Assateague Pony Naming Auction Raises $3K

ASSATEAGUE — The online auction bidding for the naming rights of the only foal born on Assateague this year was wildly successful once again with the successful bid coming in at over $3,000.

Each year, the Assateague Island Alliance (AIA) holds various contests and auctions for the naming rights of new foals born into the herd of wild ponies on the barrier island. This year, the AIA offered an opportunity to leave a lasting legacy with the wild horses on Assateague with its charitable eBay auction for the naming rights of the only foal born in the Maryland herd in 2013.

The new foal, currently identified only as N9BFQ-GL, was birthed by Harmony in a remote part of the island far from the developed north end in May and is in need of a common, less formal name. In the mid-1970s, the National Park Service began naming new foals in the Assateague herd with an alpha-numeric code to help track the lineage and ancestry of the wild horses and identify which sub-herd they belong to and the areas they frequent on the island.
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