A Day with Wild Ponies

A Day With Wild Ponies

By Nancy Day • Photos by the author

I watched them as they walked along the beaches and salt marshes, searching for tender grasses among the bushes. They had never known a master, felt a saddle, or lived in a barn. Wild horses.

The horses, or “ponies” as most people call them, have lived on Assateague Island for hundreds of years. How they got there is a mystery. One story is that people brought the ponies to the island to feed on grasses, and left them there. Another story is that a ship with ponies on it sank. Some ponies escaped and swam to the island. No matter how they got there, these ponies have learned to live in the wild.

I was eager to see them, but I knew that I had to be careful. Like any wild animals, the ponies can be dangerous. They can bite or kick without warning.

At first, I couldn’t find them. In pictures that I had seen, ponies stood along the sides of roads, and I thought they would be everywhere. Yet I hadn’t seen a single one. I crossed the road and came upon a marsh. There, quietly munching grass in the sun, were some ponies.

I started to take a picture of a white and brown one that was standing by a clump of bushes. Then I noticed a bundle on the ground. As I watched, the pony began to walk away. I could now see that the bundle was the pony’s baby, or foal.

The foal struggled to its feet, swaying as if caught in a breeze. Then, more sure of itself, it wobbled after its mother. She seemed to stay just out of reach. Finally, as if she knew that the foal was getting tired of the game, the mother stopped and let the foal catch up. A drink of mother’s milk was its reward. I watched silently as the same salty breeze that caught my hair ruffled their manes.

Life in the wild can be rough for the ponies. They must find their own food. Powerful storms wash across the island. Summer brings biting flies and hot, humid weather. Yet year after year, the ponies play in the sunshine, splash in the water, and have their foals.

The ponies’ home will remain wild. The government has promised to keep Assateague Island the was it is. Experts teach tourists about the ponies and their island. They ask people not to feed them and to drive extra carefully when the ponies are nearby.

Many people care about these animals. They are working to make sure that the ponies will always be free, as Assateague ponies have been for many years.