Here's a hot tip for you if you have always wanted to see the wild Chincoteague Ponies swim, but you are not a fan of huge crowds: go to the Friday swim back.
When I first started learning about the unique Chincoteague Pony subculture for my book Marguerite, Misty and Me, I didn't realize the ponies that swim from Assateague to Chincoteague have to go home after the festivities and foal auction.
A Chincoteague local I met during my first trip in 2022, shared that when her kids were little, she only took them to the swim back and they didn't realize it wasn't THE swim made famous in the book Misty of Chincoteague. lol! I'd love to know how they felt when they finally made the connection.
Besides the smaller crowd on Friday, there are a few other differences between the Wednesday Pony Penning Week wild pony swim and the Friday return swim. First, only the swim on Wednesday TO Chincoteague Island will have the foals. That's because the next day, Thursday of Pony Penning Week, the foals are sold at the auction.
Also the Wednesday swim will have both the northern and southern Chincoteague Pony herds swimming (approximately 200ish ponies including the foals). The Friday swim back is only of the southern herd. The Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company trailers the northern herd back to Assateague because their range is vast and quite far from the southern end of Assateague. The swim return point is in the southern herd comparment, therefore the northern herd would be very far away from their home if they swam.
If I had to estimate how many wild ponies I saw during the swim back this year I would say maybe two or three dozen. Riptide (who is a wildly popular stallion with his own Facebook fan page) was part of the swim back, but due to some previous "bad boy" behaviors, he was not part of the Wednesday swim to the island.
The other difference between the swim to Chincoteague Island and the swim back to Assateague is what the ponies do on the other side. When they arrive on Chincoteague for the Wednesday swim, they are greeted by hordes of fans and after a 45ish minute rest on the shore where they graze on marsh grass, they parade down Main Street to the carnival grounds.
On Friday after the swim back, they are free to roam. It was a moving experience to watch the swim back my first year, and I devoted a chapter to it in my Marguerite Henry biography, Marguerite, Misty and Me.
What struck me the most was the joy in my heart seeing the ponies clamber up the banks and scamper along the shore. A few dropped and rolled, and some snatched mouthfuls of cordgrass. And for a moment I vicariously tasted their freedom.
I hope you make a plan to see the Chincoteague Pony swim and swim back for yourself. You will love it.
Read Marguerite, Misty and Me to learn the fascinating backstory of Marguerite Henry and gain insider knowledge on how to plan your Chincoteague Pony Penning Week dream trip.
CLICK HERE to snag Marguerite, Misty and Me today.
