The magic of Magic - a Volunteer's view

Magic

Story by Sandy Johnson, volunteer at The Bridge Center

“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways,”  says Elizabeth Barrett Browning in her sonnet. 

And I feel that way about Magic—horses in general if truth be told, but Magic will always have a very special place in my heart.  I absolutely adored Magic’s slow, collected canter.  I haven’t ridden a horse in quite a while, but it’s that canter that I miss most. 

One of my goals in life was to be able to ride well enough to get that special elegant frame that a horse can achieve in dressage.  And thanks to Magic, I got at least the very beginnings of it.  I might never have had that chance if Magic had not come to the Bridge Center.  I likely would never have a chance to ride a horse with Magic’s training at any other stable.  (A special thank you to Magic’s owner/trainer!)

Also, I love that Magic is a Chincoteague pony.  When I was growing up, one of my favorite books was 

Misty of Chincoteague.  Paul, the boy in the story, helped his grandfather round up the wild ponies on Assateague Island and drive them across the channel to the island of Chincoteague.  (In those days, girls weren’t allowed to participate in the round up—too dangerous. I couldn’t believe how sexist the book was when I re-read it again a few years ago after Magic’s arrival at the Bridge Center.)  Paul and his sister Maureen lived with their grandfather on nearby Chincoteague Island where they helped raise and train Misty, one of the foals from the annual round up.

I later learned that the book was inspired by a real Chincoteague pony named Misty—a pinto who looked very much like Magic.  

When Marguerite Henry, the author of Misty of Chincoteague, visited Chincoteague in 1946 looking for a model for her book, she found Misty.  When Marguerite Henry promised to include Clarence Beebe’s grandchildren in the book, he sold Misty to her for $150. 

Misty lived at Marguerite Henry’s Illinois farm for over ten years, appearing for her many fans at schools, movie theaters, 

museums, libraries, and horse shows. Misty was sent back to the Beebe ranch in 1957 where she had three foals. (Her foals had numerous offspring, and so Misty’s genes live on.)  Misty spent the rest of her life on Chincoteague Island until she died in her sleep in 1972 at age 26.

You can still visit Chincoteague and Assateague islands—as I have—off the coast of Maryland and Virginia and you can tour the islands to see the wild  ponies.  There’s still a round up and auction of the wild ponies each year.  In fact, July 27, 2011 will mark the 86th year of the pony round up.  

Here’s a picture of a herd of wild ponies on Assateague Island; the pintos look like our Magic!

BTW. You also can see impressions of Misty’s hoofs in the

sidewalk outside the Roxy Movie Theatre in Chincoteague!