Misty's Heaven

Breyer's Misty II, Black Mist, and Twister Set

2012-01-27T15:02:00.000-06:00

In honor of Misty's 50th Birthday in 1996 Breyer released a set of three models, granddaughter Misty II and two of her foals, Black Mist and Twister. The three models are Classic sized, 1:12 scale. Misty II is on the Ruffian mold, Black Mist on the Swaps mold, and Twister is on the Mesteno Foal mold. The trio of real ponies attended Breyerfest that year.

Misty II

Black Mist

Twister

Cezanne (1989-January 15, 2012)

2012-01-18T18:53:00.001-06:00

Cezanne passed away on January 15th at Hawkeye Stables in Maryland after a three week battle with colic. Cezanne was born on Assateague and as such was not a Misty descendant, but he was a member of the extended family. He sired a number of Misty descendants during his years at the Allen farm. Cezanne was a prolific and influential sire of both of Misty ponies and regular Chincoteagues.

Friend of Misty's Heaven Celina Calvo Boltinghouse took this photo of young Cezanne and his dam on Assateague

Cezanne was owned by painter Kevin McBride who included the stallion in many of his paintings. McBride's 2001 Pony Penning print depicted Cezanne with Misty's Black Mist and their daughter Misty's Morning Glory and his 2005 Pony Penning print features Cezanne's five foals that he sired in 2004, including Misty's Storm Chaser and Misty's Cloudbursts.

Misty's Desert Sun and Cezanne, they produced three foals together

Cezanne's Misty descendant foals:
Misty's Scorcher
Misty's Morning Glory
Misty's Storm Chaser
Misty's Cloudbursts
Misty's SnowDrop
Misty's Dust Storm
Misty's Nor'easter
Misty's Irish Mist
Misty's Sunfire
Misty's Moonshine
Misty's September Stardust
Misty's Thunderbolt
Misty's Riptide
And a couple more coming this year...

Cezanne was a favorite of both of us here at Misty's Heaven; for his handsome looks, personality, and the lovely foals he sired.

2011 Foals, Part II

2011-12-27T19:42:00.000-06:00

Part I: http://mistysheaven.blogspot.com/2011/05/spring-2011-foals.html

Firefly Mist
Black pinto colt born May 2011
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/firefly+mist

Misty's Crown Prince
Bay pinto colt born May 28, 2011
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/mistys+crown+prince

Chestnut pinto filly born June 2011
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/riptide+filly

Pryor's Island Breeze
Bay filly born June 3, 2011
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/pryors+island+breeze

Black pinto colt born born June 8, 2011
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/seamist+11+colt

Misty's Lunar Corona
Black pinto colt born June 14, 2011
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/mistys+lunar+corona

Misty's Red Dawn
Chestnut filly born June 18, 2011
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/mistys+red+dawn

Misty's Stormy Bay
Bay filly born June 27, 2011
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/mistys+stormy+bay

Misty's Relative Humidity
Chestnut pinto colt born July 3, 2011
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/mistys+relative+humidity

Moontide Mist
Bay pinto colt born July 7, 2011
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/moontide+mist

Misty's Dreaming of Chincoteague
Chestnut pinto filly born July 8, 2011
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/mistys+dreaming+of+chincoteague

Chestnut filly
Full sibling to: http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/mistys+thunderstorm

Black pinto colt
Full sibling to: http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/black+mister

Black pinto filly
Sire: http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/pepsi61

Chincoteague Pony Drill Team 2011 Christmas Parades

2011-12-19T20:40:00.000-06:00

The Chincoteague Pony Drill Team rode in four different Christmas parades this year and were named best equestrian group in all of them! They won best parade entry at the Onacock parade.hey also made an appearance at the Chincoteague Christmas tree lighting.

Some articles they were mentioned in:Christmas tree lightning: http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20111203/ESN01/112030313/Tree-lighting-draws-big-crowd?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Eastern%20Shore%20News|s
Chincoteague: http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20111210/ESN01/112100309
Snow Hill: http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20111201/WCT01/112010323
Pocomoke: http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20111203/ESN01/112030301/Local-groups-win-big-Pocomoke

Great job guys!

Picture was posted on the Facebook page for the Chincoteague Chamber of Commerce

Great American Horses: Chincoteague Ponies

2011-12-06T19:38:00.001-06:00

Chincoteague Ponies by Victor Gentle and Janet Perry was published in 2001 and is part of a series called Great American Horses. It is a book for young children with information on the Chincoteague Pony breed. There is a page on and picture of Misty. There is a picture of Misty's Black Mist and Misty's Chance of Rain, and one of Misty's Desert Sun, Misty's Raindrop, and Misty II's Henry as foals. The book is dedicated to Kendy Allen.

Below is the page and picture of the Chincoteague Pony Drill Team. (L-R) Misty's Colors of the Wind, Teager, Misty's May Day Twister, Misty's Black Mist, Chincoteague Miss Penny, and Red Mist.

Misty's First Grandfoal

2011-11-16T19:41:00.000-06:00

Misty's first grandfoal was Cloudy, son of Wisp O' Mist. The palomino gelding was born in 1964 and was the only foal of his dam. He had an intresting life and became one of the more well known Misty descendants.

Cloudy was born on Beebe Ranch and was sold to Ed Clark as a 2 year old. The Clarks taught Cloudy many tricks that he would perform throughout his life. Cloudy was sold to the Chincoteague Miniature Pony Farm in 1975 after Mr. Clark died. He performed for the public at the Pony Farm and his likeness was on many of their souvenirs.

More on Cloudy
Pictures of Cloudy

Reunion with Moonshine

2011-11-08T21:45:00.001-06:00

Last month was the annual fall beach ride and picnic for employees and friends of the Chincoteague Pony Centre. After an absence of two years, I made the trek back to my second "home" to take part in the activities and to see all my friends (aka second "family") and all the ponies. It was wonderful to see everyone again, and my favorite ponies Heat Wave, Icicle, and Misty III. This trip was exceptionally special because I would be re-united with Moonshine again.

Moonshine is a seventh generation Misty family pony, born in 2007, which was my very first full summer at the Pony Centre. Her dam, Desert Sun, was pregnant with her when I had arrived and I had eagerly anticipated the arrival of that foal. I still vividly remember the night I went out to bring in Desert Sun from the pasture. It was dark and I was searching for her with a flashlight. It shined on two white patches of a newborn foal who was nursing alongside Desert Sun. It was pure delight discovering the newest member of Misty's family that night and being the only one to know it for a little while. Desert Sun's new foal was a filly, which made me even more happy, as I prefer fillies. I named her "Moonshine" for the moon marking on her face, and the fact that she was born at night.

That summer I cherished the afternoons I would spend with Moonshine and her mother, and took countless pictures of them together. There was even one time when Moonshine decided my lap was the best place to take a nap! I positively adored her.

Moonshine and I in 2007

Burta Boysen of 1000 Welcomes Farm in North Carolina fell in love with Moonshine as well. A breeder of quality Chincoteague ponies, she purchased Moonshine from Kendy Allen that summer, and the filly would go to her new home in the fall. I was delighted with this, Burta was just about the only person I would want to have "my" little girl if she didn't stay at Kendy's. I was able to see Moonshine one more time in the fall during the Pony Centre Fall Weekend before she left. At Burta's farm, Moonshine blossomed into a beautiful young mare.

This year, Burta and her husband decided to retire, and dispersed their herd of Chincoteague ponies. Burta asked Kendy if she would be interested in buying Moonshine back, and naturally, Kendy said yes. I was very excited to hear this news, and even more excited to know that Moonshine would be at Kendy's place when I came to visit in the fall.

Seeing Moonshine again was priceless. She had developed into one of the most beautiful Chincoteague ponies I had ever seen, with a sweet disposition to boot. Each day of my stay I would go out to the field and spend time with her. On my last day at Kendy's, I decided to teach Moonshine how to stand on the stepstool like the rest of her relatives. First one hoof, then the other and in no time, she was standing proudly on that stool like the rest of her clan. What a good girl!

Moonshine is only four years old and has a bright future ahead of her. Kendy's daughter, Kerra, is taking her under her wing this winter, and I cannot wait to see what good things lay ahead! I feel like a proud parent!

Moonshine and I re-united Oct 2011

Written by Matt DesJardins

Beach Ride

2011-11-02T20:05:00.000-05:00

The members of the Chincoteague Pony Centre family get together in the fall for a beach ride on Assateague and picnic. This year Matt and I were able to make the journey from our respective home states to join the fun. Matt had been to the gathering before, but I had not. The Painting Ponies also came from their home in Pennsylvania.

The weather tried to put a damper on things, it was rainy and then cold, but we still had a wonderful time. It was great seeing everyone!

Cat's Meow Misty Ponies

2011-10-11T19:40:00.000-05:00

There have been two Cat's Meow pieces produced depicting Misty ponies. Both pieces were only available at Memory Lane Antiques and Collectibles on Chincoteague. Cat's Meow pieces are small wooden keepsakes of places, events, and things that have a little hidden black cat on them.

Misty's May Day Twister and her daughter Misty's Heart of the Storm produced in 2006

Misty's Black Mist produced in 2007

Misty in Album of Horses

2011-10-04T20:01:00.001-05:00

Marguerite Henry's classic book Album of Horses was published in 1951. The main illustration painting for each breed also appeared in the 1964 Portfolio of Horse Paintings. The Chincoteague Pony is one of the 24 breeds in the book and a main focus of the section is about Misty.

The Chincoteague Pony painting is my favorite of Wesley Dennis's illustrations of Misty. I have the version from the Portfolio framed and hanging in my home.

FAQ: What's with all the weather names?

2011-09-20T20:51:00.001-05:00

Question: Why do so many Misty ponies have weather names?

Answer: Misty is a weather name, but it really got started with Stormy and her foals from whom all living Misty ponies are descended: Thunder, Windy, Breezy, Rainy, Misty II, and Foggy Mist. Their early foals were born at the Chincoteague Miniature Pony Farm and the old farm gave them weather names also. From there it became a tradition with Misty pony breeders that continues on to today.

If you have any questions comment on here or on Facebook and I may answer it on the blog!

Misty's Rain Drop Competes at American Eventing Championships

2011-09-13T20:01:00.000-05:00

As was posted a month ago, Misty's Rain Drop and her rider Sara Miles qualified for the American Evening Championships and this past weekend they competed. It was only a few hours from where I live so I just had to make the trip. The AECs were held at the beautiful Chattahoochee Hills Eventing facility in Fairburn, GA.

I went on Saturday and saw the pair compete in cross country. They went clear in cross country. Sara and Rain Drop competed in the Beginner Novice division and placed 21st out of 39. It was great seeing them in action and getting to see the Chincoteague Pony Centre friends that were with them.

There are pictures on our Facebook page and video that has been uploaded to YouTube.

Great job you two!

50th Anniversary of Misty

2011-09-06T19:14:00.001-05:00

This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the movie Misty. The movie was based on Misty of Chincoteague and mostly filmed on location in Chincoteague and Assateague.

Misty being shown at the Island Roxy on Chincoteague during Pony Penning 2011, after an eight year absence.

Premiers for the movie were held in Hollywood and at the theaters on Chincoteague. At the Chincoteague premier Misty was paraded down Main Street by Ralph Beebe. She placed her hoofprints in the concrete in front of the island's theater and Marguerite Henry wrote Misty's name underneath, which remains today.Only five professional actors were in Misty. Most of the people in the film were real life residents of Chincoteague. Two Beebe's were in the film, Billy Beebe played "Tommy" and Denny Beebe played "Denny Cole" riding the pony Patches. Three ponies played the part of Misty, a suckling, a weanling, and a yearling. The suckling was a bay foal named Emma who had her coat bleached palomino.

A movie Misty, David Ladd, and the real Misty. Photo from The Pictorial Life Story of Misty.

There are only five original 35mm copies of the movie remaining today. Misty is currently available on DVD. The 2002 DVD release was in full screen, the 2008 DVD release is in the original widescreen format

Director: James B. Clark
Producer: Robert B. Radnitz
Production Company: Twentieth Century Fox
Writers: Marguerite Henry and Ted Sherdeman
Actors: Arthur O'Connell (Grandpa Beebe), Pam Smith (Maureen Bebe), David Ladd (Paul Beebe), Duke Farley (Eba Jones).

IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055186/

Five True Horse Stories

2011-08-30T20:11:00.000-05:00

It's easy to see by looking at the cover why I bought this book to add to my Misty collection. Five True Horse Stories by Margaret Davidson, published by Scholastic in 1979.

I wasn't expecting much out of the little book, but it was still a disappointment. The chapter on Misty was a very abbreviated summery of The Pictorial Life Story of Misty, with emphasis on Stormy. There were quite a few obvious errors, things that could have been easily corrected by referencing the Pictorial. I found the errors rather amusing considering the title. The book was worth the cheap purchase price to me just for the cover art.

I also found it to be a good example of how a story can change over time with multiple retellings. It's something I've seen before in the telling of Misty's story by sources other than Marguerite Henry. That was a main motivation for my writing the History of Misty many years ago, I'd forgotten about that and Five True Horse Stories reminded me of it.

Misty's Raindrop Qualifies for American Eventing Championships

2011-08-14T20:07:00.000-05:00

Sara Miles and Misty's Raindrop (Red Elvis x Misty's Rainbow) have qualified for the 2011 American Eventing Championships! The AEC is September 8-11, 2011 at Chattahoochee Hills in Fairburn, Georgia. Raindrop is the first Misty family pony to reach this level of achievement.

Raindrop's qualifying record on the US Eventing Association website: http://www.useventing.com/competitions.php?section=aec&id=112&horse=134984

An interview with Sara by EquineSite.com can be found here: http://www.equinesite.com/assateagueSM.htm

Way to go Sara and Raindrop! I'm hoping to be able to go cheer them on!

Pony Penning 2011

2011-08-07T15:58:00.001-05:00

I've uploaded a few of the pictures that have been or will be added to Misty's Heaven's Picasa albums to our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.10150352075532873.405466.65171382872&type=1

On Sunday Misty's Morning Glory and her foal Misty's Red Dawn were at the Chincoteague Museum for three hours greeting visitors. The stuffed Misty and Stormy are currently on display at the museum since Beebe Ranch has closed. They are in a nice new exhibit.

I stopped by the Allen farm on Monday to visit with Misty's Black Mist in her retirement from public life. I also saw Twist O' Mist, Misty's Partly Cloudy, and Misty's Hurricane Izzy.

Wednesday was swim day. The swim was late this year and wasn't until nearly 1 o'clock. I went to the Chincoteague Pony Centre to see the pony show that afternoon. It was fantastic as always! They have added a pony may pole to the start of the show. The herd of Misty and swim ponies were in the PC paddocks including Misty's Icicle's colt Misty's Frosty Mist.

Thursday was auction day and the Chincoteague Pony Drill Team performed before the start of the auction. Later that day Misty's Heart of the Storm appeared at the Chincoteague Library for story hour. Sire of Misty family ponies Cezanne also made an appearance that day, at the Osprey Nest art gallery. After both of those I went a showing of Misty at the Island Roxy. It had not been shown on the island in eight years and 2011 is the 50th anniversary of the film. The copy we watched was a 50 year old copy, one of only 5 of which still exist.

I made a few more trips to the Chincoteague Pony Centre to take pictures and visit. I planned to go to the pony show one more time but the heat on the day I had planned on kept me in the air conditioning.

It was a good trip and I'm looking forward to the next time I can visit the islands!

@mistysheaven

2011-07-12T19:48:00.000-05:00

Misty's Heaven is now on Twitter! The new account has been synchronized to where Facebook updates will also appear on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/mistysheaven

In addition, Misty's Heaven will be tweeting Pony Penning! Should be a great way to keep up with what's going on if you're not there.

Misty Book Covers

2011-07-05T18:08:00.000-05:00

I was rearranging my bookcase the other day and it caused me to contemplate the different covers Misty of Chincoteague has had over the years.

The first row is the original and the one drawn by Wesley Dennis. The bottom left cover was drawn by Don Bolognese. The other two on the second row was drawn by Steve Brennan in 1991. That is the illustration that currently used on most covers today.

Rainy's Boy (August 28, 1984-June 23, 2011)

2011-06-24T18:13:00.000-05:00

Rainy's Boy passed away last night due to colic. The vet tried his best to save him, but due to his age Rainy's Boy would not have survived the emergency colic surgery needed. He would have turned 27 in August.

Rainy's Boy was a son of Rainy, her third foal and first son. He and his older sister Rainbow looked a great deal alike and shared their dam's dark chestnut coat. Rainy's Boy was one of the few ponies left that was born on the Chincoteague Miniature Pony Farm. He spent most of his life there and was the last pony to live at the farm. Rainy's Boy spent the second half of his life with Becky Stevens. Becky had known and loved Rainy's Boy since she was 11 years old. Helen Merritt gave him to her as a wedding present. Jessi-Ann Friend published a book about Rainy's Boy and Becky in 2007 called The Forgotten Pony.

On a personal note, Rainy's Boy was one of my favorite Misty Family ponies. He was the first Misty pony I fell in love with. I first met him on my one and only visit to the old Pony Farm in 1995. I distinctly remember spending a long time petting him in his stall and swiping a few mane hairs that I still have tucked away. I saw him again at the closed Pony Farm in 2001. I visited him several times, bringing him carrots and in one instance a Coke. I got to see him at book signings in 2007, 2008, and 2010. I'd wondered about him often in the intervening years and it was a joy to see him with Becky who loved him so much. I'm thankful I got to see him for the final time last year. Farewell old friend.

http://www.mistysheaven.com/rainysboy.html

Rainy's Boy and Becky in 2007

FAQ: What happened to Phantom Wings and Wisp O' Mist?

2011-06-21T20:36:00.000-05:00

I decided to add a frequently asked questions series to answer some of the questions we have often been asked over the years. If you have any questions comment on here or on Facebook and I may answer it on the blog!

Question: What happened to Phantom Wings and Wisp O' Mist? Do they have any descendants?

Answer: Phantom Wings and Wisp O' Mist both died in 1964. The famous siblings got into a cow pasture and ate the cattle feed. They got sick and despite the Beebe's best efforts to save them the ponies died. Both ponies left only one offspring each. Phantom Wings sired a colt named Sandpiper. Sandpiper slipped into obscurity and it is unknown if he sired any foals. Wisp O' Mist had a colt named Cloudy. Cloudy was gelded and didn't sire any foals. All living Misty family ponies are descended from Stormy.

http://www.mistysheaven.com/phantomwings.html
http://www.mistysheaven.com/wispomist.html

Misty's Family Tree

2011-06-14T20:03:00.000-05:00

I recently bought a 1985 copy of The Pictorial Life Story of Misty to go with my 1977 copy. I mostly wanted it for the updated family tree in the back as it was updated with the different printings.

1977 Edition

1985 Edition

Spring 2011 Foals

2011-05-31T20:24:00.000-05:00

Now that summer is unofficially here I decided to do a post of all of the spring's foals. There are more foals to come this summer.

Misty's Tornado Warning
Bay Pinto Colt born February 24th
Pedigree: http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/mistys+tornado+warning

"Pumpkin"
Chestnut Pinto Filly born March 7th
Pedigree: http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/stormy+ii+11+filly

Black Pinto Filly born April 1st
Pedigree: http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/sierra+mist+11+filly

Misty's Frosty Mist
Palomino Colt born April 19th
Pedigree: http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/mistys+frosty+mist

Misty's Midnight Blizzard
Black Pinto Colt born April 20th
Pedigree: http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/mistys+midnight+blizzard

"Odemay"
Chestnut Pinto Filly born May 3rd
Pedigree: http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/sea+storm+11+filly

Chestnut Pinto Colt born in May
Pedigree: http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/red+cloud+colt

Bay Filly born in May
Pedigree: http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/red+cloud+filly

Misty Treasury

2011-05-23T18:42:00.000-05:00

I bought a hardback Misty Treasury on eBay last week. It was published in 1982 by Rand McNally. The book contains the entirety of Misty, Sea Star, and Stormy. The cover art how I first spotted the auction listing as it was not one I had seen before. The cover art wasn't done by Wesley Dennis, it's not in his style, but I could not find a credit for it.

A neat addition to my Misty book collection!

Breyer's Sea Star

2011-05-17T19:45:00.000-05:00

The Sea Star mold was sculpted by Chris Hess who also sculpted Misty, Stormy, and Phantom Wings. The model was first released in 1980 and was retired in 1987. Variations in color and in the star can be found. The model was released in a gift set with Misty and Stormy from 1983-1985.

The mold has not been used frequently through the years, but there have been seven releases and several had multiple year runs. Only one Special Run has been produced, everything else was regular runs or in gift sets. The most recent is a palomino Sea Star in a gift set that is in the current line.

Buckskin with a star called "Chincoteague Foal", a regular run in 1991-1993
Chestnut tobiano pinto with a blaze named Scribbles, a regular run in 1994-1995
Bay blanket appaloosa with four socks named Cochise, a special run for Toys R Us in 1995
Black sabino pinto with a blaze named Sure Fire, a regular run in 1997-1998
A mostly white chestnut pinto in a set with bay Grazing Mare, a regular run in 1998-1999
Bay dun pinto in a set with a black dun pinto Misty and a buckskin dun Haflinger, a regular run in 2006-2008
Palomino with a blaze and four socks in a gift set, a regular run in 2010-current

The mold is often scorned for its scrawny and rather odd look, but if viewed from a particular angle it becomes obvious that Hess used one of Wesley Dennis's illustrations of Sea Star as his reference. The mold is not very popular with collectors and is often on the "ugliest mold" list. Though there are still many like myself that have a soft spot for the little foal.

Stormy's Daughter Breezy

2011-05-10T20:50:00.000-05:00

Breezy is somewhat of a mystery. We know a great deal about all of Stormy’s foals except her. We know that she was foaled in 1972, she is listed in the Pictorial Life Story of Misty, and was sired by Lightning. We are pretty sure she was a chestnut pinto. Breezy had two foals; Beebe Breeze by an unknown sire in 1976 and Sea Breeze by an Arabian in 1978.

Because so little information is out there on Breezy and she only had two foals it is our best guess that she died fairly young. Her line may have died out if it wasn’t for Beebe Breeze’s five foals. We hope that a picture of Breezy will one day surface!

http://www.mistysheaven.com/breezy.html

Misty's Grandfoals

2011-04-18T20:06:00.000-05:00

Misty’s grandfoals were a small group that have quite a variety of life stories. The firstborn was Cloudy, the last born was Foggy Mist, and the last living was Misty II. All but Cloudy and Sandpiper had offspring and have descendants living today.

Cloudy (Lightning x Wisp O’ Mist) 1964 Palomino Gelding
http://www.mistysheaven.com/cloudy.html

Sandpiper (Phantom Wings x Nora) 1965 or earlier Colt
http://www.mistysheaven.com/sandpiper.html

Thunder (Lightning x Stormy) 1967 Palomino Pinto Stallion
http://www.mistysheaven.com/thunder.html

Windy (Thoroughbred x Stormy) 1969 Chestnut Pinto Mare
http://www.mistysheaven.com/windy.html

Breezy (Lightning x Stormy) 1972 Chestnut Pinto Mare
http://www.mistysheaven.com/breezy.html

Rainy (Al-Marah Sunny Jim x Stormy) 1973 Chestnut Mare
http://www.mistysheaven.com/rainy.html

Misty II (Al-Marah Sunny Jim x Stormy) 1974 Chestnut Pinto Mare
http://www.mistysheaven.com/mistyii.html

Foggy Mist (Mugwah x Stormy) 1978 Chestnut Pinto Mare
http://www.mistysheaven.com/foggymist.html

Weather Names

2011-04-10T19:19:00.000-05:00

A source of amusement for us lately has been that the names of the models in Breyer's new "Weather Girl" set are Sunny, Partly Cloudy, Thunderstorm, and Rainbow which are the names of Misty ponies as well. http://www.breyerhorses.com/products/product.php?item=1460

Weather names are a longstanding and continuing tradition in the Misty family. It started with Stormy being named after the 1964 nor'easter. Her foals were named Thunder, Windy, Breezy, Rainy, Misty II, and Foggy Mist. Wisp O' Mist's only foal was named Cloudy. Since then we've had Drizzle, Flash Flood, Gale, Gentle Breeze, Heat Wave, Hurricane, Midnight Tempest, Icicle, Raindrop, Stormcloud, Storm Chaser, Twister, Whirlwind, Zephyr, and on and on. There are Misty family ponies without weather names, but they are definitely not the norm!

Misty the Wonder Pony

2011-03-28T19:35:00.000-05:00

Misty the Wonder Pony was published by Rand McNally. There is no publication year in the book itself, but I found the year 1956 on Wikipedia. The book is written by "Misty, Herself" and illustrated by Clare McKinley. It is a children's picture book and was sold as a member of Rand McNally's "Elf Books" line. There are two different covers. I bought both of my copies on eBay fairly inexpensively.

The book at first follows the story of Misty like Misty of Chincoteague; the legend of the Spanish Galleon and Paul's rescue of Misty during the swim. It changes a few pages in to a Misty point of view version of The Pictorial Life Story of Misty, which was published 20 years later. Misty's bought by a lady who remains unnamed (Marguerite Henry), the book lady writes a book about Misty, Brighty and Friday are mentioned, Misty has birthday parties, travels promoting the book, and it ends with Misty going back to Chincoteague to have a foal. The real Misty returned to Chincoteague in 1957. Like the book, the illustrations are geared more towards young children and are really adorable and expressive. There were some toys produced in conjunction with the book, but I do not have any in my collection yet.

It's a really cute little book with darling illustrations. I rather like how it tells the story of the real Misty and from her point of view.

50th Birthday of Wisp O' Mist

2011-03-21T18:58:00.000-05:00

Today is the 50th birthday of Misty's second foal, Wisp O' Mist. She was a solid chestnut and was Misty's first daughter. Little Wisp is the "middle child" and is often overlooked. Misty was able to spend more quiet time with Wisp because there wasn't the hoopla surrounding her birth as there was around Phantom Wings and Stormy's. Wisp died in 1964 and only left one offspring, the gelding Cloudy, so she has no descendants living today. Little Wisp is pictured and mentioned in The Pictorial Life Story of Misty.

Happy Birthday to Wisp O' Mist!

http://www.mistysheaven.com/wispomist.html

Misty and Family Books

2011-03-07T20:35:00.001-06:00

There are a number of books Misty and her family appear in. The founding and most famous are of course Marguerite Henry's five books, the Misty "trilogy", The Pictorial Life Story of Misty, and Misty's Twilight. Misty is mentioned in Henry's compilation books, such as Dear Marguerite Henry. There are several books that are adaptations of Misty of Chincoteague.

There are also quite a few books by a variety of authors, both fiction and non-fiction. The Ponies of Chincoteague is an ongoing series by Kendy Allen, five books thus far in the series are about Misty descendants. Jessi-Ann Friend has written two books on Misty descendants, the latest is The Forgotten Pony about Rainy's Boy, and she is working on a third to complete the trilogy.

That was just a sampling of the books out there, the bibliography page on Misty's Heaven has a full list of books: http://www.mistysheaven.com/bibliography.html I've blogged about a couple of the books and am planning on more posts in the future!

First Misty Family Foal of 2011-Misty's Tornado Warning

2011-02-27T20:42:00.001-06:00

The first Misty family foal of 2011 is a bay pinto colt born on February 24th. He is out of Stormy Mist, http://www.mistysheaven.com/stormymistii.html, and is the mare's first foal. The colt is sired by a buckskin pinto Chincoteague stallion named Tornado (no relation to the Misty greatgrandson Tornado). Tornado was once a popular wild stallion on Assateague and he now lives at Hawkeye Stables in Maryland. In honor of his sire the colt was named Misty's Tornado Warning.

Tornado Warning is owned and was bred by Debbie Ober of Hawkeye Stables. He is their first homebred Misty family pony. Congrats on the new colt!

Relatives of Misty Family

2011-02-21T21:38:00.000-06:00

The Relatives of Misty Family section of the website is somewhat different in that it doesn't list ponies that are descended from Misty, but ponies and horses that sired or produced them. If you're reading about a Misty descendant and are wondering about the other parent the section has their story: http://www.mistysheaven.com/mistyfamilyrelatives.html

Most of them are Chincoteagues Ponies, but there's a variety of breeds like the Arabian Al-Marah Sunny Jim and the Dutch Warmblood Art Deco. Some of the one listed like Cezanne sired many Misty family ponies. Others like Stars Black Velvet only has one Misty family offspring. There are some that made a considerable impact, such as the stallion Rebel who sired the first black pinto in the Misty line. The lives of a few of the ponies were already entwined with the Misty family before producing their Misty descendant, such as Little Beebe.

More than just a name

2011-02-05T09:40:00.001-06:00

When Misty III was born in 2007, Misty enthusiasts rejoiced at the appearance of another "Misty". She bore the golden palomino coloring of her famous ancestor, as well as the "map" in her markings. Yet there is so much more to being "Misty" and that year, I found that Misty III fit the bill completely.

A Pictorial Life Story of Misty gives the account of the original Misty's life, right from when she was a young foal, and the two ponies' lives couldn't have been more correlated. When the original Misty was young, she was shipped to Marguerite Henry as a foal so that Marguerite could write her book. She was nervous and scared and it took a little while for her be at home in her new surroundings. Misty III was born in Texas and when she was weaned, she was shipped to Chincoteague so she could appear at the Chincoteague Pony Centre for everyone to see. Misty III handled her long journey very well, though she too, was a little nervous in her new surroundings. However, she soon adjusted and was fine.

The original Misty was adored by the neighborhood children when she was with Marguerite.She received lots of attention and was generally good natured when being handled by them. Misty III proved herself to be alike in this situation at the Pony Centre. There was a day when the pony campers were supposed to groom a pony, and most of the ponies were being used. I suggested Misty III because she was in the barn and had behaved so well for us workers so I thought she would be okay. Later, when I passed by her stall, I saw the camp counselor with the campers and Misty III. Misty III was positively angelic as each camper learned how to brush her coat and pick out her hooves. Yes, Misty III was indeed living up to her name.

The original Misty's trademark was standing on a stepstool for her fans. Misty III learned this trick on her own. She had a little trouble reaching her feed in the feed tub so one day Katye Allen put one of the stepstools in her stall in hopes that Misty III would use it to access her food more easily. She did indeed! It was just second nature to her. Misty III also used her stool to look out over her stall door, giving her the chance to look at her surroundings a bit better. And one day, we decided to let Misty III stand on the stool for the pony show. With her handler guiding one leg up, Misty III had no problem with this during the show, and the audiences were delighted.

The original Misty was full of precociousness. She was known to escape from her pasture with her pasturemates in tow. She could be a fiery little mount for her riders at times, throwing in a little buck to make the ride exciting. Misty III developed her own funny quirks. One night at the pony show, after being led into the ring, Misty III dropped to her knees and proceeded to roll and roll, getting her nicely groomed coat dirty. Then she got up, shook herself off and proceeded to continue walking around the ring with her handler. She was just being Misty, and the audience loved it. So almost every night, Misty III would roll just for the fun of it. There was even one time that she stayed on her back with her legs in the air for several seconds before continuing with her roll.

At her young age, Misty III has shown the world that she truly is Misty. All of us Misty fans are truly pleased and cannot wait to see what the future holds for this bright young star.

Written by Matt

Misty's Windswept Update

2011-01-31T21:22:00.000-06:00

The owner of Misty's Windswept (Lightning of Chincoteague x Misty's Wind Spirit) emailed me last week with an update on her pony and included some pictures of the beautiful mare. "Windy" currently lives in Kansas with Allesa and her family. Windswept re-entered the show ring last year and they are hoping to take her to the Kansas State Fair this summer! http://www.mistysheaven.com/windswept.html

Many thanks to Allesa for the update and pictures!

A Color Palette of Misty Ponies II

2011-01-24T19:12:00.000-06:00

2010 edition: http://mistysheaven.blogspot.com/2010/02/color-palette-of-misty-ponies.html

Chestnut Sabino

Misty's Rainbow

Black Tobiano

Misty's Storm Chaser

Bay

Misty's Raindrop

Palomino

Cloudy

Buckskin

Misty's Sunbeam

Cremello

Misty's Icicle

For more information on the the colors found in the Chincoteague Pony visit The Colorful Chincoteague!

Breyer's Performing Misty

2011-01-16T17:34:00.001-06:00

Breyer released the porcelain Performing Misty in association with Hagen-Renaker in 1993. The model is in Misty's famous pose on a stool shaking hands. It was sculpted by the renowned Marueen Love Calvert. Hagan-Renaker manufactured and boxed the model, and Breyer sold and marketed them. The first 200 of the run was sold with the hoof glued to the stool, but it made the fragile model even more prone to breakage so the rest of the run was sold with the stool separate. The Performing Misty is an excellent representation of Misty in looks and color.

The original Chincoteague Pony Drill Team: Where Are They Now?

2011-01-11T13:12:00.004-06:00

It was in the late nineties when Kendy Allen formed the world's only Chincoteague Pony Drill Team made up of Chincoteague ponies, both descendants of Misty and those who were veterans of the Pony Swim. Through the years, the riders and ponies have changed, but it was the originals who made the Drill Team famous and what it is today. They included Misty II, Black Mist, May Day Twister, Red Mist, Rainbow, Little Beebe, Chance of Rain, Chesapeake Bay, and Partly Cloudy.

And where are they today?

Misty II and Rainbow were both born and raised on the Chincoteague Miniature Pony Farm on Chincoteague Island. When the farm closed and the ponies were sold, both mares came to live with the Allen family in Manheim, Pennsylvania. There they flourished into wonderful show ponies, winning in various events such as gaming, english and western pleasure, and even jumping. Both were on hand for the opening of the Chincoteague Pony Centre in 2000. Misty II passed away that same year, and Rainbow soon retired with the Varner family in Pennsylvania. She recently passed away in December 2010.

Black Mist and May Day Twister are the only original ponies who are still on the Drill Team. Black Mist is semi-retired, living the life of luxury, and Twister recently had her third foal, a palomino filly named Twist O' Mist.

Red Mist was the smallest member of the team and was a robust little pony that the Allens had acquired. She was a veteran of the pony swim. She could be seen at the Pony Centre and was often Kenneth Allen's vaulting mount for the pony shows. She was retired and passed away in 2006.

Little Beebe was a veteran of the swim (named in honor of the Beebe family) and currently lives in Texas, and there she has been a broodmare of very fine Chincoteague ponies. She is the mother of two Misty line ponies, Flash Flood and more notably, Misty III.

Chesapeake Bay, son of Black Mist, was the youngest pony ever on the Drill Team. He currently lives in Pennsylvania and is a beloved lesson pony at Knights Landing Stables.

Chance of Rain, daughter of Rainbow, lives in Texas. She has had two offspring, and is currently a little girl's beloved mount.

Partly Cloudy, daughter of Wind Spirit. Named by Marguerite Henry, "PC" as she is known, is a broodmare and has raised some beautiful foals in the Misty line. She most recently had a filly named Firestorm in 2010.

Most of the ponies have changed, as well as the riders. There are second generations of the ponies now on the Drill Team. Rainbow's last foal, Raindrop, is a flashy member as well as Black Mist's daughter, Morning Glory. Little Beebe's daughter, Bella, made her debut this past year, bringing back the glorious buckskin color.

The Chincoteague Pony Drill Team continues to make appearances and receive overwhelming praise like it did back in its heyday.

The original Chincoteague Pony Drill Team in 1998 (Little Beebe, Chance of Rain, Partly Cloudy, May Day Twister, Black Mist, Rainbow, Chesapeake Bay, and Red Mist)

Written by: Matt

Happy New Year!

2011-01-02T18:33:00.000-06:00

Happy 2011 and I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

2010 was an eventful year. For us, namely the website going down for a couple months. A few highlights:
-The Chincoteague Pony Drill Team rode in the Virginia Gubernatorial Parade
-The 50th birthday of Phantom Wings
-There was a large foal crop: Dewdrop, Firestorm, Lunar Eclipse, Midnight Tempest, Ice Princess, Island Dusk, Summer Rainstorm, Twist O' Mist, Colt out of Seamist, Filly out of Cloudbursts, Colt out of Chemina Mist, Colt by Nightmist Legend, Colt out of Sunflower, Colt out of SeaBreeze
-Misty's Rainbow died

Misty's Rainbow (1979-2010)

2010-12-20T20:25:00.000-06:00

Misty's Rainbow passed away this weekend at her home in Manheim, Pennsylvania. Rainbow was 31. Before her death she was the oldest living descendant of Misty, the oldest living great grandfoal of Misty, and the oldest living foal of Rainy. http://www.mistysheaven.com/rainbow.html

Rainbow was born on the Chincoteague Miniature Pony Farm and was one of a handful of living ponies that were born there. She spent most of her life with the Allen family. Rainbow was an original member of the Chincoteague Pony Drill Team. Her time with the Drill Team included performances at Equitana and Kentucky Horse Park. An very athletic and intelligent pony, Rainbow was very accomplished in the show ring. She had a winning career in both 4-H and open hunters. She was also versatile and competed in other events. Many a 4-H'er won their first blue ribbon on Rainbow.

Rainbow is the dam of Dewy (1985), Sunny (1987), Rain Cloud (1988), Misty's Cirrus Cloud (1992), Misty's Chance of Rain (1995), and Misty's Raindrop (1999).

Rainbow spent her final years retired at the home of her last 4-H’er, Claire Varner, who, along with her mom Fay, loved her and cared for her like the Misty pony champion she was.

Matt wrote a wonderful tribute to Rainbow about his visit with her in 2008. It is posted to our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/notes/mistys-heaven/rainbow-a-dream-come-full-circle/180932301924694

Christmas Parade Time!

2010-12-13T20:30:00.000-06:00

Christmas is two weeks away and that means it's parade time. The Chincoteague Pony Drill Team traditionally partistipates in a couple parades on the Eastern Shore. The Drill Team placed first in the equestrian category in the Pocomoke parade and second in the Chincoteague parade this year.

Pictures from previous years parades.

Breyer's Stormy

2010-12-06T19:56:00.001-06:00

Breyer's model of Stormy is one of their longest running models; produced continuously since 1977. She was sculpted by Chris Hess using pictures of the real Stormy as a foal. The model is an excellent representation of Stormy in markings. She was produced with the model number of #19, Misty is #20. In a recent thread on a model horse messageboard there were quite a few who reminisced that Stormy was their first model.

Because the Stormy model has been produced for so many years she has come in rainbow of different shades of chestnut. Early models tend towards a darker hue, a typical shade of chestnut is the most common, in the late 1990s/early 2000s her color turned bright orange, and since 2007 she is produced in a shaded chestnut.

Breyer has placed in her a number of different gift sets through the years. A Misty, Stormy, Sea Star set was sold by JC Penny in 1980. Sears offered a Misty and Stormy book set in 1982. The next year Sears offered a Misty, Phantom Wings, and Stormy set. A Misty, Stormy, and Sea Star set was sold from 1983 to 1985. Misty and Stormy were sold in a book set by Spiegel in 1993. FAO Schwartz also sold a set in 1993; it included Misty, Stormy, a Paul Beebe doll, and book.

Stormy produced as a flocky as a special run for Sears in 1984 in a set with a flocky Misty. In 2004 an “orange” Stormy was included as part of a Christmas set. Starting in 2007 the single model was discontinued and Stormy was packaged with Misty in a book gift set.

The Stormy mold has been used for models other than the original, but all have had pinto patterns that are modification of Stormy's. Skeeter was produced in 1995 as a special run for Toys R' Us. Skeeter is a dark bay pinto with 3 white feet and was packaged along with a classic Arabian Mare. In 2010 she was produced in a black pinto with 4 dark feet as part of a Christmas set.

Unfortunately the mold itself has deteriorated after so many years of use. Her head has become pointed and a good bit of mold detail has eroded. Fans of the Stormy mold like myself hope that she will continue to grace the Breyer line; however we hope that Breyer will retool her mold so that she will not continue to deteriorate.

http://www.identifyyourbreyer.com/identify/Stormy.htm
http://ponylagoon.t35.com/molds/stormy.shtml

Misty's Heaven is back!

2010-11-29T20:33:00.000-06:00

Two months after going dark, Misty's Heaven is back up and running! I expected it to take a lot longer, but thankfully we had a backup saved (albeit outdated) and I found a cache online so both sped up the process. We have an excellent new webhost so the website should run faster than it did before. There are still a few upgrades I want to do, such as new logos and buttons, but for now we're happy to just have the site back up. My next project is to get The Colorful Chincoteague back up.

Thanks for everyone's patience! Back to regular blogging next weekend.

We're still here!

2010-11-13T15:07:00.001-06:00

Yes, we're still here! In our spare time we've been diligently working on getting the website back up and we're making good progress despite very busy lives. There's a place holder page up right now, but fairly soon links will start reappearing: http://www.mistysheaven.com

I hope everyone is having a lovely fall!

Twist O' Mist

Website Woes and Links

2010-10-03T20:09:00.001-05:00

I had a post planned, but our webhost's server has been down most of the week and is still down so that subject will have to wait until later. I'll post to our Facebook page whenever the website is back up. Thanks to this prolonged outage, and a few other issues, Misty's Heaven will probably be switching webhosts before the new year.

In the meantime our Picasa photo album is still up and here's some links to check out, most if not all are on our Related Links page.

Chincoteague Pony Centre
Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge
Assateague Island National Seashore
Misty on Roadside America
Chincoteague Beacon
Chincoteague.com
Chincoteague Waves
Chincoteague Outlook
The Painting Pony
Assateague Foster Horse Program
Misty family author Jessie-ann Friend
The Hidden Galleon

Foggy Mist's First Foal

2010-09-25T14:29:00.000-05:00

Foggy Mist’s first foal was unknown to us until we were emailed by someone who had visited the Chincoteague Miniature Pony Farm in 1981. She sent us pictures she had taken of a mare and foal. The mare was identified as Foggy Mist through matching up her markings. The visitor also said that the foal was named Storm Cloud. Thus far this is the only record we have of Foggy Mist’s first foal.

Storm Cloud was not listed in the Pictorial Life Story of Misty family tree. There is a gap in the records of the Misty line from 1979 to 1984, when the information on foals was lost somewhere between the publications. He was likely sold when he was weaned, however he may have died young.

http://www.mistysheaven.com/storm_cloud.html

New Misty's Heaven Youtube Channel

2010-09-19T18:30:00.000-05:00

Misty's Heaven now has a Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/mistysheaven All of the 2010 videos have been uploaded, a few older videos, and we're working on uploading a few more older videos. We also added a number of Misty related videos to our Favorite list.

I hope everyone enjoys!

Stormy's Storm

2010-09-05T14:22:00.001-05:00

With Hurricane Earl skirting Chincoteague and Assateague this week, thankfully leaving no damage, I decided a post on the nor’easter that gave Stormy her name was relevant. The storm of course is chronicled in Stormy, Misty’s Foal.

It is called the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962 and battered the east coast from March 6th through the 8th. Much of Chincoteague was covered with water including up to 6 feet high on Main Street. There was destruction up and down the east coast. Many thousands of houses and businesses were destroyed or damaged. Work on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel was set back and equipment destroyed, $1 million in damages were done to NASA Wallops Flight Facility, there was much beach erosion, and miles of sand dunes were flattened. The nor'easter killed a total of 40 people, and injured 1,000

Misty, Phantom Wings, and Wisp O’ Mist were saved by Ralph Beebe and his family. The pregnant Misty was famously stabled in their kitchen during the storm. That kitchen today can be seen while touring Beebe Ranch. After the water receded Misty was then evacuated to the Veterinary Hospital of Dr. Finney just south of Pocomoke, Maryland; and there she gave birth to Stormy on March 11th.

The Chincoteague Fire Department lost 55 ponies, Ralph Beebe lost 75, and other owners lost 28. The loss of so many wild ponies led to Misty and Stormy touring to raise money for rebuilding the wild herds. Also, depicted in Stormy, Misty's Foal.

An interesting side result of the storm's wrath is the Assateague Island National Seashore. At the time of the storm lots had been zoned and sold for resort development on Assateague. The storm stopped the plans as it destroyed what buildings and roads had been constructed. Assateague became a National Seashore in 1965.

Stormy’s great granddaughter Misty’s Hurricane Izzy also got her name from a storm. Izzy was born right before Hurricane Isabel hit North Carolina and Virginia. Her dam, Stars Black Velvet, was evacuated from Chincoteague to Pennsylvania to foal because of Hurricane Isabel’s threat.

Links:
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ash_Wednesday_Storm_of_1962
Chincoteague Chamber of Commerce pictures and information: http://www.chincoteaguechamber.com/62-pg1.html
Baltimore Sun Photo Gallery:http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bal-stormpg-0303,0,3987343.photogallery

The Misty Statues

2010-08-22T17:52:00.001-05:00

There are two statues of Misty of Chincoteague; one on Chincoteague and another at Kentucky Horse Park. Both bronze statues were funded through donations to the now mostly defunct Misty of Chincoteague Foundation (MCF).

The statue's sculptor is Brian Maughan. On the sculptor's website click on "Misty of Chincoteague Video" to see a video about the creation and unveiling of the statue: http://maughanart.com/gallery.html

The statue on Chincoteague was formally unveiled on July 29, 1997. It was originally placed at "The Thicket" on Ridge Road which is a portion of land that once had been part of Beebe Ranch. The property was donated to the MCF by Richard and Carolyn Conklin. In 2006 the statue was moved to a park on Main Street, next to the island library. The statue was rededicated on June 14, 2006.

An identical statue was placed at Kentucky Horse Park. It sits next to the racetrack and behind the Visitors Information Center. A Misty time capsule was buried at the feet of the statue to be opened in 2046, Misty's 100th birthday. http://www.kyhorsepark.com/attractions-activities/sculpture-of-the-park

Twist O' Mist

2010-08-15T17:34:00.000-05:00

The most eagerly anticipated foal of 2010 (at least for me!) was born on August 4th. Misty's May Day Twister had her third foal, a palomino filly. She is sired by Tuffer Than Leather. Much like her older brother Sunfire the filly is the spitting image of Twister. She has been tentatively named Twist O' Mist, harkening back to Misty's daughter Wisp O' Mist. Mother and daughter made an appearance at the Pony Centre on August 7th. Twister is very protective and worried so much that the pair went back home to the farm after a few hours.

Twister foiled my picture taking hopes by holding out until after Pony Penning. Thanks to Sarah Fung for the above picture!

Pony Penning 2010

2010-08-07T20:22:00.003-05:00

Finally the Pony Penning 2010 recap!

It's taken me all week, but I all of the new pictures I took during Pony Penning have been added to Misty's Heaven! Clicking on the pony's name will take you to their Picasa album and the newest pictures are at the end.

My main spot for Misty pony pictures during Pony Penning week was of course the Chincoteague Pony Centre. I only went to one pony show during the week, had planned on at least twice, but I got plenty of great pictures. I stopped at the Pony Centre quite a few times to snap pictures of the ponies in the paddocks.

Misty III
Misty's Black Mist
Misty's Desert Sun
Misty's Heart of the Storm
Misty's Heat Wave
Misty's Hurricane Izzy
Misty's Icicle
Misty's Morning Glory
Misty's Partly Cloudy
Misty's September Stardust
Misty's Storm Chaser
Misty's Sunfire

Of this year's foals I got to see Misty's Midnight Tempest, who was at the Pony Centre, and Misty's Firestorm, who was at the corral at Blue Heron Inn.

Misty's Firestorm
Misty's Midnight Tempest

I was invited by Kendy Allen to come to and photograph the Chincoteague Drill Team's practice for their performance at the Pony Penning Auction. I followed that up of course by going to their performance on Thursday morning before the start of the auction. The drill team put on a great performance!

Chincoteague Pony Drill Team

Rainy's Boy made an appearance at a book signing the author of his book, Jessie Ann Friend, had on Tuesday. He's looking great to be 26 years old! Thoroughly enjoyed seeing and visiting with Jessie, her parents, Rainy's Boy's owner Becky Stephens and her mom.

Rainy's Boy

Misty's Black Mist went to story hour at the Chincoteague Library on Thursday afternoon. Kendy had asked me to come and take pictures and I got some great pictures of the kids petting and feeding treats to Black Mist. Afterwords we went around the corner for pictures at the Misty statue and a group of the kids went too. Those were some of my favorites from the entire week.

I went out to the Allen farm one afternoon to see the ponies who were not at the Pony Centre. The Misty ponies were Misty II's Henry and a very pregnant Misty's May Day Twister. Twister had her foal on Wednesday of this week, a look alike palomino filly.

Misty II's Henry
Misty's May Day Twister

I also got see Misty's Raindrop at the invitation of Sara Miles. It had been several years since I'd gotten to visit with Raindrop and Sara. Thanks for the invite Sara!

Misty's Raindrop

All in all it was a great week! I skipped the swim this year, but went to see the ponies come down Main Street, the early Monday morning drive of the ponies down Assateague beach, and most of the auction. Also spent lots of time at the wild pony corrals.

Special thanks to Kendy and the whole Pony Centre gang for allowing me so much access and for putting up with my obsessive picture taking!

This and That

2010-07-17T17:35:00.001-05:00

Pony Penning is coming up soon! Which also means a bunch of new pictures will be added to Misty's Heaven shortly thereafter. Pony Penning week is July 24th through 30th.

Misty's birthday is this coming Tuesday. It is her 64th.

Several new foals have been born, coincidentally all black pintos! The first black pinto Misty pony, Misty's Black Mist, turned 21 a month ago today.
-Black pinto colt to Misty's Hurricane Izzy on July 15th.
-Black pinto filly to Misty's Cloudbursts on July 15th.
-Black pinto filly sired by Misty's Rainstorm on July 7th.
-Black pinto colt sired by Misty's Rainstorm on July 6th.
Pictures will be posted as we get them!

In case anyone missed it, here's the link to a nice article by the well known The Chronicle of the Horse: http://www.chronofhorse.com/article/misty-always-made-me-want-buy-pony

Breyer's Misty: The Old Patterns

2010-07-11T18:27:00.001-05:00

Breyer's model of Misty has been a part of their line since 1972. Having been produced for so many years she has had a number of pattern and color changes. The first two pattern changes are the rarest and the most obvious.

4 Eyed Misty

This Misty pattern gets it name from the circles around both eyes. The pattern was only produced in 1972 and was changed because Margurite Henry didn't like the white spot around the left eye. The real Misty of course did not have a spot around either eye. The rest of the pattern is also somewhat odd and does not resemble the real or book Misty. The model was produced as a glossy. The 4 eyed Misty is the rarest, however more have surfaced in recent years and she isn't worth quite as much as she was even 10 years ago.

3 Eyed Old Pattern Misty

The only difference between the 3 eyed old pattern and the 4 eyed is that the white circle around the left eye is gone. The pattern was produced in 1972 and possibly into early 1973. It was changed because, like the 4 eyed, Marguerite Henry was not happy with it. The pattern it was changed to is relatively the one that is still produced today. All of the Misty patterns still have the circle over the right eye. This model was produced in matte and glossy, the glossy being the rarer. Models with this pattern are more common than the 4 eyed Misty and do not command the prices it does. However, in my watching of eBay the 4 eyed shows up a lot more often than the glossy 3 eyed old pattern.

Misty Series for Young Readers

2010-06-28T17:41:00.001-05:00

The "Misty Series" is six books for younger readers published in 1987. It was adapted from Misty of Chincoteague by Joan Nichols. The illustrator is Stephen Moore. The series is pretty much as advertised, an adaptation of Misty as picture books. There are plenty of quotes from the original book and it accurately follows the original story. The illustrations are based off both the book and the movie.

The books are not terribly hard to find and show up on eBay fairly frequently. I bought mine as a complete set off of eBay so I waited a bit longer to be able to buy them as a set.

The books are, in order:
The Capture
The Whirlpool
The Auction
The Storm
The Big Race
Going Home

In other news, it's a month until Pony Penning!

Misty's Summer Rainstorm

2010-06-20T15:09:00.001-05:00

The next Misty family foal of 2010 is Misty's Summer Rainstorm, a bay pinto colt born on June 14th. He is sired by Misty's Rainstorm and is Rainstorm's first foal. Summer Rainstorm is out of the bay pinto Chincoteague Pony mare Island Jazz. The colt and his parents are owned by the Hagquist family of New York.

Misty's Summer Rainstorm

Marguerite's Misty Morning

2010-06-05T21:13:00.000-05:00

Marguerite's Misty Morning is a unique Misty family pony considering her fabulous pedigree; out of Misty's Twilight and sired by the legendary Dutch Warmblood Art Deco. I saw her from a distance in 1997, the first time I got to see Twilight, but at the time didn't realize who she was so I only have one lousy picture. She had been sold for quite some time by the time I got to visit Stolen Hours Farm again in 2003. We didn't know where and guessed she was sold to someone in Florida.

A couple days ago I received an email from the father of her owner. He had bought “Maggie” for his daughter in 1999 and they still own her. Keith sent me an update on Maggie and shared some great stories and pictures. I've updated her page on Misty's Heaven and added the pictures to her Picasa album. Maggie is currently living in Benton, Louisiana.

http://www.mistysheaven.com/mistymorning.html

Marguerite's Misty Morning

Breyer's Misty's Twilight

2010-05-30T08:54:00.002-05:00

In conjunction with the publication of Misty's Twilight Breyer produced a model horse of Twilight in 1991. The model was sculpted by Jeanne Mellin Herrick. Painting of the prototype for production was done by Karen Gerhardt. Karen used pictures of the real Twilight and thus, unlike some of the other Misty family Breyer models, the markings on Twilight exactly match the real mare.

The portrait model of Twilight was the first produced on the mold so it bears her name. A number of different colors have been produced on the Misty's Twilight mold through the years.

Black with a blaze and two socks, a special run for Spiegel in 1993
Bay with a blaze and three socks named Dover, a regular run in 1996-1997
Bay leopard appaloosa named Flabenhoppen, a special run for the Model Horse Jamboree in 1996
Palomino with a blaze and one sock named Kokopelli's Gold, a special run for State Line Tack in 1997
A chestnut pinto named Sundance, a special run for JC Penney in 1997
Light grey named Romanesque, a regular run in 1999-2000
Dapple grey with four socks, a special run for JC Penney in 2007

What prompted this post was a neat hanging Breyer promotional display for Misty's Twilight that I recently bought on ebay.

http://www.identifyyourbreyer.com/identify/MistyT.htm
http://ponylagoon.t35.com/molds/mistystwilight.shtml

Misty's Lunar Eclipse

2010-05-22T19:53:00.001-05:00

The second Misty family foal of 2010 is Misty's Lunar Eclipse, a black pinto colt born on May 17th. He is out of Misty Moon Dancer and is Moon's third foal. He is a full brother to Misty's Midnight Moon and a half brother to Hendrik's Shadow Dancer. Lunar Eclipse is sired by the black pinto Chincoteague Pony stallion Island King. Lunar Eclipse and his parents are owned by the Hagquist family of New York.

Misty's Lunar Eclipse

Pictures by Barbara Livingston Added to Website

2010-05-15T18:49:00.002-05:00

Award winning equine photographer Barbara Livingston (http://www.barbaralivingston.com) has graciously allowed us to use the pictures she took of Misty family ponies last year on Misty's Heaven. I've started adding them to the picture albums, including this great picture that was in her book Horses In Living Color.

Misty III, Misty's September Stardust, Misty II's Henry, Misty's Heart of the Storm, Misty's Black Mist, Misty's Icicle, Misty's Heat Wave, Misty's Desert Sun, and Misty's Smoke N Mist (L-R)

Thanks Barbara!

Partbred Misty Ponies

2010-05-09T13:31:00.001-05:00

On occasion Misty family ponies have been crossed with breeds other than the Chincoteague Pony. The crossbred ponies and their descendants are usually considered to be Chincoteague Ponies. Other breeds have also been introduced into the wild ponies on Assateague so crossbreeding in the breed is not uncommon.

Windy
Windy is usually listed as being by the Chincoteague stallion Thunder, who was probably supposed to be her sire, and sometimes as being by Al-Marah Sunny Jim, which has been proven false by multiple sources. However, she was actually sired by a Thoroughbred stallion whose name remains unknown. The stallion was owned by Ralph Beebe and the breeding was unplanned. Windy was tall and lean compared to her siblings, which are traits she inherited from her Thoroughbred sire.

Rainy and Misty II
The full sisters Rainy and Misty II are both by the chestnut Arabian stallion Al-Marah Sunny Jim. The stallion was donated to the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department in 1965 by the famous Al-Marah Arabians. Rainy and her descendants frequently display their Arabian heritage in looks while Misty II and her descendants generally do not.

Twilight, Dawn, and Sunset
These three daughters of Sunshine were all sired by stallions of various breeds. Twilight is by the stakes winning Thoroughbred stallion Big Bluffer, as stated in her book. Dawn and the short lived Sunset were by stallions of other breeds, but at this time we do not know any more than that.

Mirage, Twister, Misty Morning, and Moon Shadow
Twilight’s four daughters were, like herself, by other breed stallions. Twister was by a Quarter Horse and Moon Shadow was by a Paint Horse. Moon Shadow is the first Misty pony that was the frame pinto pattern, which she inherited from her sire. Marguerite’s Misty Morning was by the renowned Dutch Warmblood stallion Art Deco. The breed of Mirage’s sire is not known, he was possibly an Arabian.

Chemina Mist, Windjammer, and “Junior”
These three full siblings are sired by Cyclone and out of the black pinto Paint Horse mare Triple Action Penny. Cyclone and Triple Action Penny were boarded at the same farm. Triple Action Penny is the source of the black or bay present in their descendants.

Thundercloud
Stormcloud’s son Thundercloud is out of a grade mare named Mindy. Stormcloud and Mindy were boarded on the same farm when the two were bred.

Hendrick’s Shadow Dancer
Shadow Dancer is a unique cross of being by the Frisian stallion Hendrick. Misty Moon Dancer and Hendrick were both owned by Lowe’s Den Stables at the time. Shadow Dancer was approved and branded as an American Warmblood in his yearling year.

Franklin Mint Misty

2010-05-02T15:34:00.001-05:00

Eventually I’m planning on adding a page to the website for Misty memorabilia. We of course already have a section for Breyer models, but they were not the only company to produce Misty related items. There are all kinds of cups, prints, postcards, etc.

One such item is a beautiful porcelain model of Misty produced by The Franklin Mint in 1986. The piece was sculpted by renowned equine sculptor Pamela du Boulay. In my opinion it is the most accurate representation of the real Misty.

Misty's Dewdrop

2010-04-24T10:23:00.001-05:00

The first Misty family foal of 2010 is Misty's Dewdrop, a chestnut filly with a snip born on April 19th. She is out of Misty's Snowdrop and is Snowdrop's first foal. Dewdrop is also the first grandfoal for Misty's Raindrop. She is sired by a black Chincoteague stallion named Random Tantrum who lived at the Pony Centre for awhile when he was a foal. Drewdrop and Snowdrop are owned by Shubert family of Delaware.

http://www.mistysheaven.com/dewdrop.html

I couldn't help but wonder if she'll grow up to be a dark chestnut like her great grandmother Rainbow and great great grandmother Rainy :)

A Quick Post

2010-04-19T20:30:00.000-05:00

I'm currently on travel for work so I haven't had a chance to type up a proper post so just a short one this week. While on this trip I was able to visit Matt as he was only a couple hours away from where I am. Matt set it up so that we got to go for a trail ride while I was there and a picture of us is below. It was great to be able to visit as we live many hours and states apart so we rarely get the chance to see each other.

More Misty news and commentary next week!

New Wind Spirit Pictures

2010-04-11T14:36:00.001-05:00

Several new pictures of Wind Spirit have been added to her photo album courtesy of her owner Heather Fortcamp. Wind Spirit is the only living foal of Foggy Mist and the only one to live well into adulthood. She is the reason Foggy Mist's line continues and flourishes today. Wind Spirit is also one of a handful of Misty ponies left that were born on the Chincoteague Miniature Pony Farm.

Wind Spirit

http://www.mistysheaven.com/windspirit.html

Many thanks to Heather for sharing the pictures of Wind Spirit!

Happy 50th Birthday Phantom Wings

2010-04-06T18:46:00.001-05:00

Today is Phantom Wings's 50th birthday! Phantom Wings was born at Beebe Ranch at 5:30 in the morning on April 6th, 1960.

I was checking my birthday list this morning and decided that such an auspicious milestone needed a post. His birth all those years ago was definitely a celebrated event. The news of the first foal of Misty appeared in many newspapers and magazines, the children of Chincoteague got out of school, and the story was told in The Pictorial Life Story of Misty.

Happy birthday to the first Misty descendant!

http://www.mistysheaven.com/phantomwings.html

Four Foals of Misty II

2010-04-05T19:16:00.001-05:00

I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend!

A few weeks ago the Allen family got together and took a very neat photo; a group shot of their four foals of Misty II.

From Misty's Black Mist

(L-R) Black Mist, Kerra, Heat Wave, Kenneth, Twister, Henry, and Katye.

Misty's Heaven Reorganization

2010-03-28T15:18:00.002-05:00

I apologize for the lack of a post last weekend! In my free time lately I've been working on a big reorganization of Misty's Heaven. All of the ponies will have now have their own photo album on Picasa. We'll leave one photo up on the individual bio pages and clicking on the photo will link to the Picasa album with more pictures. There are a few ponies that only have one or two pictures, some have none, and their pages will remain essentially the same. Each photo is captioned with the source or credit and the year taken, if known. It's still a work in process as it's a big project. I started with Phantom Wings and have been working my way down the list.

An album for Misty and Misty history will be added to the History of Misty and albums for the Drill Team and the Miniature Pony Farm to their pages. I hope to add albums for books and memorabilia sometime in the future!

This had been in the works for awhile as it had become quite laborious adding pictures to the website to the point where we weren't updating much due to of the sheer number of photos that Matt and I have in our "archives". We'll now be able to update much quicker and with many more pictures. A bunch of pictures I've uploaded have not been online previously.

I hope everyone enjoys the new albums and pictures!

Breeding to Misty II's Henry Offered

2010-03-13T20:33:00.001-06:00

A breeding for a foal sired by Misty II's Henry is being offered for sale by Henry's owner Kendy Allen. Henry is the last foal of Misty II and he was sired by Lighting of Chincoteague. Henry has previously sired Hurricane Izzy, Flash Flood, High Tide, Icy Margarita, and Misty III. The breeding is for artificial insemination via frozen which collected prior to Henry being gelded. Only one foal is being offered. This is definitely a one in a lifetime chance! For anyone interested contact Kendy Allen, ponycntr@intercom.net, for further details.
http://www.mistysheaven.com/henry.html

Also, I added a few things to the blog this weekend; a list of links, a blog list, and the ability to follow us on NetworkedBlogs. I hope everyone likes the new layout as well!

Misty Makes a Movie, 1961

2010-03-07T19:36:00.005-06:00

I bought a copy of the book, Misty Makes a Movie, off ebay a couple weeks ago. I actually had thought I already had a copy, but a check of the Misty section of my bookcase proved otherwise. I'm glad I spotted the auction and finally added it to my collection. It also turned out the seller is a Misty fan.
The book was published in 1961 by 20th Century Fox as a children's movie book for the movie Misty. It is large picture book size but is thin, with only about a dozen pages. There was also an edition that is smaller normal sized book. A couple of Wesley Dennis's illustrations from the original book are on the inside cover. The book gives a short and simple synopsis of the story of Misty accompanied by stills from the movie. The book does not cite an author just the main movie credits and that it is based on Marguerite Henry's book.

Celina’s Contribution

2010-02-28T13:37:00.003-06:00

Celina Calvo Boltinghouse’s name appears many times in Misty’s Heaven and I thought some might be wondering who she is. Celina worked at and ran the Chincoteague Miniature Pony Farm with her mother for several years. She owned Stormcloud (http://www.mistysheaven.com/stormcloud.html) and is the breeder of several of his foals.

In 2003 Celina ran across Misty’s Heaven and emailed Matt offering photos, correcting what we had, and sharing information on ponies we weren’t aware of. It was an absolute treasure trove of information on Misty family. She has also been a valued source through the years answering our questions. Celina critiqued the Pony Farm history I wrote and was kind enough to write Snowstorm’s story for Misty’s Heaven.
http://www.mistysheaven.com/ponyfarmhistory.html
http://www.mistysheaven.com/snowstorm.html

Misty’s Heaven was a lot smaller back in 2003 and Celina’s contributions make up a big part of what the website is today. Thanks Celina, we are forever grateful!

Celina and Stormy in the Pony Farm ring

A Color Palette of Misty Ponies

2010-02-20T09:23:00.006-06:00

Chestnut and Sabino

Misty's Stormcloud

Black and Tobiano
Misty's Black Mist

Bay
Misty's Chesapeake Bay

Palomino

Misty's May Day Twister

Buckskin

Misty's Sunbeam

Cremello
Misty's Icicle

Inbreeding in Misty’s Family, Part 2

2010-02-13T10:03:00.003-06:00

Part two of examining the inbreeding in Misty’s family examines the more modern examples that were not born at the Chincoteague Miniature Pony Farm.

Misty’s May Day Twister and Misty’s Heat Wave are from a pair of Misty family parents that are not closely related. Their dam Misty II is out of Stormy and their sire Misty’s Sunpiper is a double descendant of Stormy. However, Stormy does not appear in Sunpiper’s pedigree until the fourth generation. The sisters and their parents are accomplished show ponies and the cross was approved by an expert beforehand.
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/mistys+may+day+twister **
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/mistys+heatwave

Occasionally you’ll get an oops inbreeding case. Such are Misty’s Struck by Lightning, Misty’s Moonlight, and Misty’s December Frost. All three are by Lightning of Chincoteague, who's become known for “secret meetings”, and out of his daughters which are Misty family mares. The resulting colts were gelded and the filly was sold as a riding horse.
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/mistys+moonlight
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/struck+by+lightning
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/mistys+december+frost

The majority of Nightmist’s foals have multiple generations of Misty family inbreeding and are the main source of inbreeding in the modern Misty family pony. They are the result of inbred dams being bred to a related sire who is also inbred. Cyclone II, Summers Nightmist, Rainstorm, Nightmist’s Rainy Day, Stormy Mist II, Misty’s Shadows, Sharon's Nightmist Girl, and Sierra Mist all descend from Stormy six times, Windy five times, and Cyclone three times in the first five generations:
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/cyclone+ii (full sibling to Summers Nightmist)
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/rainstorm8 (full sibling to Sharon’s Nightmist Girl)
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/stormy+mist2 (full sibling to Nightmist’s Rainy Day, Misty’s Shadows, and Sierra Mist)

The frequency and severity of inbreeding in Misty’s family has decreased significantly since the Chincoteague Miniature Pony Farm days and the reduction will hopefully continue with successive generations. Inbreeding/linebreeding has its place, but it must be done with careful consideration of every cross. While linebreeding can bring out positive traits in a line; inbreeding can bring out the negative traits, contribute to genetic defects, and create new problems such as infertility if not done properly. Outcrossing is needed to contribute to genetic diversity to bring in new blood and new positive traits to create a stronger breed. Thankfully the need for genetic diversity in Misty's family was recognized and acted upon by most breeders.

**For anyone not used to reading pedigrees on the All Breed Pedigree Query, each inbred ancestor is assigned a random color so it is easy to locate the common ancestors. Ignore the entries that say WILD, those are placeholders for unknown wild ancestors.

Inbreeding in Misty’s Family, Part 1

2010-02-05T17:39:00.007-06:00

Inbreeding is a long standing problem in Misty’s family. Many of Misty’s descendants are inbred to her and Stormy. For some the inbreeding is far back in the pedigree (http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/misty+moon+dancer), for others it is up close (http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/nightmist+legend), and the sometimes not at all (http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/misty+iis+henry). **

The inbreeding started at the Chincoteague Miniature Pony Farm where, often in the absence of ponies from outside blood, close relatives were bred. I outlined a few examples of Pony Farm bred ponies below.

Hurricane, Tornado, and Wind Storm, all full siblings, are a result of mother to son. This occurred because Cyclone was turned out with turned out with all of the Misty mares regardless of relation. In the 1980s Stormy’s son Thunder was turned out on alternating nights from Cyclone so some brother sister matings probably occurred, but determining which stallion sired which foal was a guessing game.
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/mistys+hurricane
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/mistys+tornado
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/mistys+wind+storm

Zephyr and Virga are a result of breeding cousins. Zephyr died before her first birthday and Virga only lived a few days. It’s not proven, but both may have been due to hereditary defects especially considering Misty II’s later four foals have lived well into adulthood.
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/mistys+zephyr
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/mistys+virga
Blue Skies is another cousin breeding that may have died young.
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/mistys+blue+skies

Sunny is result of cousins. She developed back problems to where she was unable to be ridden or bred. Two of Rainbow’s later foals by an unrelated sire do not have this problem and are very athletic.
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/mistys+sunny

Several Pony Farm bred ponies descend from Misty and Stormy more than twice.
Full siblings Drizzle and Stormy Mist descend from Stormy three times, as does Cirrus Cloud and Wings O Mist:
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/mistys+drizzle
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/mistys+cirrus+cloud
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/wings+o+mist

**For anyone not used to reading pedigrees on the All Breed Pedigree Query, each inbred ancestor is assigned a random color so it is easy to locate the common ancestors. Ignore the entries that say WILD, those are placeholders for unknown wild ancestors.

Continued in Part 2!

Chincoteague Pony Drill Team Rides in Virginia Gubernatorial Inaugural Parade

2010-01-26T19:40:00.008-06:00

The Chincoteague Pony Drill Team were invaded to ride in the inaugural parade for incoming Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell. Chincoteague Beacon article preceding the appearance: http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20100114/CB01/1140301/1052/CB

The governor’s website posted several pictures of the Drill Team, below.

Congrats to the Drill Team!

1978 Pony Farm Pictures

2010-01-13T18:54:00.003-06:00

Shortly after New Year's I received an email from Kim who visited the Chincoteague Miniature Pony Farm in 1978. She sent three pictures her dad had taken of her, two with Misty family and one with Misty.

The first picture is of Stormy's son Thunder. We don't have many pictures of him and it was also a color picture of which we only have one other.
http://www.mistysheaven.com/thunder.html

The second picture is of Rainy and her first foal Raindrop. We're very excited about this photo as it is the only known photo of Rainy's lost daughter.
http://www.mistysheaven.com/rainy.html
http://www.mistysheaven.com/raindrop78.html

The third is of Misty in the Misty Museum. A relatively early photo as Misty died earlier that decade in 1973. It's always interesting to me to see the changes in the museum.
http://www.mistysheaven.com/ponyfarmpictures.html

Many thanks to Kim for sharing the photos with us, they are a treasure!

End of an Era, Chincoteague Miniature Pony Farm Born Ponies

2010-01-05T17:48:00.003-06:00

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! There are several Misty family foals due to be born this year so there's a lot to look forward to. Pony Penning 2010 is July 24th through the 30th, swim day is the 28th and the auction is on the 29th.

Just as we saw 2009 and the decade come to a close, an era in Misty family ponies is also at the beginning of an end. For almost two decades virtually all of Misty’s family was born on the Chincoteague Miniature Pony Farm. Now that many years have passed since the final closing of the Pony Farm the number of ponies living that were born there has significantly dwindled. The following six ponies are the only ones we can confirm are still living that were foaled on the Chincoteague Miniature Pony Farm. However, as always there may be others out there somewhere that are “lost”.

Rainbow-age 30
http://www.mistysheaven.com/rainbow.html

Thunder II-age 25
http://www.mistysheaven.com/thunderii.html

Gentle Breeze-age 25
http://www.mistysheaven.com/gentlebreeze.html

Rainy’s Boy-age 25
http://www.mistysheaven.com/rainysboy.html

Sunpiper-age 20
http://www.mistysheaven.com/sunpiper.html

Wind Spirit-age 20
http://www.mistysheaven.com/windspirit.html

Lost Misty Family Ponies, Part 2

2009-12-03T18:47:00.001-06:00

The discussion of the lost Misty family ponies continues with the ponies not from the Chincoteague Miniature Pony Farm era.

Sandpiper http://www.mistysheaven.com/sandpiper.html
Phantom Wing’s only foal appears in the family tree of the Pictorial Life Story of Misty. From that we know his name, his dam’s name, and nothing else.

Cloudburst, Dawn, Twister, Mirage
http://www.mistysheaven.com/cloudburst.html
http://www.mistysheaven.com/dawn.html
http://www.mistysheaven.com/twister.html
http://www.mistysheaven.com/mirage.html
Cloudburst and Dawn are two of Sunshine’s foals, and Twister and Mirage are two of Twilight’s. They were sold when Dr. Price had to break up Stolen Hours Farm.

Stormcloud http://www.mistysheaven.com/stormcloud.html
While born at the Pony Farm he was not lost until later. We know much of his history thanks to his owner Celina, but because of a forced sale in the late 90’s Stormcloud disappeared.

Raindrop http://www.mistysheaven.com/raindrop1.html
A different Raindrop than Rainy’s and Rainbow’s foals, she is the second foal of SunDancer and never officially named. She was sold to a family who later sold her at auction.

Desert Storm http://www.mistysheaven.com/desertstorm.html
One of Stormcloud’s sons, his trail went cold after his second owner sold him.

Snowcloud http://www.mistysheaven.com/snowcloud.html
Another of Stormcloud’s sons, we have photos of him as a foal but he disappeared after he was sold.

Phantom Mist http://www.mistysheaven.com/phantommist.html
Our last record of her is that she was offered for sale online alongside Rainstorm.

Unnamed Nightmist foals
http://www.mistysheaven.com/sunflowerfilly.html
http://www.mistysheaven.com/nightmistfilly.html
http://www.mistysheaven.com/nightmistcolt.html
These three foals were offered for sale during Pony Penning and were sold at some point.

We hope that one day these lost ponies will surface and we will be able to mark these ponies off of the lost list.

Lost Misty Family Ponies, Part 1

2009-11-25T18:52:00.003-06:00

Anyone surfing Misty’s Heaven notices pretty quickly how many ponies have disappeared through the years. Some ponies we know of because of the family tree in the Pictorial Life Story of Misty. Other ponies we know of their early life, but they were lost after being sold.

Starting with the lost ponies from the Chincoteague Pony Farm era, a number lost early were likely sold young, and some may have died young. There are also likely unknown foals know nothing about. There is a gap in the records of the Misty line from 1979 to 1984, when the information on foals was lost somewhere between the updated publication of the Pictorial Life Story of Misty.

Breezy http://www.mistysheaven.com/breezy.html
Stormy’s only foal without a long history. She had two foals, Beebe Breeze and Sea Breeze, before disappearing and our best guess is that she died sometime after Sea Breeze was born. We’re pretty sure she was a chestnut pinto, but no picture of he has surfaced to date.

Raindrop http://www.mistysheaven.com/raindrop78.html
Rainy’s first known foal and the only one we don’t know what happened to.

Gusty http://www.mistysheaven.com/gusty.html
We have a picture of Gusty alongside Misty II, but little else. She was likely sold as a foal.

Storm Cloud http://www.mistysheaven.com/storm_cloud.html
One of the foals from the lost records time. We know of him thanks to a visitor to the Pony Farm who photographed him.

Foggy http://www.mistysheaven.com/foggy.html
A photo of Foggy is known to exist so we do know he was a chestnut pinto.

Gentle Misthttp://www.mistysheaven.com/gentlemist.html
We know her name, but nothing else.

Dewy http://www.mistysheaven.com/dewy.html
We know she was a chestnut pinto and her birth was announced in the Chincoteague newspaper. She was probably sold.

Blue Skies http://www.mistysheaven.com/blueskies.html
He most likely died over the winter, but he may also have been sold.

Whirlwind http://www.mistysheaven.com/whirlwind.html
We know she was a chestnut, and she was likely sold off the Pony Farm.

More lost Misty family ponies in part 2.

Horses: In Living Color

2009-11-20T09:02:00.003-06:00

There’s a beautiful new book out by renowned photographer Barbara Livingston called Horses: In Living Color. It’s full of spectacular photos of horses and ponies of all breeds, including the Chincoteague Pony.

The book features photos of the preserved Misty and Stormy (pg 194-195) and a group photo of Misty descendants at the Pony Centre (pg 196-197). Matt of Misty's Heaven is in the group shot holding Heat Wave and Icicle. The owner of all of the ponies, Kendy Allen, is pictured holding Desert Sun. The other ponies pictured are Misty III, September Stardust, Heart of the Storm, Henry, Morning Glory, Black Mist, and Smoke N Mist.

This Misty and equine color geek has thoroughly enjoyed her copy!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1581502176/ref=cm_sw_su_dp

Smoke 'N Mist (May 24-October 25, 2009)

2009-11-10T16:07:00.006-06:00

Smoke 'N Mist (Tuffer Than Leather x Misty's Desert Sun) passed away suddenly on October 25th of a very rare non-genetic heart condition. Smokey's eulogy written by his owner Kendy Allen can be found on his page: http://www.mistysheaven.com/smokenmist.html

Smokey will be missed by many!

Misty Family in the Show Ring

2009-10-25T17:50:00.007-05:00

A number of Misty family ponies have been successful in the show ring, especially those owned by the Allen's. Here are pictures of a few of them.

Headshot of Misty II at a show.

Black Mist showjumping.

Misty's May Day Twister competing in an english pleasure class.

Misty's Raindrop competing in cross country.

Misty's Twilight competing in dressage.

Misty's Morning Glory competing in a jumping class.

Misty's Sunpiper competing in dressage.

The Chincoteague Drill Team at Kentucky Horse Park. Many Misty family ponies have been part of the drill team through the years.

There are several young up and coming Misty ponies to look forward to seeing compete in the coming years!

Gale's Story

2009-10-18T18:08:00.002-05:00

Up until late 2008 Gale was one of our “lost ponies” that was sold off the Chincoteague Miniature Pony Farm and never heard from again. That was until Matt received an email from Gale’s owner Cathy which solved the mystery of what happened to Windy’s third foal. http://www.mistysheaven.com/gale.html

Those are the sort of emails that we absolutely love to receive and live in hope to get on all of our lost Misty ponies. It energizes and reminds us of why Misty’s Heaven exists; to preserve and record the history of Misty’s family.

Many thanks to Cathy for sharing Gale’s story with us!

Mommy Mix up-Thunder II and Gentle Breeze

2009-09-29T20:27:00.004-05:00

In the Pictorial Life Story of Misty's family tree for 1984 Misty II is listed as having a colt named Salty Mist and Beebe Breeze a filly named Gentle Breeze.

The Chincoteague Miniature Pony Farm had four Misty foals in the 1984 foal crop Gentle Breeze, Thunder II, Foggy, and Rainy's Boy. The mixup started when Gentle Breeze, Thunder II, and Rainy's Boy were sent to another farm when they were weaned. It is thought Foggy was sold young as we have very little information on him other than the fact he was a chestnut tobiano. When the trio was brought back to the Pony Farm it was forgotten which pony went to which mare. Rainy's Boy was the only one positively identified because Rainy's new owner had pictures of him with his dam. Rainy's Boy is also nearly a carbon copy of his older sister Rainbow.

The sires of the foals are Windy's son Cyclone or Stormy's son Thunder so the sires are related to each other and to the mares. Thunder is the supposed sire of Thunder II, hence the name, as they look a great deal alike.

Color genetics does not help solve this mystery as all four parents are chestnut based which always produce chestnut based foals. Thunder and Beebe Breeze are palominos so either could have passed cream on to Thunder II. Palominos can and often produce chestnuts as palominos are chestnut based and are non homozygous for the cream gene. If Thunder II had been cremello instead of chestnut he definitely would have been the son of Thunder and Beebe Breeze, but of course he isn't.

Thunder II shares looks and body type of Beebe Breeze, whereas Gentle Breeze looks more like Misty II in body. Sunpiper, another foal of Beebe Breeze, and Thunder II do look very similar to one another. Based on this we list Thunder II as out Beebe Breeze and Gentle Breeze out of Misty II.

However, the question will always remain and DNA testing would be the only way to finally put this mixup to rest.

What do you think?

Thunder II: http://www.mistysheaven.com/thunderii.html

Gentle Breeze: http://www.mistysheaven.com/gentlebreeze.html

Misty II: http://www.mistysheaven.com/mistyii.html

Beebe Breeze: http://www.mistysheaven.com/beebebreeze.html

New Pictures of Misty’s Red Cloud

2009-09-17T15:28:00.002-05:00

Several great new pictures of Misty’s Red Cloud (Island Wildfire x Misty’s Partly Cloudy) have been posted on his page. He’s turned out to be the spitting image of his dam. http://www.mistysheaven.com/redcloud.html

Thanks to his owner Susan Mueller for sharing them with us!

Who’s The Daddy

2009-09-04T16:56:00.003-05:00

It is very likely we will never know the sire of a number of Misty family ponies. DNA testing is nearly impossible as most of the ponies and their parents are deceased.

Windy is sired by an unnamed Thoroughbred stallion that was owned by Ralph Beebe. Gale (out of Windy) and Sea Breeze (out of Breezy) were sired by an unnamed Arabian stallion.

The records at the Chincoteague Miniature Pony Farm were occasionally incomplete and ponies such as Sunshine, Cyclone, and Rainbow have to be listed as sire unknown.

In the 1980’s Thunder and Cyclone were turned out on alternate nights with the Pony Farm mares which made determining the sires a guessing game. Thunder was a palomino so any dilute foals out of non dilute mares were sired by him. Both stallions were tobiano so that is no help. Body type is an indicator of which stallion sired which foals, but given that the sires and dams are all related that is also a guessing game.

I hold out some measure of hope that we'll figure/find out some of them eventually, but I'm not holding my breath!

Chincoteague Drill Team

2009-08-07T15:11:00.003-05:00

Video of the Chincoteague Drill Team before the 2009 Pony Penning auction:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJAajWU6PPo

Happy Pony Penning Day!

2009-07-29T20:04:00.003-05:00

It's the last Wednesday in July and that means it's Pony Penning Day! It's the 84th annual Pony Penning and Pony Swim.

The ponies swam at about 9:45 EST this morning. Read coverage at: http://www.delmarvanow.com and http://www.delmarvanow.com/section/CB

It's Pony Penning Week!

2009-07-26T15:32:00.003-05:00

Happy Pony Penning week!

Some reading for everyone stuck at home like me. The Chincoteague Beacon has been posting articles online and several have a Misty connection.

http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20090722/NEWS01/90722023/1052/CB/PONY-PENNING-COUNTDOWN--DAY-7--Drill-Team-makes-it-look-easy
Article also on Wild Pony Tales with pictures (Matt's in a few!): http://wildponytales.info/archives/589

Article also on Wild Pony Tales: http://wildponytales.info/archives/613

http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20090724/NEWS01/90724007/1052/CB/PONY-PENNING-COUNTDOWN--DAY-5--Accomack-s-Custis-remembers-role-in--Misty--movie

http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20090725/NEWS01/90725015/1052/CB/PONY-PENNING-COUNTDOWN--DAY-4--Leonards-look-back-at-50-years-at-Pony-Farm

Happy Birthday Misty!

2009-07-20T22:09:00.004-05:00

Today is Misty's 63rd birthday!

Picture from her party during Breyerfest at the Kentucky Horse Park statue:

Misty's Birthday Party at Breyerfest

2009-07-14T21:35:00.002-05:00

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=116813327312

Barbara Livingston

2009-07-08T21:56:00.004-05:00

Renowned equine photographer Barbara Livingston (http://www.barbaralivingston.com) was on Chincoteague today and photographed Misty family ponies for a new book. There will be a couple pages of them in the book.

Ms. Livingston photographed the Allen Misty family ponies at the Chincoteague Pony Centre and the Centre's evening pony show which included the Chincoteague Drill Team. She also visited Beebe Ranch and the resident Misty family pony, Nightmist's Little Angel.

Ms. Livingston,
Thanks so much for your kind words to Matt today about Misty's Heaven and The Colorful Chincoteague!

1985 Pony Farm Pictures

2009-06-19T14:02:00.003-05:00

A visitor to the website was kind enough to send send us three pictures from when she visited the Chincoteague Miniature Pony Farm in 1985. Thanks Nancy! All three have been added to the website.

It's always great to hear from those that visited the Pony Farm. Whether it be with pictures, information on ponies, or just a note saying they got to visit back when it was open. The Pony Farm played a huge part in the history of Misty's family.

Stormy, and that's Foggy Mist in the next stall

Smoke N Mist Pictures

2009-06-17T19:07:00.003-05:00

Pictures of Smoke N Mist (Tuffer than Leather x Misty's Desert Sun) have been added to the website: http://www.mistysheaven.com/smokenmist.html

Pictures of his sire Tuffy have also been added: http://www.mistysheaven.com/tuffy.html

Matt at the Chincoteague Pony Centre

2009-06-15T19:12:00.003-05:00

Matt of Misty's Heaven is now at the Chincoteague Pony Centre and will be working there until late August. If you visit the Pony Centre this season be sure and look for him!

Matt and Misty's Heat Wave

New Ponies Added

2009-06-07T18:51:00.003-05:00

Smoke 'N Mist Article

2009-06-07T18:49:00.002-05:00

An article about Smoke 'N Mist appeared in the Chincoteague Beacon: http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20090604/CB01/906040336/1052/CB

Nightmist 1998-2009

2009-05-30T11:36:00.006-05:00

The last foal of Windy, Nightmist, died on May 14th after a bout with colic. He was buried next to his dam Windy and his granddam Stormy. http://www.mistysheaven.com/nightmist.html

Nightmist's last foal, a filly out of Sea Storm was renamed Sharon's Nightmist Girl from Tsunami Mist in honor of her sire: http://www.mistysheaven.com/sharonsnightmistgirl.html Nightmist's 2002 son out of Gentle Breeze was renamed Nightmist Legend from Mountain Dew and will fill his sire's spot in promoting Misty: http://www.mistysheaven.com/nightmistlegend.html

Numerous news stories appeared:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/may/16/chincoteagues-misty-descendant-nightmist-11-dies/
http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20090519/NEWS01/90519033/-1/ESN/CHINCOTEAGUE++Nightmist++popular+descendant+of+Misty++dies
http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/virginia/dp-va--mistydescendant0515may15,0,2065266.story
http://wjz.com/virginiawire/22.0.html?type=local&state=va&category=n&filename=VA--MistyDescendant.xml
http://www.wvva.com/Global/story.asp?S=10370662
http://www.timesleader.com/news/ap?articleID=2205212

Unfortunately, some media outlet screwed up and reported that the last great grandfoal of Misty had died and another further distorted it saying the last descendant of Misty had died. In true media fashion other media outlets picked it up and perpetrated the error.
http://www.therecordherald.com/archive/x1194176998/Last-great-grandfoal-of-famous-pony-dies
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2009/05/last_direct_descendant_of_mist.html

Smoke 'N Mist

2009-05-29T17:53:00.003-05:00

Smoke 'N Mist was foaled on May 24th and is the fourth foal for Misty's Desert Sun (Red Elvis x Misty's Partly Cloudy). He is a black tobiano colt sired by the black tobiano stallion Tuffer Than Leather. Desert Sun's previous three foals were sired by Cezanne.

http://www.mistysheaven.com/smokenmist.html

Welcome!

2009-05-29T17:16:00.001-05:00

Welcome to the Misty's Heaven Blog! Misty family news will be posted as well as news about the Misty's Heaven website.