A miner with two pit ponies.  Pit ponies were used extensively in coal mines from the mid-18th to the mid-20th century to haul heavy coal tubs through narrow underground tunnels. Often living in underground stables, these strong, short-statured animals were crucial for mining before mechanization, with thousands working in British mines, peaking at 70,000 in 1913.

In 1984 there were still 55 ponies in use with the National Coal Board in Britain, chiefly at the modern pit in Ellington, Northumberland.  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.