![Nnc1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Nnc1.cu55831290_page_087_cropped.jpg)
A pit pony, otherwise known as a mining horse,
was a
horse, pony or mule commonly used underground in
mines from the mid-18th until the mid-20th century. The term "pony" was sometimes broadly applied to any equine working underground.
[English Pit Ponies]
The Colliery Engineer
Vol. VIII, No. 1 (August 1887); pages 6-7.
History
The first known recorded use of ponies underground in Great Britain was in the
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham
*County Durham, an English county
* Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
coalfield in 1750. Following the drowning deaths of 26 children when the
Huskar Colliery
Huskar Pit was a coal mine on the South Yorkshire Coalfield, sunk to work the Silkstone seam. It was located in Nabs Wood, outside the village of Silkstone Common, in the then West Riding of Yorkshire. It was connected to the Barnsley Canal by ...
in
Silkstone
Silkstone is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, between the towns of Barnsley and Penistone. The parish includes the village of Silk ...
flooded on 4 July 1838, "A report was published in ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'', and the wider British public learned for the first time that women and children worked in the mines. There was a public outcry, led by politician and reformer
Anthony Ashley Cooper, later Lord Shaftesbury," who then introduced the
Mines and Collieries Act 1842
The Mines and Collieries Act 1842 (c. 99), commonly known as the Mines Act 1842, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act forbade women and girls of any age to work underground and introduced a minimum age of ten for boys e ...
to
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
which barred women, girls and boys under 10 (later amended to 13) from working underground, leading to the widespread use of horses and ponies in mining in England, though child labour lingered on to varying extents until finally elliminated by a variety of factors including further laws, improved inspection regimes, and changing economics.
In the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
,
mule
The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two pos ...
s outnumbered ponies in mines.
[H. H. Stoek, J. R. Fleming, A. J. Hoskin]
''A Study of Coal Mine Haulage in Illinois''
Bulletin 132, University of Illinois Engineering Experiment Station, July 1922; pages 15–16. The use of ponies was never common in the US, though ponies were used in Appalachian coal fields in the mid-20th century.
[ Available on YouTube in three part]
part 1
part 2
part 3
The British
Coal Mines Regulation Act 1887 presented the first national legislation to protect horses working underground. Due to pressure from the National Equine Defense League (formerly the Pit Ponies' Protection Society) founded in 1908 by animal and human rights advocate
Francis Albert Cox (24 June 1862 – 25 May 1920) – and the Scottish Society to Promote Kindness to Pit Ponies; in 1911, a
Royal Commission report was published, detailing conditions, which resulting in protective legislation.
In 1904, the president of the Association for the Prevention of Cruelty to Pit Ponies, Countess
Maud Fitzwilliam, daughter of
Lawrence Dundas, 1st Marquess of Zetland
Lawrence Dundas, 1st Marquess of Zetland (16 August 1844 – 11 March 1929), known as Lawrence Dundas until 1873 and as the Earl of Zetland from 1873 to 1892, was a British Conservative statesman. He was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland between 18 ...
, awarded a young
Elsecar Collieries
The Elsecar Collieries were the coal mines sunk in and around Elsecar, a small village to the south of Barnsley in what is now South Yorkshire, but was traditionally in the West Riding of Yorkshire.
The last operating mine, Elsecar Main, closed ...
mine worker, John William Bell of Wentworth, the Fitzwilliam Medal for Kindness for an act of bravery that saved the life of his equine workmate. Bell's story of staying behind while his human workmates were able to escape through a small opening, to ensure that the pony would have a chance of rescue, became a successful tool for the Countess in promoting pit pony rights. The brave young man appears to have given his own life to the mines, nonetheless, when, on 27 March 1910, John William Bell, son of Henry, died when hit by falling rock at the
Oakenshaw mine while trying to aid another miner whose hand putter's tub had become loose.
In 1911,
Sir Harry Lauder
Sir Henry Lauder (; 4 August 1870 – 26 February 1950)Russell, Dave"Lauder, Sir Henry (1870–1950)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online edition, January 2011, accessed 27 April 2014 was a S ...
became an outspoken advocate, "pleading the cause of the poor pit ponies" to
Sir Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...
, when introduced to him at the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
, reporting to the ''
Tamworth Herald
The ''Tamworth Herald'' is a weekly tabloid newspaper published every Thursday in Tamworth, Staffordshire, England, with a cover price of £1.40. The newspaper covers events across Tamworth and south Staffordshire, as well as North Warwickshire. ...
'' that he "could talk for hours about my wee four-footed friends of the mine. But I think I convinced him that the time has now arrived when something should be done by the law of the land to improve the lot and working conditions of the patient, equine slaves who assist so materially in carrying on the great mining industry of this country."
At the peak of this practice in 1913, there were 70,000 ponies underground in Britain. In later years, mechanical haulage was introduced on the main underground roads replacing 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 is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary authorit ...
as "putting") which were more difficult to mechanise. As of 1984, 55 ponies were still in use with the
National Coal Board
The National Coal Board (NCB) 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 United Kingdom's collieries on "v ...
in Britain, chiefly at the modern pit in
Ellington, Northumberland
Ellington is a small village in the civil parish of Ellington and Linton, on the coast of Northumberland, England. Ellington is from Ashington, from Morpeth and north of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Ellington was the site of the last remaining op ...
. When Ellington closed for the first time in 1994, four pit ponies were brought out (no ponies were used there during the RJB era). Of the four, two went to the
National Coal Mining Museum for England
The National Coal Mining Museum for England is based at the site of Caphouse Colliery in Overton, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It opened in 1988 as the Yorkshire Mining Museum and was granted national status in 1995.
History
Caphouse C ...
at Caphouse and two went to Newcastle Cat and Dog Shelter.
The last surviving pony was Tony who died in 2011 aged 40 at the Newcastle Cat and Dog Shelter.
Probably the last colliery horse to work underground in a British
coal mine
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...
, "Robbie", was retired from Pant y Gasseg, near
Pontypool
Pontypool ( cy, Pont-y-pŵl ) is a town and the administrative centre of the county borough of Torfaen, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in South Wales. It has a population of 28,970.
Location
It is situated on the Afon Lwyd ri ...
, in May 1999. The last pony mine in the US, located near
Centerville, Iowa
Centerville is a city in and the county seat of Appanoose County, Iowa, Appanoose County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,412 in the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, a decline from 5,924 in 2000 United States Census, 2000. After ...
, closed in 1971.
The last pit ponies used in Australia, Wharrier and Mr Ed of the
Collinsville Coal's No 2 Mine in Queensland, were finally retired in 1990 after many years’ service.
File:Pit Pony Lowered.jpg, Nineteenth-century illustration of a pony being lowered down a mine shaft at Creuzot, France.
File:Pit pony and miner in a mine in New Aberdeen, Nova Scotia.jpg, Pit pony and miner in a mine in New Aberdeen, Nova Scotia, August 1946. The last working pit pony was brought out of the Drummond Coal Company colliery at Westville in 1978.
Breed and conformation
Larger horses, such as varieties of
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 ...
, could be used on higher underground roadways, but on many duties small ponies no more than high were needed.
Shetlands
Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom.
The islands lie about to the no ...
were a
breed
A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...
commonly used because of their small size, but
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
, Russian, Devonshire (
Dartmoor
Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers .
The granite which forms the uplands dates from the Carboniferous ...
) and Cornish ponies also saw extensive use in England.
In the
interwar period
In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...
, ponies were imported into Britain from the
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...
,
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.
Gelding
A gelding is a castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. Castration, as well as the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male equine to be calmer and better-behaved, makin ...
s and
stallions
A stallion is a male horse that has not been gelded (castrated).
Stallions 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 ...
only were used.
Donkey
The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...
s were also used in the late 19th century, and in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, large numbers of
mule
The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two pos ...
s were used.
Regardless of breed, typical mining 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
The Coal Mines Act 1911 amended and consolidated legislation in the United Kingdom related to collieries. A series of mine disasters in the 19th and early-20th centuries had led to commissions of enquiry and legislation to improve mining safety. T ...
, ponies had to be four years old and work ready (shod and vet checked) before going underground.
[.] They could work until their twenties.
Work
![Pit POny Stable](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Pit_POny_Stable.jpg)
In
shaft mines, ponies were normally stabled underground
and fed on a diet with a high proportion of chopped
hay
Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticat ...
and
maize
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
, coming to the surface only during the colliery's annual holiday. In
slope
In mathematics, the slope or gradient of a line is a number that describes both the ''direction'' and the ''steepness'' of the line. Slope is often denoted by the letter ''m''; there is no clear answer to the question why the letter ''m'' is use ...
and
drift
Drift or Drifts may refer to:
Geography
* Drift or ford (crossing) of a river
* Drift, Kentucky, unincorporated community in the United States
* In Cornwall, England:
** Drift, Cornwall, village
** Drift Reservoir, associated with the village
...
mines, the stables were usually on the surface near the mine entrance.
Typically, they would work an eight-hour shift each day, during which they might haul 30 tons of coal in tubs on the underground
mine railway
A mine railway (or mine railroad, U.S.), sometimes pit railway, is a railway constructed to carry materials and workers in and out of a mine. Materials transported typically include ore, coal and overburden (also called variously spoils, waste, ...
. One 1911 writer estimated that the average working life of coal mining mules was only years, where 20-year working lives were common on the surface.
Recollections differ on how well the ponies were cared for in earlier years.
In art
![Penallta pit pony - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Penallta_pit_pony_-_geograph.org.uk_-_90215.jpg)
Pit ponies are commemorated by a artwork, ''Sultan'', created between 1996 and 1999 by
Mike Petts
Mike may refer to:
Animals
* Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum
* Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off
* Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and docume ...
, using 60,000 tons of coal shale waste, covered with living grass, in a country park on the site of the former
Penallta Colliery
Penallta Colliery was a coal mine, located close to Hengoed in the Rhymney Valley in the South Wales Valleys. A coal mine which in 1935 held the European record for coal wound in a 24-hour period, it is now the site of an original redevelopment ...
, north of Caerphilly, Wales.
The artwork was named by local people, after one of the last pit ponies from the area, which was still living at the time.
See also
* ''
Escape from the Dark
''Escape from the Dark'' (American title: ''The Littlest Horse Thieves'') is a 1976 family drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions, directed by Charles Jarrott and starring Alastair Sim (in his final film role), Peter Barkworth and Mauri ...
''
* ''
The Stars Look Down
''The Stars Look Down'' is a 1935 novel by A. J. Cronin which chronicles various injustices in an English coal mining community. A film version was released in 1940, and television adaptations include both Italian (1971) and British (1975) ve ...
''
References
Footnotes
General references
*
External links
* , TV movie about pit ponies in Nova Scotia
''My Pal, Bute'' an ex-mine worker from North East England describes the life and work of his pit pony
Fforest Uchaf Horse & Pony Centre a sanctuary in South Wales for former pit ponies and other horses
{{Authority control
Working horses
Coal mining