Wild Ponies at Grayson Highlands Park, Virginia
Nestled deep in the mountains of southwest Virginia, crossing the Appalachian trail lives over 100 wild ponies. The Mount Rogers National Recreation Area along with neighboring Grayson Highlands State Park is home to these ponies. The history of how the ponies got to the area is a bit murky, with several stories. However, the closest believed accurate account says that in the 1940’s “a group of local ranchers wanted to breed small-statured horses that could survive life on the Appalachian Mountains with little to no human interference. In a bid to engineer the land around them, they bred a horse with a pony and the lineage resulted in the wild ponies living there today.” ~Smithsonian Magazine
These are ponies, not horses. They are thought to be descendants of ponies that were cross-bred between a horse and pony. Their small stature, large bellies and thick winter fur make for quite an adorable yet majestic subject for the camera. I had the opportunity to visit this area on a backpacking trip in September. The area has dozens of hiking trails including the Appalachian trail.
