Here's historical Chincoteague Pony is from over 70 years ago and a color that's no longer found in the breed. This mare is Beaufort Misty who was born in 1952. She was born on Beebe Ranch and was bred by Clarence (Grandpa) Beebe. Ehrman Mitchell bought her and another grey mare, Beaufort Blue Bell, from Beebe Ranch and she lived at his Beaufort Farms in Harrisburg, PA. These photos are from a Beaufort Farms scrapbook that was offered for sale online. She also appears in From Ponies for Young People by Ehrman Mitchell.
If you're familiar with pony breeds you probably noticed that she looks quite a bit like a Welsh Pony. That was my first impression upon seeing her photo. There's solid evidence that she's a Welsh cross. A Beebe Ranch ad from 7 years later advertised Chincoteague/Welsh crosses. A Welsh Pony stallion living on the ranch survived the 1962 nor'easter. More on Welsh outcrossing: https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/welsh-pony.html Grey has a long history in Chincoteagues but hasn't been in the breed for many years. Grey is dominant so if none were kept in breeding herds after a while it eventually disappeared. Grey in horses is somewhat like it is in people. Ponies are born a color and that that color disappears as the pony greys out. I picked these two photos because it was taken some years apart and shows Beaufort Misty becoming lighter. More on grey in Chincoteagues: https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/grey.html I also added pictures of greys of other breeds to the page to provide examples and visually show how grey works.
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This is 2024 colt Rose Bud's Romeo. He's by bay tobiano Henry's Hidalgo and out of buckskin tobiano Molly's Rosebud. Both currently live on Assateague. Romeo is a chestnut minimal tobiano.
Romeo is a example of chestnut being recessive. Chestnuts have to receive one copy of red from each parent. We know from his parent's pedigrees where their hidden red came from. Henry Hidalgo's dam was a chestnut and Molly's Rosebud's sire was a chestnut. Chestnuts always pass one copy on to all their foals so those chestnuts passed red on to Romeo's parents. He tested as A/a meaning he inherited one copy of agoui. Agouti creates bays by restricting their black color to their points. Both of Romeo's parents are bay but he only inherited one copy. Since he's a chestnut agouti doesn't have anything to do on him. On chestnuts we only know it's there through testing. Romeo is a tobiano pinto and both of his parents are too. He tested as TO/n which means he only inherited one copy of tobiano. Also known as heterozygous for tobiano. His sire Henry's Hidalgo appears to have splashed white (from his dam Thetis) but Romeo didn't inherit it. His dam Molly's Rosebud is a buckskin but he didn't inherit cream. The cream dilution is dominant so a pony either has it or they don't. As a chestnut he doesn't. Romeo's dam Molly's Rosebud and granddam Merry Teapot's High Bid are minimal tobianos and so is he. Something causes tobiano to be restricted like that and we can see in his family how it appears to be genetic. But we don't know more than that and it's not testable. Thanks to his owner Colleen for testing him and sharing the results! Wild Island Orchid passed away in 2018 at the age of 24. Her identification number was #45 and was called Naughty Lady on some of her early foals' papers. She briefly had birdcatcher spots in 2004. I was going though pictures by Kelly Lidard and was very surprised to see her with spots in the first photo. I never knew or saw that she ever had them. The second photo is mine at spring roundup when she was 21. She's showing her age, but no birdcatcher spots.
Wild Island Orchid is in contrast to last week's mare who kept birdcatcher spots through the rest of her life. Birdcatcher spots are currently thought to result from an allergic reaction to bug bites. More on birdcatcher spots: https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/birdcatcher.html This is a really interesting historical mare. She developed a ton of birdcatcher spots that she kept until she died. The first picture of Kathy O'Dette's is from Pony Penning 1986 before the mare had any spots. The next photo of Kathy's is from 1995 and she's covered in birdcatcher spots. Still has them in 2000 as an aged mare when Jaye Okolovitch photographed her at the Carnival Grounds. I saw her at Pony Penning 2001 and it seems she passed away that year.
Birdcatcher spots themselves don't appear to be genetic. They're currently thought to be the result of an allergic reaction to bug bites. Some ponies have the spots pop up and go away, others like this mare keep them once they have them. More info and pictures of birdcatcher spots: https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/birdcatcher.html Something else that makes her interesting is I think she may have been another breed or a partbred Chincoteague. She was really big compared to her herdmates. She had an unusual C2 brand on her neck, have found 2 other mares that had that too. Have no idea what that means if anything. Though the other two mares with that brand were also big mares. Something to ponder. Chincoteague Pony outcross history: https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/outcrosshistory.html Unfortunately I haven't figured out her name. She has an identification number brand on her left shoulder that starts with A, but that's all I've been able to make out. You can see the brand in the 1995 and 2000 photos. If anyone can make it out or has more info on her I'd love you! |
Amanda Geci
Info and updates about Chincoteague Pony Color. These are also posted to my Facebook Page. Archives
February 2025
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