These horses or "pit ponies" were deprived of experiencing the sunlight and fresh air. Instead, they lived in darkness underground, relying on their instincts and the guidance of their human partners, known as conogons. These horses were born, worked, and perished in the dark, enduring strenuous labor. It was not uncommon for a single horse to pull up to eight heavy coal wagons alone. Despite their challenging circumstances, these animals maintained their dignity and were aware of their rights, such as refusing to move if they felt burdened with excessive wagons. They also possessed a remarkable sense of time, knowing when their working day should end and finding their way back to the stables even in darkness. This demanding work of horses in the mines continued until 1972 when technology took over, marking the end of an era. On December 3, 1972, Ruby, the last miner's horse, emerged from the mines in a grand fashion. Accompanied by an orchestra, Ruby, adorned with a flower wreath, was brought out of the darkness, symbolizing the conclusion of the era of mining horses and their connogon partners. To commemorate their shared labor underground, a sculptural composition named "Conogon" was erected within the Museum-Reserve "Red Hill".
Been reading up on pit ponies because I want to get a Shetland Pony in dungeons and dragons to pull a wagon for loot while we're in a dungeon, and the history of pit ponies is interesting.
They really started being used after a bunch of children died working in a mine, so they outlawed that and mine owners decided the next best thing to child labour was shoving horses underground.
The first known recorded use of ponies underground in Great Britain was in the Durham coalfield in 1750.
Following the drowning deaths of 26 children when the Huskar Colliery in Silkstone flooded on 4 July 1838, "A report was published in The Times, 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 to Parliament 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.
At the peak of this practice in 1913, there were 70,000 ponies underground in Britain.
Probably the last colliery horse to work underground in a British coal mine, "Robbie", was retired from Pant y Gasseg, near Pontypool, in May 1999.
As we walked towards Carn Llidi, we were surprised to see a little herd of Welsh ponies grazing on the hillside. These hardy and resilient ponies still live a semi-feral life here. They are beautiful creatures and very much a part of the land and its history, having ploughed its fields, carried its warriors and worked in its mines for centuries. It is known that there have been ponies here for…
As we walked towards Carn Llidi, we were surprised to see a little herd of Welsh ponies grazing on the hillside. These hardy and resilient ponies still live a semi-feral life here. They are beautiful creatures and very much a part of the land and its history, having ploughed its fields, carried its warriors and worked in its mines for centuries. It is known that there have been ponies here for…
The Exmoor pony is a horse breed native to the British Isles, where some still roam as semi-feral livestock on Exmoor, a large area of moorland in Devon and Somerset in southwest England. The Exmoor has been given "endangered" status by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, and "threatened" status by The Livestock Conservancy. It is one of the British Isles' mountain and moorland pony breeds, having conformation similar to that of other cold-weather-adapted pony breeds. Exmoor ponies are usually a variant of dark bay, called "brown", with pangaré ("mealy") markings around the eyes, muzzle, flanks, and underbelly. Pangaré markings occur in other equines as well as horses, and are considered to be a primitive trait. Entry in the breed registry requires that the animal have no white markings. They usually stand 11.1 to 12.3 hands tall. However Exmoors may be taller than this limit with some reaching 13.2 hands.
Equines have been present in Britain since 700,000 BC, and fossil remains have been found in the area of Exmoor dating back to about 50,000 BC. Some claim that the breed has been purebred since the ice age; others claim this is unsupported by modern DNA research. There is however a close morphological resemblance to the primitive wild horse. Archeological investigations have shown that horses were used for transport in the southwest of England as early as 400 BC, and Roman carvings show ponies phenotypically similar to the Exmoor pony.
The Domesday Book mentions ponies in Exmoor in 1086. Mentions of the ponies are rare between then and 1818, when the Royal Exmoor Forest was sold to a private buyer. From the 1820s to 1860s Exmoors were used to produce crossbreds, which although successful were not as hardy as their ancestors. In 1893, the ponies were described in Sidney's Book of the Horse as around 12 hands high, usually bay in color, and with conformation similar to what it is today. In the late 1800s, the National Pony Society began to register Exmoors and Exmoor crossbreds. In 1921, the Exmoor Pony Society was formed, and published its first stud book in 1963.
The Second World War led to a sharp decrease in the breed population as the moor became a training ground. The breed nearly became extinct, with only 50 ponies surviving the war. This was partially due to soldiers using some ponies for target practice and others being stolen by people in the cities. After the war, a small group of breeders continued to preserve the population, and publicity in 1981 resulted in increased interest in the breed. The first Exmoors in North America were imported to Canada in the 1950s, and several small herds are still maintained there. In the 1990s, small herds of Exmoor ponies were established in various areas of England. These herds are used to maintain vegetation on nature reserves, many being managed by organisations such as the National Trust, Natural England, and County Wildlife Trusts. The Equus Survival Trust considers the breed to be "critical", meaning that there are between 100 and 300 active adult breeding mares. As of 2010, there were estimated to be around 800 Exmoor ponies worldwide.
In the past, Exmoors were used as pit ponies. Ponies not kept in semi-feral conditions are used for a variety of activities including showing, long-distance riding, driving, and agility. Exmoor ponies won both divisions at the International Horse Agility Championships in 2011, and took a third title at the 2012 Championships. The breed's hardiness makes it suitable for conservation grazing, and it contributes to the management of many heathland, chalk grassland and other natural pasture habitats, as well as to the conservation of Exmoor itself. A herd of 14 Exmoors from Exmoor National park were moved to the former military base of Milovice (Nymburk District), Czech Republic, in an effort to improve biodiversity by conservation grazing, in January 2015.
Hand drawn illustration, coloured, touched up and animated in Photoshop.
This is based on the Phenakistoscope that I created for Magnificent Second Occupation. I extended the loop slightly to include the mince reforming into the horse as I figured that a cyclical birthing and mincing was slightly less depressing than the original’s sustained slaughter. At least this way the horse is revived? Still, it’s hardly cheery.
Animation created for Trashmouth Records and Pit Ponies.
