Ponies.A band of the famous Chincoteague wild ponies of Virginia’s outer banks had to be moved earlier this week because some of the tourists who flock to the island town each year were disregarding warnings to neither feed nor approach the herd.Each spring, the 150-strong herd, driven by swimming cowboys, makes the five-minute low-tide paddle across the channel from their grazing ground on Assateague Island to the village of Chincoteague, where many are sold to generate revenue for the local volunteer fire department.Last year, a female pony slipped while running in a corral and suffered a fatal neck injury, prompting the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to call for an end to the annual swim and auction. Earlier this year, seven ponies died from a fungal disease acquired while grazing on swamp grass in their year-round habitat. Their caretakers are developing strategies for both immunization of the herd and eradication of the fungus.Donkeys.On the postcard-perfect Greek island of Santorini, in recent years awash with European visitors, officials have taken steps to protect the health of the donkeys who make the long, winding climb hauling tourists and their luggage from the harbor to the hilltop hotels some 1,300 feet above sea level.Veterinary examinations were revealing that the durable beasts of burden increasingly were showing signs of spinal injury, dehydration, and wounds associated with ill-fitting equipment. The abuses were brought to the attention of local officials by concerned visitors, and, as a result, the Greek government stepped in to limit the weight each donkey could carry to 100 kilograms, or about 220 pounds.The Donkey Sanctuary, a British-based animal welfare group, has produced an awareness video called “In Their Hooves” that is being shown on cruise ships that in the recent past have disgorged upward of 17,000 passengers each day. This year, Santorini officials are cutting that number in half.Mustangs.After studio interest in feel-good racing movies petered out in the wake of “Seabiscuit,” “Dreamer,” and “Secretariat,” filmmakers seemingly have rediscovered connections between horses and humans that go deeper than simply winning the big one.In the last year, modestly budgeted small releases like “The Rider” and “Lean on Pete” exposed their limited audiences to transformational stories that rang painfully true. One is so physically raw that it’s hard to believe the people involved did not require counseling. The other is a post-modern twist on “Huckleberry Finn” that offers – for those who missed it – a frayed valentine to Portland Meadows. Also, horses die.Now comes “The Mustang” and its familiar message of how the outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man, even when both are psychological wrecks. There are no heroes, but there are heroics, and anyone familiar with the Second Chances Program of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, pairing felons and retired racehorses for mutual benefit, will find comfort in the mustang version set in Nevada.Horseplayers.The forgotten constituency, right? Not by Sam Shepard, whose 1974 play “Geography of a Horse Dreamer” is running this month at the Tenth Avenue Arts Center in San Diego. “Guys and Dolls” it ain’t. A young farmhand dreams horse races before the fact and nails winners left and right. A couple of lowlife hustlers latch on to the kid and run up a pile of money before his dreams start to fizzle. The lowlifes call in some creepy muscle to get the kid back on track, and his mojo returns, only this time he dreams dog races. It takes his captors a few beats to figure the switch – this is the funny part – after which the kid’s family shows up and there is gunplay. Shepard won a Pulitzer prize, but for something else.Thoroughbreds.On Saturday, two races of historical significance are scheduled to be run 5,000 miles apart. In Liverpool, England, the traditional field of 40 will sally forth in the Grand National Steeplechase over 4 1/3 miles and 30 fences for a purse of $1.3 million and everlasting glory. In Arcadia, Calif., a field of six older runners will contest the $600,000 Santa Anita Handicap at a mile and one-quarter on dirt for a chance to be listed alongside such legendary athletes as Spectacular Bid, Affirmed, John Henry, Round Table, and Seabiscuit.There have been 82 documented fatalities resulting from the running of the Grand National since it began in 1839. Under pressure from the British animal-welfare community, modifications in some of the more severe jumps have reduced the rate of race-related deaths in the last decade to make it a more palatable risk, although activists still insist the race is too cruel to exist. The Santa Anita Handicap, planned as part of a stakes extravaganza on Saturday with the local Derby and Oaks, has experienced only one fatality since 1935. Unfortunately, that does not provide much comfort for the alarming rash of equine fatalities there in January and February. As a result, there have been calls from public officials and major media for racing at Santa Anita to cease until answers are revealed, but at this writing the show is scheduled to go on. Protesters will be present.In the Pollyanna past, there were no better days at Santa Anita than Handicap Day and Derby Day. Now here they are on the same afternoon, a racing fan’s dream, only to be played out under a bright sky … and dark clouds.