Pit Ponies

Each pony had his own stable underground, and his nameplate would be put over the door. Many ponies just had ordinary boys' names, such as Ted, Joe, Walt and Dick, but some miners chose fancy names for their ponies, like Duke, Marquis, Prince and Royal. Some names would describe the colour of the pony, such as Sweep (black) or Smokey (grey). The miners even named the ponies after their temperament, so that a pony called 'Fly' would be a smart, rather tricky pony.