Thousands of people come together to look at the 100th annual wild pony swimming

The wild ponies of CHARCOTEAGUE had swimming in the Assatague channel in Virginia for the 100th time.

Tradition began in 1925 and saw “cowboys of salt water” on horseback bringing together ponies, which then swim the channel and put themselves on the east side of the island of Chincoteague.

The event organized by the Chincoteague fire service, which manages ponies, includes an auction of certain foals.

The money collected helps control the size of the herd to help maintain a healthy pony population in Assatague, where ponies live most of the year.