SubscribeAfter our trip to Chincoteague http://pawprintsgallery.com/blog/2009/07/28/chincoteague-beach-walk/, we made our way to Assateague where we were delighted to find some horses on the beach. We followed them as they made their way up the dune . . .
. . . and onto the beach.
They appeared to be very bonded to each other.
It started with a 3:45 am wakeup call. It was pouring down rain. We waited until 5:00 am to see if it would stop. It did. So, out we went to Assateague to watch the “wild pony beach walk” where they herd the wild horses down the beach prior to their swim to Chincoteague later this week.
We were surprised to be greeted with a beautiful sunrise.
Then we waited, and waited, and waited . . . and waited some more.
Finally, we saw some movement down the beach . . .
The herd is surrounded by folks on horses called “Salt Water Cowboys”. They keep the herd together and moving down the beach.
The helicopter had a great vantage point.
Every once in a while a horse would separate from the herd. This was a short ocean “chase” . . .
. . . and this was a short swamp “chase”.
There were a lot of foals in the group. In fact, at least once, each of these foals broke away from the herd and had the cowboys rounding them up.
This little guy was particularly persistent.
We had romantic visions of seeing the horses running wild down the beach, and while that didn’t exactly happen, it was amazing to experience part of the Chincoteague wild pony event that happens every year.
