What ponies were used in coal mines?
What ponies were used in coal mines?
Ponies are frequently seen grazing on the farms near coal mines. Most of these rugged little ponies are descendants of pit ponies which were used to haul coal from mines as early as the 1600s.
What happened to the pit ponies?
Horses began working underground in the 1700s and continued to do so throughout the industrial revolution. The use of pit ponies went into steady decline after 1913, when the number registered reached a peak of 70,000.
Why were ponies used in coal mines?
Hauling heavy carts in the dark depths of coal and anthracite mines, inhaling toxic soot. Their small size meant that they could fit in the narrow mine shafts and small tunnels. In some mines, these ponies lived on the surface near the entrance of the mine, while in others they were stabled underground.
Why did they use pit ponies?
In the days before mechanisation, pit ponies were stabled underground and were used to transport materials in and coal out of the mine.
When were the last pit ponies used?
Pit ponies were commonly used in mines in the 19th and 20th Centuries, but Duke stopped working down the small, private mine of Pantygasseg near Pontypool, Torfaen, in 1999.
What was a pit pony?
pit pony in British English (pɪt ˈpəʊnɪ ) noun. mining. formerly, a pony used in coal mines to pull loads of coal. In 1913 there were 70,000 pit ponies at work in Britain.
Are there any pit ponies left?
The last working pit pony was brought out of the Drummond Coal Company colliery at Westville in 1978.
How long did pit ponies stay underground?
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.
How did pit ponies get down the mines?
Sadly, in shaft mines, it was difficult and time-consuming to get the ponies underground. Early 19th century drawings show the pit ponies being tied by leather straps to a gravity-defying lift that was then lowered down. Others were lowered down in a cage-lift, often one-by-one.
When were pit ponies last used?
Why did pit ponies go blind?
Many people, mistakenly believed that pit ponies eventually went blind underground but in fact the use of blind ponies was expressly forbidden by law. Unfortunately some ponies did go blind but it was from old age or they injured their eyes at work before the introduction of effective leather headgear with eye.
Did pit ponies go blind?