Assateague Island is a National Wildlife refuge. The ponies have been on the island for generations I can't remember the exact dates as there is a couple of different tales as to how the ponies got there. Anyway the Volunteer firefighters on Chincoteague Island round up the ponies and swim them across the channel from Assateague Island to Chincoteague Island. They then parade them down Main Street to a corral. Then about 50 of them are auction off. Then the rest are returned to the island. This is how they keep the herd manageable and the proceeds go to the fire dept. They do this every year the last week of July. These ponies on the island roam freely and walk right up to people and will come running right out of the marsh into the road. Also Assateague Island is not inhabited by humans.

Reality is determined not by what scientists or anyone else says or believes but by what the evidence reveals to us.
-- Alan Hale