September 2024 Issue

EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN September 2024 Page 31 Pony Penning 2024 Sets Record for Foal Sales Pennsylvania. They are currently voting on a name. The highest buyback foal sold was Wildfire’s orphaned filly, sold for a record breaking $50,000. (You may remember the story of Wildfire in the last issue of East Coast Equestrian ). Agroup of donors called Buyback Friends of the Wild Chincoteague Pony Herds won the bid. The group is organized by Dar- cy Cole. They named her Wildfire’s Phoenix, a fitting name for a filly who rose from orphaned ashes. Darcy’s group also won the bid on a black pinto buyback filly pumps and the cutter Highland came from Chincoteague, but hours of pounding waves took their toll. The ship went down. Only three survived of the crew of 34. “Ellie is her call name because it means bright shining one,” Darcy Cole said. “It fits the electric theme because their mis- sion was to deliver coal to Boston to keep the lights on. This foal is the perfect foal because the black in her coloring is like the coal [this ship was carrying].” The Chincoteague Legacy Group won the bid on Ember’s Leonard had a hunch Gidget’s colt by Puzzle would mature into this color, so he purchased the colt with the intent of donating him back to the fire company if that happened, and it did! Stoney Creek Chincoteague’s Buyback Group won the yearling with a $41,000 bid. The group is organized by Tipson Myers and Allison Dotzel of Hughesville, (Continued from page 30) out of Wildest Dreams by Hidalgo, naming the filly Mariner’s Elegy. The name is a tribute to the crew of the Marine Electric, a ship that sank in a massive storm off the coast of Chincoteague on February 11,1983 while carrying 24,000 tons of coal. The Coast Guard had asked the Ma- rine Electric to turn back and help a smaller ship called The Theodora. For hours, they sheltered the The- odora, acting as a sea wall while a Coast Guard helicopter lowered palomino buyback colt by Chief, paying $30,000. The group is currently voting on a name. Darcy was pleased with the choices made. “This was the best buyback class in all of our years following the ponies,” she said. “The herd got some amazing additions!” The nonprofit Feather Fund celebrated its 20th anniversary with another year of purchasing foals for children. Recipients are selected (through an application and essay procedure) in honor of Carollynn Suplee, who – for the 8 years she survived cancer – purchased a foal for a child or a buyback as a way of giving back for another year of life. This year, Aurora Menges of New York state took home Suede’s colt by Riptide and Hope Leininger of Illinois took home Skylark’s filly by Ajax. The week concluded with the southern ponies swimming home to Assateague Island on Friday morning. As pony hooves hit the shore of Assateague, mares and foals followed herd sires, making their way to the water holes. Life on Assateague was back to normal. Chincoteague ponies swim back to Assateague Island after receiv- ing shots, worming and veterinarian care as part of Pony Penning. Photo credit: Lois Syzmanski