Date/Time
Date(s) - April 8, 2022
4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Categories No Categories
On Friday afternoon (around 4:30pm), the Saltwater Cowboys will round up the southern herd of Chincoteague Ponies and corral them into the south pen located in front of the Woodland Trail parking lot, on road going out to the beach on Assateague. This round up usually takes about two hours and there is plenty of parking access for spectators on Beach Road to view the round up across the marsh or at the corral. If you park in the Woodland Trail parking lot, please know that once the gates are open for the ponies to enter the corral, your vehicle will not be able to leave the parking lot until all the ponies are in the corral and the gates are closed. The ponies will remain in the corral overnight, so there are plenty of photo opportunities.
Saturday morning (around 7:00am) the Saltwater Cowboys head up the Service Road to round up the northern herd of ponies and corral them in the north pen. This round up takes about 5-6 hours because of the number of ponies in the northern herd and the amount of land that has to be covered to round them up. Parking is available at the Wildlife Loop parking lot. The public is allowed to walk up the Service Road to the cattle grate at any time of the day. Please be aware that this requires a three-mile walk one way (6 miles round trip) on a gravel road. Access farther north will be permitted after round up activities are completed.
While the Saltwater Cowboys are rounding up the north herd on Saturday morning, our veterinarian staff is busy doing checks on the ponies in the south corral. The vet team does a basic overall health check of each pony and administers inoculations against West Nile and Equine Encephalitis, as well as deworming and hoof and teeth checks. After vet checks are completed with the south herd, the ponies are released back into the wild and the vet team heads up to the northern corral to perform the same services on the northern herd. Once complete, they are also released into the wild to roam and await the next round up.
Come watch the Saltwater Cowboys round up the South Herd of Chincoteague Ponies. Learn more about Spring Round Up.
