A pit pony was a type of pony

Pony

A pony is a small horse . Depending on context, a pony may be a horse that is under an approximate or exact height at the withers, or a small horse with a specific conformation and temperament. There are many different breeds...

 commonly used underground in coal mines from the mid 18th up until the mid 20th century.

History

Ponies began to be used underground, often replacing child

Child labor

Child labour refers to the employment of children at regular and sustained labour. This practice is considered exploitative by many international organizations and is illegal in many countries...

 or female labour, as distances from pit head to coal face became greater. The first known recorded use in Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 was in the Durham

County Durham

County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...

 coalfield in 1750; however, the use of ponies was never common in the United States, though ponies were used in Appalachian coal fields in the mid 20th century. At the peak in 1913, there were 70,000 ponies underground in Britain. In later years, mechanical haulage was quickly introduced on the main underground roads replacing the pony hauls and ponies tended to be confined to the shorter runs from coal face to main road (known in North East England

North East England

North East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Teesside . The only cities in the region are Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland...

 as "putting") which were more difficult to mechanise. As of 1984, 55 ponies were still at use with the National Coal Board

National Coal Board

The National Coal Board was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on "vesting day", 1 January 1947...

 in Britain, chiefly at the modern pit in Ellington, Northumberland

Ellington, Northumberland

Ellington is a small village on the coast of Northumberland, England. Ellington is four miles from Ashington, six miles from Morpeth and twenty miles north of Newcastle upon Tyne....

. Probably the last colliery horse to work underground in a British coal mine, 'Robbie', was retired from Pant y Gasseg, near Pontypool

Pontypool

Pontypool is a town of approximately 36,000 people in the county borough of Torfaen, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in South Wales....

, in May 1999.

Breed and conformation

Larger horses, such as varieties of Cleveland Bay

Cleveland Bay

The Cleveland Bay is a breed of horse that originated in England during the 17th century, named after its colouring and the Cleveland district of Yorkshire. It is a well-muscled horse, with legs that are strong but short in relation to the body. The horses are always bay in colour, although a...

, could be used on higher underground roadways, but on many duties small ponies no more than 12 hands high were needed. Shetlands

Shetland pony

The Shetland pony is a breed of pony originating in the Shetland Isles. Shetlands range in size from a minimum height of approximately 28 inches to an official maximum height of 42 inches at the withers. Shetland ponies have heavy coats, short legs and are considered quite intelligent...

 were a breed commonly used because of their small size. In the Interwar period

Interwar period

Interwar period can refer to any period between two wars. The Interbellum is understood to be the period between the end of the Great War or First World War and the beginning of the Second World War in Europe....

, ponies were imported into Britain from the Faroe Islands

Faroe Islands

The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...

, Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

 and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Gelding

Gelding

A gelding is a castrated horse or other equine such as a donkey or a mule. Castration, and the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male horse to be calmer and better-behaved, making the animal quieter, gentler and potentially more suitable as an everyday...

s and stallions

Stallion (horse)

A stallion is a male horse that has not been gelded .Stallions will follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cresty" neck, as well as a somewhat more muscular physique as compared to...

 only were used. Donkey

Donkey

The donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E...

s were also used in the late 19th century. The ponies were low set, heavy bodied and heavy limbed with plenty of bone and substance, low-headed and sure-footed. Under the British Coal Mines Act of 1911, ponies had to be four years old before going underground; they could work until their twenties.

Work

Pit ponies were normally stabled underground and fed on a diet with a high proportion of chopped hay

Hay

Hay is grass, legumes or other herbaceous plants that have been cut, dried, and stored for use as animal fodder, particularly for grazing livestock such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep. Hay is also fed to pets such as rabbits and guinea pigs...

 and maize

Maize

Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...

, coming to the surface only during the colliery’s annual holiday. Typically, they would work an eight-hour shift each day, during which they might haul 30 tons of coal in tubs on the underground narrow gauge railway. Recollections differ on how well the ponies were cared for in earlier years, but it should be remembered that they represented a capital asset to the mine, and that the best work could be obtained from animals that were in good condition.

External links

• Pit Pony - 1997 film
• In a digital story, an ex-mine worker from the North East of England describes the life and work of his pit pony.
• Fforest Uchaf Horse & Pony Centre Website of the Pit Pony Sanctuary, a small UK Charity (no 1002933) that cares for several ex Pit Ponies gathered from the small private coal mines in Wales during the 1990s