Misty of Chincoteague: Rereading a Classic Horse Book as an Adult

Have you read Misty of Chincoteague as an adult? I just completed reading Misty of Chincoteague for the first time as an adult, and interesting things popped out at me left and right! Actually I mostly listened to it on Audible, but it did inspire me to grab my vintage copy and look through all the pictures again. I need to do this more often! 

Photo by @goodgravybakes.

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Instagram Survey Says

And it turns out you might need to grab this children’s classic and give it a read also. I conducted a survey in my Instagram stories and the vast majority of respondents had read Misty of Chincoteague. It was a whopping 92 percent. However, when I asked how many had read Misty as an adult, the result was only about 26 percent.

A little background for you. Misty of Chincoteague is one of my all-time favorite stories from childhood because it’s A.) it’s awesome and B.) pinto ponies! Also, I can’t get enough of Marguerite Henry books.

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Any guesses as to what I’m reading? I’ll give you a hint: the setting is on the East Coast. #equestrianbloggers #horsegirl #horsebooks #cypresspark #nela

A post shared by Susan Friedland-Smith (@saddleseekshorse) on Sep 24, 2018 at 6:15pm PDT

A Misty of Chincoteague Connection

If you were following our blog in 2015, you might remember this post with the actual photo of my mom’s friend riding Misty.

I grew up riding in Wayne, Illinois which is where Marguerite Henry lived during the Misty heyday. I can picture the exact road where her house was. It’s neat to have such a personal connection to Marguerite Henry books–knowing where she practiced her craft.

Here are the key questions I now have after my recent foray into the world of Misty of Chincoteague again. Maybe you have the answer to one of my questions or perhaps you have a Misty question too. Please leave your input in the comments section. 🙂

1. Was the raffle for the sorrel pony rigged?

One of the key twists in this tale is that the Phantom, the pony Paul and Maureen the protagonists had their heart set on, was basically sold out from under them. A man and his son from Norfolk found the fire chief first and made a down payment in addition to buying raffle tickets for a nice, trained sorrel pony that was going to be the prize. SPOILER ALERT! If you have not yet read this story, skip my next paragraph and go down to question #2 so I don’t ruin it for you.

When the fire chief learns that Paul and Maureen wanted the Phantom, and the raffle occurs, did he intentionally call out the dad and son from Norfolk knowing they wouldn’t want two horses? I will admit as a teacher, I have experience faking a random draw. That sounds unethical, but let me explain:

I have a set of Popsicle sticks with my students’ names on them. Ninety-nine percent of the time I use them legitimately to select a person to read or to answer a question, but. . . there have been times I pulled out a stick and said the name of a student who looked like he or she was not paying attention or who looked like they really wanted to answer, but kept getting passed over.

Did the chief want the Phantom to go to Paul and Maureen and so he faked it?

COMING JULY 2023! Marguerite, Misty and Me: a Horse Lover’s Hunt for the Hidden History of Marguerite Henry and her Chincoteague Pony. Click below to pre-order.

2. What happened to Paul and Maureen’s parents?

Why were Paul and Maureen Beebee living with their grandma and grandpa? Does anyone know what the story is? The Grandparents seem great and very loving. I mean, who wouldn’t want to live with their grandparents who have ponies in the backyard? But I still want to know what happened to their mom and dad.

3. Who lets their grandkids gentle a wild pony? (And why don’t more people let it happen today?)

I love the fact that the children broke this wild pony that had previously eluded adults on other Pony Penning days. And race her! In a horse race! Yes, Paul and Maureen were both eligible to be jockeys for the annual Pony Penning race. A wishbone was the means by which the child jockey was chosen. I’ll let you read to find out who the winner was.

You might also enjoy 5 Little-Known Facts About Marguerite Henry.

4. Why can’t my horse keeping and training be so simple and DIY?

Maureen and Paul trained the Phantom by taking a bed sheet to use as a surcingle and placing a bag of rice on her to mimic the weight of a rider. What parent or grandparent in this day and age would allow their little kids to do such a thing? I admit it seems dangerous, but I like the work ethic these kids have all throughout the story. It’s refreshing.

Tangent about the youth of today:

You would be amazed at the 11- and 12 year olds I see at school who have no idea how to hold a broom or a shovel. And in the last 10 years or so, kids’ scissor skills have really tanked. Just a few observations from a middle school teacher. (Don’t get me started on diminishing attention spans.)

5. How could an adolescent boy make such a mature decision about whether to keep or free his beloved horse?

When the Phantom looks toward the sea, presumably dreaming of her island life with the wild herd, are two little kids that clued in? Call me crazy, but if I had saved up my allowance and odd job money to buy a special horse and I was a preteen (wait–I did that) I could not be persuaded, even by a horse’s wistful look, to get rid of my horse, a.k.a. set her free. 

And why didn’t Paul ask his sister who was technically co-owner of the pony? Did the two previously have conversations about turning the Phantom loose?

Concluding with a Bunch of Misty and Marguerite Info

During the writing of this blog post I discovered. . .

• One of my friend’s mom used to work with the Chincoteague ponies and lived on the island. She was there while Stormy (Misty’s foal) was still alive!
• I also discovered that my mom was in a Bible study with a woman whose older sister was friends with Marguerite Henry when she lived in Wayne.
• Marguerite Henry apparently never learned to cook. An article I read said that she had the Dunham Woods Country Club (down the road from her home) make her dinners. Interestingly, I used to take riding lessons at that farm and have shown on the property.
• Marguerite owned Misty for about ten years while the book was popular, and then she sent her back to Chincoteague to have some foals and live out her days. Another article said that Marguerite hosted birthday parties with Misty at the local school. I’m wondering if any of my blog readers know someone who was a child in the Wayne, Illinois area in the late 1940s and early 1950s who might have been to a Misty party. If so, leave a comment or send me an email, please!

If you want to know what some of my other kids horse book recommendations are, take a look at my Amazon influencer collection Classic Horse Books for Kids.

Question: What are your thoughts on Misty? Do you have any insights regarding my five questions?

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