Winter 2025 Issue

EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN Winter 2025 8 Pony Penning Update: Record-Breaking Foal Numbers Continue By Lois Szymanski It was amazing to see a record-breaking 100 foals born for the 100th anniversary of Pony Pen- ning on Chincoteague Island in July, but the wild island mares say they are not finished yet! On August 15, bay pinto mare, Maezie gave birth to foal #101 - a black pinto colt by island stallion Beach Boy, a Misty descendent! But foal #101 was not the last. Foal #102 was discovered on August 27 in an unusual way. Saltwater cowboy, Hunter Leonard was on a Cowboy Cruise boat, giving a tour for the company he owns when he saw Ace on the shoreline ahead. The black pinto stallion was with his three mares and a palomino foal was following the mare, Marsh Mallow. Hunter’s mind raced. Marsh Mallow’s foal had been sold at Pony Pen- ning. Watching the mare nudge the foal forward, Hunter knew this was not her foal and neither she, nor the other two mares had the milk a new filly would need to survive. Hunter immediately called for backup, then consulted with a vet. After a vet confirmed Marsh Mallow had no milk, a team was dispatched. They approached on a 4-wheeler while the foal was nap- ping. Marsh Mallow attempted to charge Hunter, then dodged away as the cowboys loaded the filly onto the Polaris. The filly rode home to the Leonard’s Chin- coteague Pony Farm in Hunter’s lap. On the farm, mare EJ (who had recently weaned a foal) still had milk. She had easily adopted a previous foal, and seemed a good choice for a nursemaid mare. “We put her in there, expecting some resis- tance, but within ten seconds she smelled the foal, spun around and let her nurse right away,” Hunter said. “We were blown away!” The filly soon dis- covered barn fans, shade, and that a barn provides the perfect place to nap. Short- ly after, she and EJ were taken to Stoney Creek Chincoteagues, in Hughesville, Penn- sylvania for preven- tative vet care. After wading through the possibilities, most pony experts believe the foal is from the mare Fancy Free (with Thunderbolt’s band). She’d appeared pregnant earlier and now does not. This would be her first foal. It is not un- common for a first-time mare to follow her band away from a napping foal, accidentally leaving it behind. Foal #103 came into the world inside a warm stall at Stoney Creek Chincoteagues. The mare, (Little Duckie) had been removed from the island a few months prior due to a suspensory ligament problem and subsequent lameness, but she was carrying an island foal at the time. On September 10, she delivered a bay and white pinto colt. Maizie and Colt 101 Photo courtesy of Debbie Ehst BLACK’S LIVESTOCK -The Next Pasture - Where the grass is always green, lush & stirrup high Individual Horse & Pet Cremation Standard Mortality Emergency Service Available John E. Black: 610.220.5262 Matthew Hoffman: 610.656.3258 Office: 610.584.4482 Fax: 610.584.9111 BLACK’S LIVESTOCK P.O. Box 662 Skippack, PA 19472 www.nextpasture.com Colt 101 Photo courtesy of Debbie Ehst EJ 2 and 102 Hunter Leonard Photo courtesy of the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company