These little ponies became good workers on the plantations. They were captured and broken to harness and seemed to adapt to a new life. After capture they were fed a diet of oats, hay and corn which usually took a little space of time for them to accept. Marsh ponies were gentle, and children enjoyed riding and playing with them. The life span of a pony was about twenty-five to thirty years.

There seems to have been no records kept of the origin of the little ponies, but it is thought that they drifted south from the Shakelford Banks in North Carolina near Cape Hatteras--those having been brought to the New World by Sir Walter Raleigh's colonists. None of the marsh ponies remain today, having disappeared long ago.

A saying today for those who have left home--"You can't go home again" did not apply on Edisto, nor does it apply to many South Carolinians today. The phrase, "The tackey will go back to the Marsh" tells truthfully how easy it is for a South Carolinian to return to his home after a long absence.