Good morning, DMV! It’s Tuesday, July 28.
Yesterday at 4 a.m., an alarm sounded to wake me and my daughter. We were at our neighbor’s beach house in Virginia for events leading up to the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company’s annual pony swim.
We left home at 4:30 a.m. and headed to Assateague Island National Seashore to see the “Saltwater Cowboys” walk the northern herd ponies south to a corral ahead of the swim to Chincoteague on Wednesday, auction of foals Thursday and then swim back to Assateague on Friday.
Approaching the beach parking lot well before dawn, we queued up behind a long line of cars.
It was cloudy. We walked nearly half a mile to find a spot where we put down our beach chairs and waited for the ponies.
I’d estimate there were several thousand people lining the shore. Their excitement was infectious.
(Alisa Tang)
I sat back and watched the clouds, some birds and lightning on the horizon. The sun made a brief hazy appearance.
(Alisa Tang)
(Alisa Tang)
After about two hours of buzzy anticipation among the waiting masses, the cowboys and ponies trotted up the beach. They came, they went — walking past me in about a minute, if that.
And as soon as they passed, the vast majority of people packed up their chairs and belongings and headed back to their cars to leave the beach.
So, why is there a pony swim and auction? Here’s brief background from the National Park Service:
The horses are split into two main herds, one on the Virginia side and one on the Maryland side of Assateague. They are separated by a fence at the Virginia/Maryland State line. These herds have divided themselves into bands of two to twelve animals and each band occupies a home range. The National Park Service manages the Maryland herd. The Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company owns and manages the Virginia herd, which is allowed to graze on Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, through a special use permit issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The permit restricts the size of the herd to approximately 150 adult animals in order to protect the other natural resources of the wildlife refuge. It is the Virginia herd which is often referred to as the “Chincoteague” ponies.
The pony auction is held to help manage the herd size, and proceeds benefit the fire company.
As for the Maryland herd, the National Park Service maintains a target population range of 80 to 100 horses. The March 2026 census tallied 83 horses. I dug in a bit on the growing horse population, the impact of grazing on the vegetation and the park service’s use of contraception. It’s a lot of info, and I barely scratched the surface. I leave you this park service resource brief (last updated in 2021) if you’re interested to learn more.
The whole pony-swim enterprise is interesting, though it begs so many questions. The fervor of the pony fans was fascinating.
Being on the beach at the crack of dawn and watching the shifting colors of the ocean and sky, I felt awe.
(Alisa Tang)
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📰 News around the DMV
Wildfire smoke has returned to Mid-Atlantic skies (Capital Weather)
Virginia’s new pay transparency law changes the rules for job postings (Virginia Mercury)
🌼 Things to do
23 things to do in the D.C. area this week and weekend (Washingtonian)
📷 Your joy
(Lizzie Stricklin)
Lizzie Stricklin, 27, who lives on Capitol Hill, sent this pic she took last week.
“I was at Nats Park on Wednesday for the Noah Kahan concert, and we had beautiful summer weather. I was enjoying the openers (Gigi Perez was fantastic) and was really excited to get some Italian ice from the Rita's stands,” Lizzie wrote in her submission.
“As a Philly area native, Italian ice (or water ice as we like to call it) is a summer highlight for me — and I loved the special Nats Park souvenir gelati with vanilla custard and cherry, lemon, and blue raspberry water ice. The cashier said she was calling it the ‘American Cars gelati’ in honor of one of Noah Kahan's new songs. A delicious summer treat for a gorgeous summer night in DC!”
* In case you’re wondering: The DMV is how residents here call the D.C. region, which includes Maryland and Virginia. Readers often ask. Now you know.
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