Horse Talk

[Kusanar]

Oh yeah that's true. There's probably more. I'm surprised there's so many pintos too.

Not sure what I was looking at earlier... but here is the VA herd http://www.chincoteague.com/ponies-by-name.html

Not up to date though... Surfer Dude died in 2015 and he's still listed....

 

[ShrekDawg]

Not sure what I was looking at earlier... but here is the VA herd http://www.chincoteague.com/ponies-by-name.html

Not up to date though... Surfer Dude died in 2015 and he's still listed....

Thanks for the link! They must be busy but should try to keep it more updated. Wonder what other horses are no longer there...

And wow there are a lot of pintos!!

 

[Bunnylady]

And wow there are a lot of pintos!!

That may be deliberate. People love flashy colors and patterns; the folks managing the herds may be selecting for them.

 

[ShrekDawg]

That may be deliberate. People love flashy colors and patterns; the folks managing the herds may be selecting for them.

That could be. Especially since it says they select a few buy back foals to put back every year. Maybe they choose the flashy ones.

Seems kind of weird though, supposed to be wild and messing with them like that. But I guess the mustangs are left alone so they could mess with these ones a little maybe

 

[Bunnylady]

supposed to be wild and messing with them like that.

"Wild horses" has a lovely, romantic ring to it, but the word that accurately describes them is "feral." They didn't evolve there, they are what they are and where they are because of the "hand of man," and they have to be managed to keep from destroying the very limited resources of the islands they live on. They are all 'managed' to some extent. Some mares are on birth control to help keep the numbers down, other herds are periodically thinned and the extras sold off. There have been problems in the last few years when a few animals in a couple of the "wild" herds wound up with positive results on Coggins tests (leaving them could result in infecting the whole herd and become a source of infection for other horses in the area, but wild horse lovers didn't want otherwise healthy-seeming horses put down).

 

[Kusanar]

That could be. Especially since it says they select a few buy back foals to put back every year. Maybe they choose the flashy ones.

Seems kind of weird though, supposed to be wild and messing with them like that. But I guess the mustangs are left alone so they could mess with these ones a little maybe

The Va herd is actually owned by the Chincoteague fire department, so, they're really no more wild than any backyard horse that isn't handled regularly. Once a year the Va herd is rounded up, swam across the channel, pinned up, fed grain and hay for a few days, all adult horses are coggins tested which requires handling.... If the books are right, they used to also use the adults for a wild horse rodeo where they put the pony in a chute like any bucking animal and put a rider on without any tack to see how long they could stay on.. so at least then, they had also been ridden.

The buyback horses are determined by looking at the genetics that are on the island and keeping the foals that are most likely to keep the diversity as this is a self sustaining herd of 150 horses or less so the changes of inbreeding are actually pretty high if they just left things alone.

 

[BridebelieverDD]

It is, it is interesting to see the difference in reactions though. In my herd which was 8 horses at the time of the first death, only 1 horse reacted to the missing one, the others didn't even seem to notice he was gone. That one died in the barn where the others couldn't see or smell the body, but Thunder was pacing the fence line and obviously upset, I caught him, took him in, he looked in the stall where Doodle was laying and just dropped his head and turned to go back outside with the others. Thunder was the other one to have to be put down, and Wings was looking for him, I took him over to where he was and almost got flattened a few times because Wings was up on his toes spooking really bad the entire way over there and just about ran me over, he never did sniff the body, but I got him to about 5 feet away and he relaxed a little bit and walked back to the field like he had a brain (not spooking but not relaxed either).

That's really interesting! It is really mind boggling honestly. No matter how much we try we will never fully understand them.

 

[ShrekDawg]

"Wild horses" has a lovely, romantic ring to it, but the word that accurately describes them is "feral." They didn't evolve there, they are what they are and where they are because of the "hand of man," and they have to be managed to keep from destroying the very limited resources of the islands they live on. They are all 'managed' to some extent. Some mares are on birth control to help keep the numbers down, other herds are periodically thinned and the extras sold off. There have been problems in the last few years when a few animals in a couple of the "wild" herds wound up with positive results on Coggins tests (leaving them could result in infecting the whole herd and become a source of infection for other horses in the area, but wild horse lovers didn't want otherwise healthy-seeming horses put down).

Hmm, that makes sense. And wow what did they do with them then?

The Va herd is actually owned by the Chincoteague fire department, so, they're really no more wild than any backyard horse that isn't handled regularly. Once a year the Va herd is rounded up, swam across the channel, pinned up, fed grain and hay for a few days, all adult horses are coggins tested which requires handling.... If the books are right, they used to also use the adults for a wild horse rodeo where they put the pony in a chute like any bucking animal and put a rider on without any tack to see how long they could stay on.. so at least then, they had also been ridden.

The buyback horses are determined by looking at the genetics that are on the island and keeping the foals that are most likely to keep the diversity as this is a self sustaining herd of 150 horses or less so the changes of inbreeding are actually pretty high if they just left things alone.

I knew they rounded them up and swam across, used to love all the books and movies lol, but I hadn't realized they did testing or that they were owned. I guess that's not really book material.

But what do they do if they test positive and doesn't the hay and green hurt them because they're so used to eating the seagrass?

And hmmm that makes sense

 

[ShrekDawg]

Sorry, forgot to reply

 

[Bunnylady]

But what do they do if they test positive

Well, they have a choice. The quickest and simplest solution is to put them down, though some people object to that. The other answer is to confine them in a facility where they are far enough away from any other horses as to not be a threat, and keep them there for the rest of their natural lives.