The Pony Who Went Famous

Now, if the name Assateague rings a bell from way back in childhood, there's a good chance it's because of a pony named Misty and a little book that swept the whole country. And it's tied to a tradition just south of here that's one of the strangest, finest spectacles on the East Coast.

Down at the far end, across the Virginia line, there's a second herd of these wild horses — a separate herd from Maryland's, owned by the volunteer fire company of a little town called Chincoteague. And once a year, in late July, they hold what's called Pony Penning. The 'saltwater cowboys' round up the wild herd and swim them across the narrow channel — dozens of horses churning through the water while thousands of people watch from the shore. Then the young foals are auctioned off, which keeps the herd from outgrowing the island, and the money keeps the fire company running. It's been going for the better part of a century.

Back in nineteen forty-six, a writer named Marguerite Henry came to see that swim, and she fell hard for a particular foal. She bought her, took her home, and wrote a book about her — 'Misty of Chincoteague,' published in nineteen forty-seven. It won a big medal, it sold and sold, and it put these wild island ponies into the hearts of millions of kids who'd never come within a thousand miles of the place. Misty herself became a genuine celebrity — a real, living pony who got fan mail.

So this scrubby, salt-bitten little island horse — descended from some colonial tax dodge, remember — ended up a movie-and-book star known around the world. Not bad for a pony that started as somebody's way of skipping a fence. When you see these horses today, know you're looking at bona fide American legends.