Photo By/Credit
Beasley, Jama/USFWS
Date Shot/Created
07/01/2011Media Usage Rights/License
Public Domain
Image
In 1835, the practice of pony penning began, with settlers rounding up ponies and removing some of them to the mainland. In 1924 the first official "Pony Penning Day" was held by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company, where ponies were auctioned as a way to raise money for fire equipment. The annual event has continued in the same fashion almost uninterrupted to the present day.