CHINCOTEAGUE, Va. -- On Wednesday, the Lebanon Valley Livestock Market in Pennsylvania claimed a pony named Franklin is a Chincoteague Pony weanling. Many people quickly called that claim into question.
"The pony people on Facebook, the misinformation police is what I'll call them [from] yesterday, they did a good job spreading the news that that was not at least a full Chincoteague pony, even if at all," said Hunter Leonard with the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company.
On Thursday, we reached out to the Lebanon Valley Livestock Market several times. A person directed us to their horse department on one of our calls. We left a message but did not hear back.
On the market's Facebook page, however, it doubled down, updating its initial post to counter the skepticism. The post clarified the initial claim and said, "This pony was bought at another sale, and this is how it was sold. NO REGISTRATION!!!"
Leonard is not buying it, telling us auctions can often turn into giant telephone games.
"You're trusting the seller, who at this point, the seller might just be trying to make a buck, you don't know," said Leonard. "Especially if someone says it's gone from auction to auction, you could be on the third seller who's going off of whatever information they gathered off the last sale."
Leonard took us to the Chincoteague Carnival Grounds to see ponies born on the island. He told us that the big difference between island-born ponies and the one up for auction in Pennsylvania is size and color.
"It was called a silver buckskin, that's pretty rare, like we don't have anything like that," said Leonard. "Our colors are pretty basic out here on the island and we don't have the genetics for any of that."
The horse up for auction in Pennsylvania may be a descendant of a Chincoteague pony, but Leonard is confident it did not come from the island or a reputable Chincoteague pony breeder.