Bill I

Thanks for letting us know the date of the swim. We also are going to be in Ocean City the week of 22JUL, which is just a short distance from Chincoteague. For a break, maybe we will plan to go & observe the swim also.

CuriousAlso

To Curious (1), I too have never heard of this book. . . . And, uh, do the ponies wear swimsuits?

Allison

Hey xxx,
What the heck is your reply about?
Saying that 'Curious is an example of what's wrong with the education system...graduating people who can barely read....'
Where the heck does that statement come from? All Curious said was that 'the book was not REQUIRED reading for her....'
Jeez.

Suzie

It may be that this particular book is required regionally. I was and still am an avid reader, though I'm not familar with this particular book. Also was not into horses (still not) so this would not have been a choice I would have made on my own. Although many of us in CA graduated with a decent education, we certainly can't read all the books that are published. I won't list all the books I've read and tell those who've have not that they are a fine example of the education system gone awry. Strange logic at work.

emmy

Is the first person named curious a guy? Did he just guys at his meeting, or was it a good cross-section of America? Boys tend not to read as much as girls and I remember the book as more for girls. Before you bash me for being sexist, how come it's okay for women to read Tom Clancy, but guys wouldn't be caught dead with a Danielle Steel novel. (Ok, you won't catch me with either just examples used to make a point)

J T Kirk

Although I read quite a bit as a kid (and yes, I'm male), I only faintly remember the book in question. And I never read it. But I like horses. And I like swimming. Ah, well. Can't read everything, I guess. I never finished Moby Dick, either.

Curious

To answer your questions, I am a female in my late 30's. And as for the sample group, they consisted of 6 women and 4 men, all being well-educated. As for my education, I hardly feel that I was deprieved of a decent reading background in my youth. While I don't mean to boast about my knowledge, let's just say that I was admitted into Harvard (and graduated) without having any knowledge of "Misty of Chincoteague". Having missed out on one book is hardly enough to judge my education background.

Sue

CuriousAlso---

You've got me laughing so hard, my 4 year old daughter is demanding to know what's so funny. Where, oh where do I start?!

Tim

"all being well educated." Fine example of a Harvard education (sorry, sentance fragment).

I read everything I could get my hands on as a kid, but I didn't read "Misty." However, pretty much everyone on the east coast has heard about the wild ponies.

xxx

Tim: I wouldn't correct other people's grammar when you use the spelling: sentance. Most people are posting while at work and don't take the time to run spell check or worry about proper sentence formations. Just chill out and enjoy the postings.

abc

Tim, you're wrong on the grammar point, too. "All being well-educated" isn't a sentence fragment. Better usage would have been "all well-educated," but let's not split hairs, shall we?

NotATeacher

Tim wasn't the one bragging about his education.....so let's not give him a hard time. Anyway, I read his statement as if he was asking us to pardon his use of a sentence fragment. I also thought he misspelled the word "sentance" on purpose. Now, please do not critique my grammar. I did not graduate from Harvard.

No Harvard

Where is the spell check on this thing???

carrie

Sorry...back to swimming ponies. I am British and never heard of this event/book. Do the ponies want to swim or are they thrown in?? Why do they swim - is it just for fun or do they know its 25 July and all gather there for a bit of a knees up?

Philip

In the state of Virginia, there are two islands across the bay from one another: Assateague and Chincoteague. On Assateague, wild horses are allowed to roam free. There are various tales about how the horses came to roam free on the island. One is that a Spanish galleon shipwrecked in the area and the horses swam to Assateague Island.

Every year on the last Wednesday of July, the town of Chincoteague rounds up horses on Assateague and drives them into the water to swim over to Chincoteague (commemorating the swimming of the shipwrecked galleon). On the last Thursday in July the horses are auctioned off and the ones that are not sold swim back to Assateague Island.

This event was chronicled by the author Marguerite Henry in the book "Misty of Chincoteague" and its sequels. "Misty" was also made into a movie several years ago. Even though the book has been printed internationally, it may have been more popular regionally on the East Coast of the United States.

Wondering

Does anyone know if the swim can be seen by shore or do you have to go out on a charter boat to see it?

Susan

I keep waiting to see a post from anyone who went to the pony swim this
year. We will be camping in Chinc in
a few weeks - having purposely avoided the penning of the ponies. We just prefer to watch them roaming free. We
will be camping and are really looking forward to biking and hiking aound the national seashore, wildlife refuge and free horsies.

If you have visited there lately, please post your thoughts!

topper

top!

S

I fondly remember reading the book from my childhood. Now that I have 2 daughters, I'd like to introduce them to that book. What age/reading level is it? Obviously it's at the local public library.

Bill I

We were in Ocean City,MD the week of July 22, but on 25JUL, my wife wanted to go to the outlet stores in Rehobeth instead of going to Chincoteague, so we went to the stores. But the local newspapers had a number of pictures & stories about the Swim & the penning. The actual roundup started about 8:30am & was over by about 11am. I seem to recall that the paper said there were about 50,000 people there for the swim & that some people got there at 5 in the morning to get a good spot.
The penning (auction) of the ponies took place the next day from about 8am until about noon. There was a story in the paper about how 1 lady, who attends & buys at the auction every year, paid a record $10,500 for a pony. She was going to stop at $5,000 but the pony was too good stop bidding until she got it.