''Pit Pony'' is a children's historical novel written by

Joyce Barkhouse Joyce Carman Barkhouse (May 3, 1913 – February 2, 2012) was a Canadian children's writer best known for writing historical fiction. She is the aunt of Margaret Atwood, with whom she co-wrote the children's book ''Anna's Pet''. Barkhouse achi ...

. It was published in 1990 and won the first

Ann Connor Brimer Award The Ann Connor Brimer Award for Atlantic Canadian Children's Literature is a $2,000 annual award given to an Atlantic Canadian writer deemed to have made an outstanding contribution to literature for young people. Starting in 2016, the prize altern ...

. ''Pit Pony'' was adapted for television in 1997 and 1999.

Plot summary

In ''Pit Pony'', Barkhouse describes life in a coal-mining town in turn-of-the-century

Cape Breton Cape Breton Island (french: link=no, île du Cap-Breton, formerly '; gd, Ceap Breatainn or '; mic, Unamaꞌki) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18. ...

and also deals with the importance of education. It is the story of Willie and Gem, a

pit pony 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 ...

. Willie is an eleven-year-old boy forced by family circumstances to work as a

trapper Animal trapping, or simply trapping or gin, is the use of a device to remotely catch an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including food, the fur trade, hunting, pest control, and wildlife management. History Neolithic ...

in a Cape Breton

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 ...

, and Gem is a Sable Island mare working as a pit pony. As they work together, a strong bond develops between boy and horse. The book describes the grim realities of life for a young

miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...

– cold, exhaustion, fear – discomforts and dangers that also affected the horses. When Willie and Gem are trapped in the mine during a "

bump Bump or Bumps may refer to: * A collision or impact * A raised protrusion on the skin such as a pimple, goose bump, prayer bump, lie bumps, etc. Infrastructure and industry * Coal mine bump, a seismic jolt occurring within a mine * Bump (uni ...

" – with falling rock and timber, and choking dust – Willie must choose between escaping with Gem or saving the life of another young miner. Willie's choice to save the young miner's life over Gem's life sets Willie free – free to leave the mines and to pursue his education. As it turns out, however, Gem had been pregnant, and her foal is saved.

Awards

''Pit Pony'' was named as notable by the

Canadian Library Association The Canadian Library Association (CLA) was a national, predominantly English-language association which represented 57,000 library workers across Canada. It also spoke for the interests of the 21 million Canadians who are members of libraries. C ...

; received the first Ann Connor Brimer Award in 1991 for "outstanding contribution to children's literature in

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (french: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundlan ...

"; and was the unanimous choice of

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

librarians to be produced as a

Talking Book ''Talking Book'' is the fifteenth studio album by American singer, songwriter, and musician Stevie Wonder, released on October 27, 1972, by Tamla, a subsidiary of Motown Records. This album and ''Music of My Mind'', released earlier the same yea ...

for the

CNIB The CNIB Foundation (french: Fondation INCA) is a volunteer agency and charitable organization dedicated to assisting Canadians who are blind or living with vision loss, and to provide information about vision health for all Canadians. Founded ...

, for national and international distribution.

Movie and television series

''Pit Pony'' was made into a

CBC-TV CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

movie by Cochran Entertainment (1997), won three

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States ...

s, and became a 44-episode TV series.

References

1990 Canadian novels Canadian children's novels Children's historical novels Canadian historical novels Novels set in Nova Scotia Cape Breton Island Children's novels about horses 1990 children's books Children's books set in Nova Scotia {{1990s-child-hist-novel-stub