We camped there this past week and it was enchanting. While the closest we got to wild ponies was pony poop! It is wonderful to know they live wild, free and protected xoxo
The person speaking on the microphone is Denise P. Bowden, a member of the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company, which owns the ponies. The first foal to hit the Chincoteague shore is deemed King or Queen Neptune and is raffled off each year. The CVFC prints up 10,000 raffle tickets, and sells them at $1 each. This year, the lucky raffle winner took home foal #6, a chestnut pinto filly, out of Clara and sired by Thunderbolt. You hear helicopters overhead from TV stations WBOC and WAVY. The US Coast Guard determines slack tide, and shoots a flare to designate the beginning of the swim, so no ponies will be swept out to sea by the tide.
