The Chincoteague Pony

 Out in the ocean near the Chesapeake Bay lies two islands: the Assateague Island and the Chincoteague Island. Horses are believed to have roamed there since the 1700s, living off seaweed and cordgrass---forage that any domesticated would absolutely refuse to eat. Consequently, the ponies are very adapted to harsh environments, like theirs, and any who are not would not survive.

 No one knows for sure how the horses came to the Assateague. Some say that the swam to shore from a sinking Spanish ship; others claim the they are related to the Pottock Pony and were brought to the island as as pack horses during the 16th and 17th century. The most likely conclusion is that Virginians who settled the Chincoteague Island let the horses run free on the neighboring island. When they thought the horses were old enough for work, they would gather the ponies, brand them, break them, and set them to work. By the 18th century, this became  a regular annual event.

 It was only during the 1800s, however, that the roundup became popular among all the residents, becoming a festival that they anticipated all year round, and eventually turning into a tourist attraction, which brought in lots of money for local businesses. The Pony Penning Days, held the last Wednesday and Thursday of July, were officially started in 1909.

 During the 1920s, when two destructive struck the islands, the citizens founded the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company. However, they needed a way to keep the department afloat financially, so the Pony Penning Day festival soon became a money grab, and they were able to use the money raised to purchase equipment. From then on, they became in charge of the overseeing of the herd and its penning.

 At the time the fire fighters had taken control of the penning, the Assateague Island(where the ponies lived) had been sold to a private citizen, so the celebration was moved to the Chincoteague. In 1925, the islanders decided that they would swim the ponies across the channel between to islands. Fourteen years later, they fire department released twenty Mustangs onto the herd's island to create genetic diversity, and then some Arabians a year later. The US Government purchased the Assateague Island in 1943, turning into a national park.

During the pony penning festival, the ponies are
herded from their home at Assateague and across
the channel between the two islands. Then, many
are separated and sold at the fair. credit

 Due to the influx of both Arabian and Mustang blood, Chincoteagues are genetically diverse, with some looking like and Arabian with a dished profile, others a Mustang with a broad forehead. Generally, they are stocky, compact, and sturdy, standing from 2 to 14.2 hands high. They come in every coat color available.

 Almost every horse-crazy boy and girl has read Misty of Chincoteague(who hasn't?), a classic novel by Marguerite Henry that describes in detail life on Chincoteague, particularly the Pony Penning aspect.  The picture above actually comes from the movie version.

The Standardbred

 North America's earliest harness racers were the Narragansett Pacer and the Canadian Pacer. The Thoroughbred was crossed with the Canadian Pacer, as well as Morgans, Norfolk Trotters, and Hackneys, creating the Standardbred, which today is known for its distinct racing gaits.

Back in the eighteenth century, trotting races were done under saddle in simple fields. By the mid-eighteenth century, however, farmers began to take the trotting races seriously, and they ungraded to doing them on racetracks with their horses pulling small carts, called sulkies. At the same time, a trotting legend, Mambrino, lived in England.

 In 1788, Mambrino's son, a grey Thoroughbred stallion by the name Messenger, was sent from England to Henry Astor in America.  He proved an excellent sire, producing fast trotters and racehorses with great leg action and heart for the next 20 years. In fact, he is the noted ancestor of many of America's greatest racehorses from New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, including the legendary Man o' War. Every Standardbred is somehow related the the amazing Messenger.  

 One of his greatest descendants was his great-grandson, Hambletonian, the son of a crippled bay mare and an ungainly, belligerent stallion name Abdullah. Hambletonian was sold as a castoff after his birth in upstate New York in 1849. He shocked everyone when he became one of the fastest trotters of all time, producing equally talented offspring.

 Standardbreds are a picture of strength and beauty. Standing 14.2 to 16 hands high, they are slightly shorter than their cousins the Thoroughbreds. Even so, they have the same long legs, powerful build, muscular shoulders and hindquarters, and long, sturdy backs. Their profile is straight, sometimes even squarish. Most often, they come in bay or brown, but some are strawberry roan, chestnut, or grey.

 Racing Standardbreds are recognized by their two unique gaits: the trot and the pace. The pace, a lateral gait, consists of moving the two legs on the same side in unison. The trot is similar, except the legs move in diagonal pairs. Standardbreds are trained to trot in their unique way using hobbles the make the legs move in unison.

Standardbreds in a trotting race.
credit

 Standardbreds are the fastest trotting horses in the world, and have improved upon many other trotting breeds. Today, most trotters can trace their lineage back to Hambletonian, the remarkable son of Abdullah. 

 Standardbreds were first called by that name in 1879. At that time, the harness racers had to trot a mile within a standard time of two minutes and thirty seconds in order to be registered, and were consequently dubbed Standardbreds. Today, Standardbreds can race a mile in as little as one minute and fifty seconds.

 Standardbreds are not only used as racehorses. Much like Thoroughbreds, they are often faced with the plight of early retirement, and can be used as pleasure horses for years after retirement. The can also be used in disciplines other than racing.

 Fun fact: Marguerite Henry writes Born to Trot, a book about a kid dreaming that his Standardbred filly would some day become an excellent trotter.