One never forgets their first Pony Swim. Every year on the last consecutive Wednesday and Thursday in July, the Saltwater Cowboys round up Assateague Island’s glorious herd of wild horses and lead them across the Assateague Channel to Chincoteague Island’s eastern beachfront. There, the ponies are paraded through town, and a selection of foals is auctioned off to help manage the herd’s feral population. The herd then swims back to Assateague Island on Friday to live wild again for another year.
Joanne Moore, executive director of the Chincoteague Chamber of Commerce, experienced her first in 1991. Since then, she’s cherished the weeklong tradition in full—but of all the events leading up and following the big swim, Moore’s enduring favorite is the Monday morning Beach Walk, when the Saltwater Cowboys guide the northern herd south along Assateague Beach.
“You arrive at the beach before sunrise and watch the first glimmers of sun peak out from the horizon,” Moore describes. “As the sun continues to rise, the sky turns beautiful hues of pink and orange, the sanderlings chase the receding waves, and the low-lying mist begins to burn off. As if perfectly timed, the Chincoteague Ponies appear and slowly walk along the water’s edge, guided by the Saltwater Cowboys to join the Southern Herd in the corral. It is magical and builds on the excitement the rest of the week holds.”
Chincoteague itself, a small town of about 3,000, swells to 30,000–40,000 during Pony Swim week—with even more expected this year as the annual event marks its centennial on Wednesday, July 30.
In the 100 years since the Pony Swim began, it has ridden the tides of nature, history, community, and tradition—a century-old dance with many more years ahead. “It is a legacy carried forward by generations,” Moore says.
This article originally appeared in the August 2025 issue.
