Well, I did it. I went to the pony swim at Chincoteague. It was hot and crowded, as expected, but the people were so nice. I got there about 7 AM and the actual swim didn't begin until 10:55 AM so what could have been 4 hours of misery was actually 4 hours of reassuring observation of human nature. Luckily, I had a spot under a tree on the shoreline where my feet could dangle over the side--just like a chair. With my sciatica, this was heavensent. My neighbors were wonderful parents with active kids who entertained themselves looking for muscles and kelp for hours. Kids, Parents and Staff alike--all deserve medals for good behavior.
The first reports said that the swim would be at 9:30--I wish! They wait for the tide to be slack-not high or low. They brought the herd of about 100 out to a landing and grazed them for a couple hours prior to the swim. It seemed like eternity before they moved them up to the point and into the water. Once in the water, the horses heads were obscured by the floatella of boats lined up on either side of the channel. The whole swim took 4 minutes. They let the herd rest on the shoreline for about an hour before rounding them up and driving them to the carnival grounds where they were auctioned off on Thursday. Some mares and foals had already been delivered to the pen a couple days earlier. Not all are auctioned and the remainder are returned to Assateague Island on Friday.
I promised Jimmy I wouldn't bring home a pony. True to my word, I didn't. But I did make a donation so that some other lucky kid could have their dream come true.
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