CHINCOTEAGUE, VA – The annual Chincoteague Pony auction returned to the island’s carnival grounds Thursday morning as people from across the country vied for the chance to either name a pony or take one home.
Eighty ponies were auctioned off, but seven of them will return to Assateague Island. These foals are labeled as “buybacks.” Rather than the ponies themselves, their naming rights are auctioned off to the highest bidder.
Foal #1 sold for $3,800 to the Wavell Shifflett family from Virginia. They won a Chincoteague pony at last year’s auction and named her Penny.
"It has a little dot on its head with the white and brown,” Cole Wavell Shifflett said. “I think they'll be good together."
The highest bid of the day was for foal #73, a filly who sold for $60,000. The most expensive colt, #38, went for $50,000.
The highest bid for the centennial auction, $100,000, doubled the previous record of $50,000.
Lyla Bowman has had her eye on a pony since last year’s auction. She fell in love with a colt and on Thursday was the winning bidder for his brother.
“He was actually the first pony I saw when I got here. He ran out in front of all the other horses during the parade,” Bowman said. “He was meant to come home with us."
Funds raised during the auction benefit the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company and also go towards the care and health of the wild Chincoteague ponies. Additionally, the auction serves as population control to maintain the maximum herd size of 150 ponies on the Virginia side of Assateague Island.
On Friday, July 31, the ponies are set to swim back across the Assateague Channel, where they will stay until the fall roundup for vet checks.
