Assateague Wild Horses...

[thedeepestsleep]

DSC_1897.jpg by johnbilousphotography, on Flickr


DSC_1917.jpg by johnbilousphotography, on Flickr


DSC_1919.jpg by johnbilousphotography, on Flickr

 

[Restomage]

cool

 

[Frequency]

Nice works

regards

 

[AverageJoe]

Wait, these are wild horses? Roaming PA?

 

[molested_cow]

It's an island off Virgina. Yes the horses are "wild" and there's supposed to be an annual migration or something when they will be rounded up and led to another part of the island or something. So people go there to watch the horses swim/drown.... depending on what you find entertaining.

What I don't understand is that the islands are not that big and the horses don't get to venture onto the main land, so what's keeping them alive? I don't think the vegetation on the island alone can sustain the horses. If they are indeed secretly fed by humans, then the are not wild!

 

[thedeepestsleep]

It's an island off Virgina. Yes the horses are "wild" and there's supposed to be an annual migration or something when they will be rounded up and led to another part of the island or something. So people go there to watch the horses swim/drown.... depending on what you find entertaining.

What I don't understand is that the islands are not that big and the horses don't get to venture onto the main land, so what's keeping them alive? I don't think the vegetation on the island alone can sustain the horses. If they are indeed secretly fed by humans, then the are not wild!

The horses on the Maryland portion of Assateague are kept wild, they are not provided with veterinary care. The vegetation can sustain the horses, but its hard to believe. Yes, some people do feed the horses, though its illegal. I'm sure the horses can venture over the causeway to the mainland, I'm sure its happened.
Down in Chincoteague, the Fire Company rounds up the horses and rides them I believe :O

The horses in Chincoteague are privately owned, but the Assateague horses are also extremely tame.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Actually, they are known as the Assateague ponies. There are two herds, one in Maryland and one in Virginia and as molested cow suggests, they are not that wild because they deal with tourists all the time.

But, no, you don't get to watch them drown. The VA herd is thinned down once a year when the Fire Department does the Round up and Swim. They sell a lot of the foals at an auction the next day, which finances the FD and keeps the herd to a size that can survive on the island. I photographed the event a number of times and never saw one of the ponies get in trouble. Horses are pretty good swimmers...

But they are not really ponies. They are just small because there isn't much to eat and the ones who leave the island grow to horse size

It's a nice place and a nice event.