How to see the wild horses of Assateague Island, USA

A band of horses trots over a sand dune, headed for the shoreline to escape the torturous sting of summer bugs. Led by a handsome bay stallion with enviable black locks cascading over his arched neck, 11 pinto and chestnut mares and foals buck and frolic past sunbathers, who step back cautiously to let them pass – these are, after all, wild animals, with unpredictable behaviour and attitude befitting the rock stars they are.

As a 50-odd-year-old woman who never outgrew my "pony phase", I am captivated as I watch the legendary horses of Assateague, a sandy barrier island stretching between Maryland and Virginia on the windswept east coast of America.

Like many of my generation, I grew up with the story of Misty of Chincoteague, a classic children's novel written by Marguerite Henry that told the story of a wild foal adopted by local children; so for me, this is somewhat of a pilgrimage, the opportunity to finally see the creatures that sparked my imagination and set me on a horse-obsessed path of no return.

I'm not alone in my adoration – the ponies are one of the biggest drawcards of the region, luring hundreds of thousands of tourists each year, with up to 50,000 people alone attending the Pony Swim festivities held in the small town of Chincoteague each July. The horses even have their own fan club, complete with apps and swap cards sharing details of their bloodlines and the most likely places they can be found in their island sanctuary home.

Feral horses have inhabited Assateague Island for more than 400 years. While local legend has it that the original inhabitants swam ashore after a Spanish galleon was shipwrecked during a ferocious storm, a more likely – though far less romantic – theory is that islanders let livestock loose on the island to avoid taxes. Whatever their origin, these hardy creatures have adapted to the mosquito-infested, sun-blasted environment, thriving against the odds on the salty, nutrient-poor grasses of the marshes and dunes.

There are two herds on Assateague Island, separated by state lines: the Maryland herd currently has 89 horses, managed by the National Park Service; while the southern herd of 150 ponies graze on Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge land, but are actually owned by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company.

The National Park's approach for the northern herd is minimal intervention – they are managed like other wildlife, with the only interference the administration of contraception to keep numbers to a sustainable level. The ponies have free range of the National Seashore territory, including the beach where they tend to hang out during the heat of day.