The Story of Jaca Del Mar

A story this week instead of the usual color post. I met author Joy MillerUpton at the Pony Centre this year when I was there passing out information about the breed registry. Joy was wearing a shirt with a photo of her 1984 Chincoteague Pony Jaca Del Mar while signing her book. We chatted about her pony and I asked if she knew what Jaca's parents looked like since we know a pretty good number of ponies from that era. She looked through her phone and she had a picture of Jaca's dam. It was Paint the Wind, one of my favorite old mares. I showed Joy the pictures of Paint the Wind in my pony book and of Paint the Wind's parents. Paint the Wind was in the herd of the solid chestnut Simon for many years so he would be Jaca's sire.

Looking for pictures of Jaca in our photo archive was on my very long post-Pony Penning to do list. I finally got around to looking and Deb Noll had taken a beautiful series of photos of her! Jaca and her sire, dam, and the rest of the herd had taken a stroll out of the woods and meandered down Beach Road. And Deb was there to get some great shots. Joy said that it makes sense now why Jaca wasn't afraid of cars!

Joy bought Jaca at the Pony Penning auction for $350 and she told me that a man alongside the corral fence had recommended her as a good pony to buy. Joy is a long rider and took Jaca on long rides in Ohio. Jaca had one foal, a half Paso Fino named Pearl who went on many long rides alongside her dam. She was also trained to drive and was a lesson pony. Jaca passed away in 2016. Joy's book about her long rides, including with Jaca, is called Journeys: Finding Joy on Horseback.

I sent Joy the pictures Deb took, two of which are in this post. Joy sent me the two pictures of adult Jaca playing in the snow.