The Chincoteague Pony is a hardy breed that developed on Assateague Island, which is off the Atlantic coast of Maryland and Virginia. The ponies live in a feral condition on the Virginia portion of Assateague and are owned and managed by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company. Excess numbers are rounded up each year by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company of neighboring Chincoteague Island during the annual Pony Penning and auctioned off as a fundraiser. These ponies, sold to private owners, have been successfully re-domesticated and are used as riding ponies.