The Chincoteague Pony Drill Team

Now that all the Limited Edition portrait horses for Cheers to 75 Years have been released, we wanted to introduce the additional guest horses that fans will be able to meet this summer in Lexington! This year’s lineup of guest horses and demo groups is going to be legendary. Coming to this summer’s celebration are 20 horses who have had a Breyer or BreyerFest model made in their likeness. Along with our guest horses, there will be plenty of breed and demonstration groups ready to show fans how wonderful their horses are. The live horses are of course the stars of BreyerFest and there will be plenty of exciting demonstrations, photo opportunities – and of course, pony pats – throughout the weekend! We can’t wait to reveal them all to you over the next few weeks.

Started in 1996, the Chincoteague Pony Drill Team is the only one of its kind in the world - an equine drill team composed entirely of  Chincoteague Ponies. The ponies on the team are veterans of the swim, including some descendants of Misty. The team demonstrates Equine Drill, which is a set of choreographed movements on horseback set to music. The team performs with as few as three and up to ten riders.

Under the direction of Coach Kendy Allen, the drill team has made appearances at many big venues, including Fair Hill Five Star Eventing Championship, the Virginia Inaugural Governor’s Parade, the Kentucky Horse Park, Equitana USA, the Virginia State Fair, the Delaware State Horse Show, the Washington DC National Horse Show, and the Pennsylvania National Horse Show, as well as appearing on NBC, CBS, and ABC television. They have won numerous awards from local parades and have been named the Youth World Champions at Equitana 2000. The team is excited to add BreyerFest to their resume!

The ponies are all part of the Allen Family Chincoteague Pony herd. The family farm project began in 1987 when they acquired their first Chincoteague Pony, Misty II, the granddaughter of Misty and daughter of Stormy. Taking on the project of turning a 13-year-old ungentled pony to a show pony proved easier than they thought and Misty II went on to become a champion pony in her own right, as well as a representative of the breed. In 1996 Breyer made a set of models of Misty II and her daughters, Misty’s Black Mist and Misty’s MayDay Twister.

Some ponies who are not directly related to Misty are "veterans of the swim,” meaning that either they or their parents were wild ponies that came from Assateague and were bought at the famous Pony Swim auction held by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company. In fact, one of the ponies planning to be at BreyerFest, Chincoteague Surf ‘n Turf, is related to recent Breyer release, Surfer’s Riptide! Since the real Surfer’s Riptide is a wild stallion who cannot attend BreyerFest, we are excited to have the Chincoteague Drill Team to the event so fans can learn more about the amazing Chincoteague breed and meet descendants of Surfer’s Riptide and Misty!

The team’s drills, routines, and shows may change over the years, but their message is always the same: the Chincoteague Pony is a very special horse that deserves its place in the equine world. A nonprofit group, they travel and perform on support from the public. You can follow them and learn more on their Facebook page, The Chincoteague Pony Drill Team.