Horseathon: Misty of Chincoteague(1961).

 

Misty of Chincoteague(1961), is a film based on Marguerite Henry's award-winning children's book Misty of Chincoteague, published in 1947.  Cast: Arthur O'Connell, Pam Smith and Hollywood executive David Ladd. One of my favorite childhood memories is when my 4th grade teacher would read from the book "Misty of Chincoteague", after the noon recess. This book sparked my love of horses and I spent a lot of time drawing horses and collecting little horse figurines as a little girl. I'm not into horses as I once was, but.. I still love to watch them run wild in some parts of Arizona.

The movie is set on Virginia's coastal island of Chincoteague on the Delmarva Peninsula, it was mostly filmed on-location, where herds of wild horses make their home on Assateague Island. These small sturdy, horses who have adapted to their environment over the years by eating dune and marsh grasses and drinking fresh water from ponds. The story is based on "The Pony Swim", which is an annual event that involves rounding up some of the wild ponies who live on nearby Assateague Island for auction as a benefit for the local Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department.

The movie also tells the story about a young brother and sister, who tame a high spirited, chestnut mare, nicknamed The Phantom. The two children are thrilled to learn that she has a filly, a palomino pinto named Misty.

Will the kids have earned enough money to buy both of them at auction? You will also meet the beautiful, Pied Piper and a brown-and-blue-eyed pony named Watch-Eye. The cinematography is especially beautiful, with it's sandy beaches, sand dunes, coastal pine forest, and open fields with horses running free. You will step back in time with the clothes and hair styles and the small town feeling with everybody knowing everybody.

At the premier of the movie on Chincoteague, the real Misty was led down Main Street and put her front hoof prints in the cement in front of the Roxy Theater.

Video: First of 10.


 

Each year, the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company, purchase a grazing permit from the National Fish and Wildlife Service. This permit, allows the Fire Department, to maintain a herd of approximately 150 adult ponies on Assateague Island. The Fire Company, controls the herd size with a pony auction on the last Thursday in July.

Also, each year spectators, come to watch the pony herd be taken from Assateague Island to Chincoteague Island. Many believe that they are the descendants of the survivors of a Spanish galleon which wrecked off the coast of Assateague.

I hope that everyone will all check out the other Horseathon articles which can be found by clicking the Horseathon banner on the sidebar. Thank you for stopping by.