Assateague Monster

by Norma Brandsberg

Title

Assateague Monster

Artist

Norma Brandsberg

Medium

Photograph - Photograph

Description

I've been keen to visit the wild horses and ponies of the eastern shore of Virginia and Maryland in the Delmarva Peninsula and finally decided we would take our small trailer for a visit. I've seen a number of tv programs on these ponies over the years. What surprised me was how belligerent these animals are. This photo shows a multicolored male and a pregnant female on the left. The two were constantly after each other biting ears, shins and backs I assume to exert dominance. The male in this photograph is trying to keep his female in line. Just look at her banged up knees they are scarred up, but otherwise I saw no blood drawn. I captured a number of interesting photos during their skirmishes.

Although photographing them using a zoom lens I attempted to stay as far away from them as I reasonably could, but still found myself in close range as they came closer and closer with no fear of people. It would have been very easy to have been caught in their dominance games if I wasn't careful.

The wild feral horses of Assateague and Chincoteague Islands in Maryland and Virginia are descendants of domesticated animals brought to the island over 300 years ago. Horses tough enough to survive the scorching heat, abundant insects, stormy weather and poor quality food found on these windswept barrier islands have formed a unique wild horse society.

Local folklore describes the Assateague horses as survivors of a shipwreck off the Virginia coast.

Maryland’s horses are owned and managed by the National Park Service. They are free roaming wildlife and could be anywhere in the park.

On the last Wednesday of July, the Virginia herd of horses is rounded up and swum from Assateague Island to nearby Chincoteague Island. On the following day most of the young foals are auctioned off with the aim to keep the population of the horses to around 150. In any given year about 75% of the mares are pregnant.

On the Maryland side, the ponies are given a vaccine which prevents pregnancy. Each horse is permitted to have one foul to keep the gene pool as diverse as possible.

Fouls are normally born between April and July each year.

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#assateague #asseteagueisland #wildhorses #marylandhorses #assateaguehorses #ElegantFinePhotography #normabrandsberg

Uploaded

May 10th, 2021

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