If the Chincoteague Pony actually looked like this it might be interesting.
Identification: Oh no somebody stop the press, it's a horse and it lives outside.
Identification: Oh no somebody stop the press, it's a horse and it lives outside.
Should you be in the northeastern United States, and develop an interest in wildlife, you will find that Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge is a fantastic place to view all kinds of birds, fish, and reptiles. It's a site well worth visiting. However, the most boring possible reason to visit is to see the ponies. Despite looking like horses, acting like horses, and not doing anything interesting at all except swim once a year, these ponies remain the park's star attraction.
Have you ever driven past a farm and seen a horse? Was it the thrill of a lifetime? Was it a check mark on the things-to-see before I die list? For some reason, if that same horse had been walking around a national park some awestruck passerby would be staring and pointing right now (Yes, I know that they are ponies, slightly different from your average horse).
Once I saw escaped feral bulls that lived in a dump. That was interesting due to the element of danger involved. Had they been ponies, it would have been a total snoozer.
Recently, I had this conversation with a young man who frequented the Island of Chincoteague. He attempted to equate the vulgar pursuit of horse watching, with the much higher avocation of birdwatching. His point I assume was something along the lines of digustibus non est disputandum, some like horses some like birds, some say toMAYto some say toMAHto, etc. It's a seductive argument I concede, one perfectly suited to this age of nihilism and moral relativism. However, one need not dig too deeply to discover its flaws. A brief round of socratic questioning will suffice:
Have you ever seen a pony fly? Have you seen a pony with a scarlet red body and black wings? Can ponies sing? Have you ever seen a pony dive into the sea from one hundred feet in the air, submerge itself completely , then fly away clutching a young striped bass? Have you ever seen a pony feast on the flesh of the dead?
I think not. Please don't try to argue that people can ride ponies. I think we've all seen The Swiss Family Robinson, and can attest to the fact that riding an ostrich is far better.
Have you ever driven past a farm and seen a horse? Was it the thrill of a lifetime? Was it a check mark on the things-to-see before I die list? For some reason, if that same horse had been walking around a national park some awestruck passerby would be staring and pointing right now (Yes, I know that they are ponies, slightly different from your average horse).
Once I saw escaped feral bulls that lived in a dump. That was interesting due to the element of danger involved. Had they been ponies, it would have been a total snoozer.
Recently, I had this conversation with a young man who frequented the Island of Chincoteague. He attempted to equate the vulgar pursuit of horse watching, with the much higher avocation of birdwatching. His point I assume was something along the lines of digustibus non est disputandum, some like horses some like birds, some say toMAYto some say toMAHto, etc. It's a seductive argument I concede, one perfectly suited to this age of nihilism and moral relativism. However, one need not dig too deeply to discover its flaws. A brief round of socratic questioning will suffice:
Have you ever seen a pony fly? Have you seen a pony with a scarlet red body and black wings? Can ponies sing? Have you ever seen a pony dive into the sea from one hundred feet in the air, submerge itself completely , then fly away clutching a young striped bass? Have you ever seen a pony feast on the flesh of the dead?
I think not. Please don't try to argue that people can ride ponies. I think we've all seen The Swiss Family Robinson, and can attest to the fact that riding an ostrich is far better.
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