By Kim J. Harmon

A book, a calendar, magnets and key chains – gosh, the Somoskevecs (that would be Bobby, Judy and Jillian) never could have guessed that the newest member of their family (that would be Ocean Star Sea Breeze, a Chincoteague pony) would have been such a star.

A book.

A calendar.

Magnets.

Key chains.

Every year, on the last Thursday in July, the Chincoteague Pony Association auctions off a herd of ponies and despite the allure of that historic event (it’s been done for the past 80 years or so), the Somoskovecs traveled to Virginia and Chincoteague Island last year for a vacation, with no intention on buying a new pony.

And so, naturally, they returned to Newtown with a new pony.

“It was all my husband’s fault,” said Judy. “He said, ‘I want to buy Jillian a pony.’ And so she actually got to bid in the auction.”

The annual auction is really a rather majestic thing (in the words of Judy, a longtime fan of the Misty of Chincoteague series by Marguerite Henry, “it’s kind of mythical, kind of magical”). The ponies live year-around on the Assateague Island refuge and the Chincoteague Island firemen – who own the ponies – herd about 150 of them across the channel between the islands, pen them up and then hold the auction.

“There was a viewing in the pen,” said Jillian, 12, a student at the Newtown Middle School, “and we saw him. He wasn’t going for much, so I bid on him and got him. I was so surprised.”

Bidding usually starts at $1,000 and Ocean Star Sea Breeze didn’t go for much more than that. When the auctioneer made the final call, he leaned over and asked Jillian, “All right young lady, are you ready to own your own Chincoteague pony.”

She was.

“When Jillian won the bid on that pony – it was priceless to me,” said Judy, “just like the American Express© commercial. I will never forget that moment. All the moms around us were crying. When a child wins a pony, there’s not a dry eye in the place. Everyone feels the emotion and energy. Chincoteague really is quite magical.”

The Somoskovecs own a 20-year-old Arabian named Unleash the Magic. Both are boarded at Sabill’s Morgan Horse Farm in Southbury. Judy – a certified riding instructor – plans on using Breeze as a lesson pony.

They weren’t aware until just a short time ago that Breeze had his own line of gee-gaws. Some friends of the family had gone down to Chincoteague Island and saw a photo of Breeze in a calendar (September 2004). And then there was the book, Teager: Life On Chincoteague and Assateague Islands, with the writings of Charles N. Showard and the photos of Kevin N. Moore.

“I asked the photographer how he chose Breeze,” said Judy, “and he said, ‘He had that look in his eye.’ So I got all the stuff and had the book and the calendar autographed.”

Now, Breeze may be a little rambunctious and may have a little trouble doing what he is told (he is, after all, still a youngster at 16 months), but the Somoskovecs are happy to have a star in the family.