The saltwater cowboys keep their herd intact for a few hours, watching the tide and waiting for the conditions to be just right before plunging the ponies into the ocean (technically the bay).
The public, many of whom have staked their spot well before sunrise, is told the ponies will make their swim anywhere from approximately 6am to 1pm. Anticipation builds and builds as the crowds restlessly watch the ponies through binoculars from boats, docks, and the Chincoteague shoreline. The saltwater cowboys are waiting for something called slack tide. It’s neither high tide nor low tide, but a short window where there is no current.
When the saltwater cowboys’ trained eyes spot slack tide, a half dozen saltwater cowboys break ranks and do a test run. They walk through the long marsh of the beach and gingerly step into the ocean to make the swim across the channel, ensuring it’s safe for the pony herd and all those babies. From the beach spot on Assateague where the herd is gathered to the spot at Chincoteague where they come ashore has got to be a half to three-quarters of a mile. Although the ponies are immersed in water for at least half of it, there’s probably only a furlong (an eighth of a mile) where the ponies are literally swimming with just their little heads above water.
When the saltwater cowboys testing conditions step ashore on the Chincoteague beach and are pleased, they raise a smoke signal. This spurs the rest of their ranks and the herd of wild ponies into action.
It’s a sight to behold. Whooping and hollering, the saltwater cowboys drive the beautiful spotted ponies forward. They leap in and out of the deep marsh, stallions trying to keep their harems of mares and babies away from rival stallions. Before long, they reach the shallow bay and trot through the froth on an immense sandbar. A brief respite of solid land awaits and the ponies hesitate for just a moment before leaping into the water. They swim strongly toward land, nostrils flaring, people cheering. 
The first colt or filly to reach Chincoteague is crowned King or Queen Neptune and is raffled off to much excitement. The ponies are rested for about an hour on the beach before being paraded, still half-wet, through the narrow streets of town on their way to the carnival grounds. The day is, indeed, a sight to behold. And we saw the whole thing! We were lucky enough to find a fantastic spot on a dock just down from our campsite and got a truly amazing view. And after the swim, we hightailed it to one of the street corners that we knew the ponies would walk past. We literally had a front-row seat.
The ponies were so close we could have patted dozens as they walked by. It made me a little nervous to have our little kids right there, as one false move by any of the 40,000 people around us could have caused a stampede and we were SO close. But after several years with Thoroughbreds, mere ponies tired by a swim, wild or not, don’t cause us too much worry. :) It was a wonderful, wonderful experience and something I’ve dreamed of seeing for 30 years. And there’s more! Tomorrow is the auction and the next day, the herd is swam back to Assateague. I’m enjoying this place so much. Even Rob is already making plans for the next time we return…
2 comments:
Because I'm a geek and looked it up - according to the State of Washington (thanks Google): SLACK WATER (SLACK TIDE): The state of a TIDAL CURRENT when its velocity is near zero, especially the moment when a reversing current changes its direction and its velocity is zero. The term is also applied to the entire period of low velocity near the time of turning of the current when it is too weak to be of any practical importance in navigation. The relation of the time of slack water to the tidal phases varies in different localities. In some places slack water occurs near the times of high and low water, while in other localities the slack water may occur midway between HIGH and LOW WATER.
Rob is the geek, although I've been known to do such a thing myself. Hehe!!
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