Assateague Island :: The Wild Ponies

For many people, the only reason for going to Assateague Island is to see the Wild Ponies. If so, it could be a little disappointing for them, especially if they only spend a few hours on the island. A 20-minute video shown at the visitor center provides a good, if somewhat romanticized view, of the little ponies that have roamed the beaches, pine forest, and salt marsh of Assateague Island since the 1600s. There are two theories regarding the stout little ponies: one is that they arrived on Assateague's shores when a Spanish galleon ship, with a cargo of horses, sank offshore. The other is that they are remnants of the herds of early colonial settlers who grazed their horses on the Island. Apparently a Spanish ship wreck was discovered recently in the waters off Assateague which gives credence to the first theory.

Both the Maryland and Virginia sides of Assateague Island have wild ponies; each has a herd of about 160 and a fence at the state line keeps the two herds separated. They roam the island in bands of 5-10 ponies so you aren't going to see a lot of them all at once. I did see a group of 10 or so one day sauntering through the main parking lot on the beach side of the island. They were there long enough to stop traffic, then moved on down the road.

Although there are 30+ miles of beautiful white-sand beach, the part that is easily accessible to visitors is only about 5 miles long. Undoubtedly, the ponies roam the beaches too but I never saw any on the beach though they were grazing along the road on the beach side of the Island. I did see quite a few ponies on the bayside - in the marsh areas and in the campgrounds. My suspicion is that there were one or two bands of ponies that roamed those areas and I kept seeing the same horses over and over ;-)

These guys followed me around for quite awhile one day. I'd back off and they'd keep coming. Eventually they tired of the game and went off looking for better pastures.

The grass must have been pretty good alongside the marsh boardwalk. On this day there was a group of six of them. Three were on the boardwalk and the other three were off in the marsh. The ponies aren't very big. Short and stout is an apt description. In the background there is a woman standing next to two ponies, she towers over them. The tallest ones that I saw were maybe 5 feet tall.


There are signs posted stating that you are not to feed, touch, or even approach the horses. I never saw anyone feed them but did see a few people touching and petting them. I didn't go searching for the ponies. If they were in the same area where I was I'd go see them but I really didn't get too close. They are considered to be wild animals but they are definitely not afraid of humans. The ponies are left on their own, to fend for themselves. They are not cared for or treated if they become sick. The only food they get is what they find for themselves: marsh and sand dune grasses, rosehips, bayberry twigs, persimmons and even poison ivy.

Merry Christmas!!!

To the readers of Tumbleweed Crossing.
May you have Joy in your Heart, Pease in your Soul, and Happiness, and Freedom forever. From the Desert Windwriter of Tumbleweed Crossing

Texas Hold 'Em

Daryl and Diana arrived last night, and we have enjoyed spending time with them today. We played a bit of pickleball, some of us went out on the boat and Nathan and Austin tried to make some money for us.

Karen and Tom hosted some poker fun. Tracy and Jim joined in the fun too. Tom had a great streak of luck from what I hear. Nathan came in second and Austin came in third. I think Jim might have been there for the food.

I would have went for the food! Well, really I would have went for the company. I didn't go though because Diana and I were walking around the campground in order to take some pictures.

It was a good day!

The Wolfman panel and Muley Point

Since we had been doing a lot of hiking every day up to this pointwe figured we should take a "rest day", so that's what we did today. We only did a couple of very short walks today but still saw some incredible sights! We were heading into the Cedar Mesa region of southeastern Utah which has quite a few locations of Indian ruins and rock art. Our plan for the day was to check out a couple of areas that were supposed to have some interesting petroglyphs, then work our way up towards Natural Bridges National Monument. Our first stop of the day was what is known as the "Wolfman" panel in Butler Wash not far from the community of Mexican Hat. It was less than a half-mile walk to see the panel, and it was fascinating indeed. On the side of the cliff near the bottom of the wash was a very nice series of images carved into the rock. It is always fun to sit and contemplate these images and what they may have meant to the people that carved them.





































After our visit to the Wolfman panel we headed for a road known as the "Moki Dugway", which is sort of a shortcut road between Mexican Hat and Natural Bridges National Monument. As you head towards the Moki Dugway from the valley, the road is paved but as you approach the base of Cedar Mesa the road turns to gravel and gets very narrow, then it starts to climb. The Dugway is a gravel road with a series of steep inclines and 180 degree switchbacks as it ascends 1,200 feet to the top of Cedar Mesa. At the top of the dugway a 5 mile dirt road goes through BLM land to an overlook known as Muley Point. The overlook has very dramatic views south over the twisting, entrenched canyons of the San Juan River and to the desert beyond. You can even see part of Monument Valley far off in the distance. We took in the views for a while then decided to head further up the mesa. Our plan was to camp at Natural Bridges, but as we drove towards the monument it started to snow and the temperature dropped from the mid 50's to the mid 30's. We didn't want to have a miserable wet and cold camping experience so we instead headed for the town of Blanding where we stayed at the Super 8. This turned out to be a nice treat because they also had a hot tub and for the second night in a row we were able to relax in the soothing waters of a whirlpool :-)

Birthday Buddies

Today is my sister's birthday. Teresa Jane Wiseman Ratcliff Plybon would have been 55 years old today. Born in 1954, she passed away not quite two years ago. The picture, above, of Terry and Grandma was taken in early summer, 1955.

My Dad was born in 1924, on January 29th. He passed away on December 18, 1995. The picture below was taken during the 1990 reunion of the 11th Airborne.

Birthdays seem to run in pairs in my immediate family. One of my nephews was born on my Mom's birthday in May (he was her first grandchild). One of my nieces and I were born in February, a few days (and, obviously, years) apart. My older brother and one of his sons, as well an uncle (by marriage) were born within three days of each other in March. His twin boys were born on the last day of March.

Another nephew was born just a day after my younger brother, during the first week of July. My brother's birthday was the one that we all celebrated when we were young, with a party and everything! After all, it was in the summer and close to the 4th. A great excuse for a family get-together. His son was born the last week of June. His daughter was born in September as was my other niece.

Unhappy Cat

I was trying to take some photos of the cats and dogs with a Christmas hat on so I could add to Christmas cards this year. Murphy did not like the idea and kept insisting he was a Halloween Cat rather than a Christmas cat.

Horse Books

Raising Rainbow let a comment about horse books and I haven't even mentioned them yet. I have lots of horse books from a Roy Rodgers book and a Lone Ranger book for small children to The Black Stallion series of which I was a member of the Black Stallion Club to dozens of other teenage horse books both fiction and non fiction. Now I have expanded my horse books since I got my real books with a lot of books about how to care, and train horses, plus some on horse breeds and a couple that are photo books on horses. Anything that concerned horses in any way has gone into my horse collection.