Video shows woman smack wild pony with a shovel at Assateague — and it retaliates
A woman was knocked to the ground after smacking a wild pony with a shovel at Assateague Island National Seashore, video shows.
The video, posted to the People of the Ocean City Boardwalk Facebook page Saturday, shows the horse going up to someone’s things on a beach. The woman is then seen smacking the horse with a shovel and was knocked to the ground.
The woman then gets up and starts to approach the horse again as someone in the background of the video says, “They’re going to kick you.”
Assateague Island National Seashore is a 37-mile-long island on the coasts of Maryland and Virginia. Most of the shore is managed by the National Park Service. The island’s horses are well known but should be admired from a distance, according to NPS.
“Assateague’s horses are beautiful, tough, and wild,” the National Park Service said. “They have learned to survive in a harsh environment. Feeding and/or petting them is detrimental to both visitors and horses.”
Law enforcement was notified of the video for violating the Wildlife Protection code, the National Park Service told McClatchy News.
“Assateague Island National Seashore Law Enforcement Rangers were notified and forwarded this video,” NPS said in an email statement to McClatchy News. “The video was recently posted. Whether or not it is in fact a recent video is not known.”
Assateague Island Alliance, the park’s partner nonprofit, told McClatchy News that horses that are conditioned to people will do “beach blanket raids” and could become aggressive around food they think is theirs.
“In addition to avoiding being bitten or kicked, you are helping to keep the horses healthy as human and pet food has been the direct cause of illness and death in some individuals among the wild horses,” Assateague Island Alliance Outreach Coordinator Ashlie Kozlowski told McClatchy News in an email.
The National Park Service said visitors shouldn’t bring food to the beach or leave anything on towels to avoid negative interactions with the wild horses.
“These horses have learned where to find food and how to get it,” NPS officials said. “They can bite or stomp a food package open, they can kick open an unsecured cooler, they can eat right out of open beach bags. The horses will stage an all-out assault on the beach in the pursuit of food. This is so dangerous for visitors.”
People on Facebook were outraged by the video. Many in the comments of the post said the woman “should be charged for hitting the pony” and “should be fined.”
“It’s their beach,” one Facebook user said. “You are the visitor. We camp there every year. It’s a beautiful place. If you don’t like the horses, what are you doing there in the first place? It’s people like this that make it hard for others to enjoy the park! She should be fined.”
