Assateaugue Island Facts

This is Miriam, updating from Camp Mohawk (so named because it is clearly his herd's territory).  I'd better get the horse babble out ofthe way, since basically my reaction since we drove onto the island has been "PONIES!!"

So facts first, the first morning i managed to corner a ranger and pepper him with questions, so Ihave the most important facts. (Though there's still so much I want to know!)

First off,the  shipwreck story? Lies! Apparently these little guys are not decended from horses that survived a Spanish shipwreck but are the result of farmers avoiding a livestock tax. The farmers released their
"extra" horses (working horses, no fine Spanish breeding stock) on the island, where the couldn't be counted and, therefore, couldn't be taxed. Old fashioned tax-evasion at it's finest! When they needed a horse or two they'd come to the island and round up however many they needed and swim them across to the mainland.  The rest of the herd adapted to life on the island and have been living here ever since.

Today the island is separated into three management areas. The southern part, which is in Virginia, is owned by the  local volunteer fire department. They also own the horses in that area (divided from the Maryland area by a fence across the island) and treat them much like a semi-domesticated herd, providing supplemental feed and some veterinary care (according to the ranger I talked to).  Every year they do a round up and swim a bunch of ponies over to the mainland where they are auctioned off to the public.  This both keeps the herd size manageable and raises (quite a bit of) money for  the fire department.

The Maryland portion of the  island is designated  as a national seashore, with the exception of a small portion that  is a state park. This part of the island, and the horses on it, are managed by the park service.  They consider the horses to be wildlife and treat them like any other  wild species, directly interfering only for humane reasons.  Sadly horses are occasionally hit by cars, which necesitates this interference.
The park rangers control the herd population by administering birth control to the mares.  I believe (but may be wrong) that this is done via dart.  Currently there are 105 horses (106 any day now, one mare is close to giving birth) in the park and they try and keep the herd size between 80 and 110 (I think that's what he said).

So those are the facts! Once my hand uncramps I'll come back with my observations, especially about our campsite herd.

Happy Trails!
Miriam, Fact Finder