Chincoteague's big pony auction makes all kinds of dreams come true
The Chincoteague Carnival Grounds filled with anxious and excited visitors Thursday morning as many planned to bring home their very own pony.
Roughly 120 ponies swam across the Assateague Channel during the island's annual Pony Swim on Wednesday, and were later penned at the carnival grounds. The auction began at 8 a.m. Thursday, with sunny weather and a bright-eyed crowd waiting to see some of the foals sold during the annual auction.
"Let's get this party started," said Denise Bowden, spokeswoman for the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company.
Thursday's auction is as important to Pony Penning as the actual swim. Sales ensure that the herd does not get too large, while the money helps fund the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company and care for the ponies throughout the year.
While some ponies headed home with buyers, others will head back into the wild Friday as "buy-backs," during the swim back. Buy-back ponies return to their natural habitat on Assateague Island, spending the rest of their lives on the island and replenishing the herd.
Each year, the fire company selects a nonprofit to donate the proceeds of one of its buy-back foals. But Bowden announced to the crowd the organization was choosing itself this year to help pay for a new firehouse.
According to an unofficial tally, the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company raised $228,400 in pony sales this year. While a 3-month filly was the first pony sold for $1,000, that price was low compared to the average cost of a pony this year, coming in at $4,310.
A total of 53 ponies were sold during the auction, 24 colts and 29 fillies. Of the 53 foals, 10 were buy-backs, according to the unofficial tally.
Julie Ecker of Cheswick, Pennsylvania, was the proud buyer of the first pony sold at the auction. In tow were her three grandchildren, who she's excited to share the experience of raising a Chincoteague pony with.
"I have all these grandchildren," Ecker said.
In the crowd of eager buyers were two young Feather Fund recipients.
The Feather Fund is a nonprofit charity created in 2004 to honor the memory of Carollynn Suplee, a cancer survivor who came to Chincoteague annually to help children purchase ponies. When Suplee died in 2003, family, pony recipients and friends formed the Feather Fund in her honor, according to a news release.
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This year John Price, 15, of Danville, Pennsylvania, and Tia Tanner, 11, of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, were the two recipients.
Price decided on a colt sold for $3,500. The foal has already been named Riptide's Bandit in honor of its lineage, as the pony's father is named Riptide.
Price's mother, Kathy, said her son wanted a pony last year when they attended Pony Penning, but she told him to do more research. He came across the Feather Fund and decided to apply.
The 15-year-old already has one horse at home and is excited to add the pony to the family.
"Just bonding with it," Price said of what he's excited to do with his new pony.
Tanner decided on a filly sold for $3,300. She's already named her Nixie of Nowata. Nixie because it rhymes with Misty and Nowata after their home county.
Tanner is a big "Misty of Chincoteague" fan. So much so the book inspired her to begin a literacy program to excite other children to read.
“I have purchased a classroom set of 'Misty of Chincoteague' that I will allow others to check out,” She said in a news release. “Also, I have purchased a trailer to transport my pony to and from schools and events in our area to encourage literacy. Now all I need is my very own pony from Chincoteague Island.”
Tanner's mother, Renee, is happy to see her daughter achieve her dreams of owning a Chincoteague pony. She said it's a relief to have the foal her daughter's been wanting come home with them, and is proud of how Tanner handled the process.
"I don't know a better word except stoic," she said.
But young pony fans weren't the only ones who saw their dreams come true at the auction.
Judy Ann White of Hanover, Ohio has been attending Pony Penning since 1969. She said the island has a special place in her heart with the ponies, wildlife and history.
White purchased a buy-back pony, her lifelong dream, for $20,000. Sending a foal back onto the island was something she always wanted to do. White felt she couldn't have given the Chincoteague pony a better life than its natural habit on the island.
But that doesn't mean she won't visit. White named her buy-back foal Judy Sunshine.
And why?
"It's my sunshine," she said.
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