Training

The ponies would arrive t the colliery either unbroken or just trained to take a harness and it was up to the surface Ostler to prepare them for their work underground.

An article in The Colliery Guardian in 1930 recommends that pit ponies should undergo a 5 week raining period on the surface and that boys who were potential drivers should attend classes and lectures on working with and caring for ponies. However, as far as I can ascertain there is no evidence of any such classes or lectures being held in Rhondda Valleys pits.

The colliery management wanted to know as quickly as possible whether or not a pony was going to be suitable for underground work so that it could be returned to the dealer thereby lessening the outlay on that particular animal. Most training, therefore, was fairly hasty and there were many complaints that animals were sent underground long before they were ready.

The best training usually consisted of 2 stages; the first accustoming the pony to the harness and pulling heavy weights on rails; and the second, getting it used to the noise and chatter of mining machinery.

Once the surface training was complete, came the experience of the descent into the mine itself. No matter how carefully the trainers prepared them, there was no way of simulating the drop down the shaft into the noisy darkness.

Below ground, the training was carried out immediately, for the horse had to be assessed as quickly as possible to see if it was suitable for work underground. If the training was successful an it entered the regular workforce, then its hair would be clipped and its mane and tail shaved off. If it did not take to the work or proved unfit or unmanageable, it would be returned to the surface and send back to the dealer.

The early days of underground training often proved traumatic for both the pony and the driver. Though most collieries accustomed ponies to the harness on the surface, the putting of the shafts [which in pit work are attached to the pony’s harness, not to the vehicle being pulled] was frequently left until the animal was underground. Once they were used to these ‘extras’, they would then start pulling empty drams. They also had to learn to back load the drams, an experience that could be extremely frightening. Another task that had to be learnt was that of opening the ventilation doors.

As well as learning the different parts of his job, the pony also had to learn various words of command. In South Wales were taught from the beginning by word of mouth, never wearing a bit, just one leading rein from the bridle on the nearside. Common instruction were ‘Come-me-yer’ [go to the left], ‘see-way’ [go to the right],, ‘com-me-yer-back’[ turn right round], ‘come back’ [reverse to be hitched to the next dram] and ‘ease a bit’ [the pony eases into the collar to help place a derailed dram back on the track].