Fall Roundup of Ponies - 09/20/2024

About

Fall Roundup of Ponies
Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, 8231 Beach Road, Chincoteague Island, VA 23336
Dates Starts
9/20/2024 4:30 PM
9/21/2024 6:00 AM

The Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company holds two other round ups during the year besides the July Pony Penning Round Up; one in the spring and one in the fall. The purpose of these two extra round ups is to perform an overall health check on the ponies and to identify any new foals that have been born since Pony Penning. The round ups usually take place in April and October on a Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. The April round-up is when the buybacks from the previous auction will be removed from the Carnival grounds and released back onto Assateague Island to live out their lives with the remainder of the herd.

Friday afternoon (4:30pm) the Saltwater Cowboys will round up the southern herd of ponies and corral them into the south pen located in front of the Woodland Trail parking lot, on road going out to the beach on Assateague. This round up usually takes approx. one-two hours and there is plenty of parking access for spectators on Beach Road to view the round up across the marsh or at the corral. If you park in the Woodland Trail parking lot, please know that once the gates are open for the ponies to enter the corral, your vehicle will not be able to leave the parking lot until all the ponies and Saltwater Cowboys are in the corral and the gates are closed. The ponies will remain in the corral overnight, so there are plenty of photo opportunities.

Saturday morning (6am) the Saltwater Cowboys head up the Service Road to round up the northern herd of ponies and corral them in the north pen. This round up takes about 5-6 hours because of the number of ponies in the northern herd and the amount of land that has to be covered to round them up. Parking is available at the Wildlife Loop parking lot. The public is allowed to walk up the Service Road to the cattle grate at any time of the day. Please be aware that this requires a three-mile walk one way (6 miles round trip) on a gravel road. Access farther north will be permitted after round up activities are completed.

The veterinary team performs a basic overall health check of each pony and administers inoculations against West Nile and Equine Encephalitis, as well as deworming and hoof and teeth checks. After vet checks are completed the herds are released back into the wild to roam and await the next round up.

Learn more at www.chincoteaguechamber.com/spring-fall-round-info