor, a chestnut pinto filly out of the mare Clara by island stallion, Thunderbolt. Foals are numbered in birth order, making her one of the older foals. Denise Bowden, CVFD Vice President and Carnival Chairman thanked everyone involved, from fire company members to the community at large, volunteers, Saltwater Cowboys, veterinarians and all who turned out to support their biggest event of the year, which included a nightly carnival “You never know what each year will bring, rain or sun, humid- ity or cooler temps, low slack or high slack tides, mechanical issues or everything running perfectly. You just never know but somehow it always happens,” she said. At Thursday’s auction, 88 foals were sold. Since Covid, the auction has taken online bids as well as live bids, bringing a rise in prices. The lowest bid for a take-home foal was $1,600, with the highest going for $8,500. The average price was $3,804. Every wild pony has a name. Photographers, Darcy Cole and her husband Steve track the po- nies and take photos of every foal for auction sale booklets and for online bidders. Thousands follow their favorites on Facebook. You can learn about the bands of wild ponies at dscphotograpny.net . Each year, a number of foals are selected to remain on the island – based on bloodlines and sometimes color. These are called Buybacks. Bidders pay for these foals knowing the foal will never go home with them. Money paid sponsors the foal’s care and is a tax write-off. The winning bidder gets to name the foal. This year, seven buyback foals were kept – five fillies and two colts. In an unusual twist of events, a yearling was among the buybacks. Over the past few years, the fire company has watched for a colt with the chocolatey color and flaxen mane and tail of their most popular stallion, Surfer Dude’s Riptide, a flaxen sooty chestnut with splashed white 1 (whose genetics can produce blue eyes and splash pinto coloring). Foals of this color are born bright chestnut and often don’t change color until after the auction. In 2023, saltwater cowboy Hunter (Continued on page 31)