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Pit Pony
If Willie could have his dream, he would go to Sable Island and ride free over the sand dunes on the back of a wild horse. Instead, 11-year-old Willie must work in the coal mines of Cape Breton, hardly ever seeing the light of day. But with the help of Gem, the gentle pit pony, he discovers that things aren't always as bad as they seem. And a surprising event reveals that miracles can happen, even in a coal mine.
116 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1989
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168 people want to read
About the author
Joyce Barkhouse
16 books2 followersAlthough her first short story was published when she was only 19, and she wrote most of her life, Joyce C. Barkhouse did not have a full-length book published until she was a grandmother.
Her love of Nova Scotia and her concern for the "forgotten" are reflected in her writings. She was the author of many short stories and articles which have been published in anthologies, school textbooks and periodicals, in Canada and the United States. She talked to thousands of school children and toured Manitoba, Ontario and Prince Edward Island, sponsored by the Canada Council and the Canandian Children's Book Centre. Adult work included The Lorenzen Collection (Nova Scotia ceramic mushrooms) and For Mothers and Others, a weekly column in Nova Scotia newspapers (1973-76).
Joyce Barkhouse's working papers and related materials have been donated to the Dalhousie University Archives (1960-1998).
Her love of Nova Scotia and her concern for the "forgotten" are reflected in her writings. She was the author of many short stories and articles which have been published in anthologies, school textbooks and periodicals, in Canada and the United States. She talked to thousands of school children and toured Manitoba, Ontario and Prince Edward Island, sponsored by the Canada Council and the Canandian Children's Book Centre. Adult work included The Lorenzen Collection (Nova Scotia ceramic mushrooms) and For Mothers and Others, a weekly column in Nova Scotia newspapers (1973-76).
Joyce Barkhouse's working papers and related materials have been donated to the Dalhousie University Archives (1960-1998).
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
December 16, 2019
When I googled Joyce Barkhouse (born in Woodville, Nova Scotia on May 3, 1913, she died in Bridgewater Nova Scotia on February 12, 2012 at the age of 98 and is furthermore the aunt of none other than Margaret Atwood), I was not at all surprised to discover that she was for many years a teacher and that as an educator, she of course first and foremost strongly believed in and advocated for learning, for the acquirement of knowledge (basically seeing education as a power for good). And thus, her middle grade novel Pit Pony not only much enlightens and yes indeed really and truly teaches us as readers about the often hard and dangerous lives of late 19th, early 20th century Cape Breton coal miners, it also continuously and yes with an almost vehement necessity points out how important even the mere concept of an adequate, of actually any type of education in and of itself is (particularly as a ways and means of making something of oneself, of advancement, of rising above and beyond just existing as a coal miner, education instead of simply doing the same back breaking, dangerous and potentially even lethal job of ones' mining forbears, ones' fathers, grandfathers, uncles, brothers etc.).
Now in Pit Pony, and more than a bit sadly (but nevertheless intensely realistic for all that) although eleven year old Willie Maclean is both a talented and indeed an eagerly appreciative of learning scholar (and had also promised his dying mother that he would keep up with his education, that he would not leave school prematurely) after a mining accident at the Oceans Deep coal mine (a disastrous rockfall) severely injures both Willie's father and older brother, Willie must leave school to work as a so-called trapper at the mine (opening and closing doors and gates for wagons and monitoring trapdoors in order to provide adequate ventilation) because, with his father and older brother both unable to work due to injury, the family would have been kicked out of their affordable company housing (as no active wage earner, even for a few days or weeks, would have resulted in immediate eviction). And although Willie despises, although he very much hates the very idea of working at Oceans Deep (for he would much rather study and/or engage in some type of employment involving horses), he nevertheless must become a trapper in order to help out his family, in order to make sure that he and his family actually have a roof over their collective heads. But very much fortunately for Willie, there is indeed one bright spot with regard to him having to work at the coal mine, namely that he befriends a pit pony named Gem (actually a Sable Island horse) and soon moves from being simply a trapper to being a driver, to actually driving a wagon pulled by Gem (a much more pleasing prospect for Willie, as he is now, even though still employed at Oceans Deep, working with horses, and responsible for Gem, responsible for a horse with whom he has forged a very strong bond of companionship, even actual friendship).
And while the above description of the basic plot lines of Pit Pony might at first seem a trifle like a standard tale of a young boy and his trusty horse, the novel is not ever (at least in my humble opinion) either overly sentimental or cliched, as Joyce Barkhouse never once attempts to hide and make light of the stark and often even heartbreaking, frightening realities of coal mining for both old and young (poisonous gasses, nasty bullying by more senior miners with a superiority complex, the ever-present dangers of rockfalls and mine explosions, that illness, serious injury and even death are not generally taken into account by the mine owners and managers, in other words, that the coal miners, just like the pit ponies, are more often than not simply resources to be used over and over again and then callously cast aside if or rather when they break down). Therefore, sadly but reflective of bona fide reality, and without us readers of Pit Pony ever actually being told, without the Oceans Deep mine owners and upper level management ever appearing or giving voice, we nevertheless and palpably so always one hundred percent feel and yes experience the immense power and clout owners and managers are continuously able to exert over the miners and their respective families (distressing perhaps, but a truth that is nevertheless both necessary and always presented by the author, by Joyce Barkhouse in a fashion that is still absolutely suitable and appropriate for the intended audience, for the intended age group, for children from about the age of ten onwards).
Now with regard to the ending of Pit Pony, I do leave the necessary caveat that sadly, Gem the pit pony does not survive the depicted and described mine disaster (as Willie Maclean decides to turn back his wagon in order to save the life of his tormentor Simon Ross instead of simply leaving as quickly as possible, resulting in Willie and Gem being caught in the mine collapse and rockfall). And while on an entirely personal and indeed emotional level, I am and continue to be more than a trifle angry and upset that the author, that Joyce Barkhouse chooses to basically "kill off" Gem so to speak, the logical part of myself does somewhat and even more than somewhat if truth be told understand the reasons why, as for one and realistically speaking, pit ponies very often did die during mine disasters and generally more frequently than their human counterparts, than the employed coal miners and that for two, Gem's death actually is in a way even necessary for Willie to be not only able but also willing to leave the Oceans Deep coal mine and continue with his interrupted education (once his brother and father are again well enough to return to work). For I seriously doubt that Willie (even for education's sake, even for his grandmother and for the promise he had made to his dying mother) would willingly leave the mine and go back to school (or to do some other type of non mining job) if Gem were still a pit pony at Oceans Deep (but Gem's demise, while indeed sad and yes also more than somewhat infuriating, and that Willie is actually able to keep her new born foal for himself, this does in a way liberate him from mining to pursue his education, which now, even his family seems to very much support and consider a worthwhile endeavour not to be squandered).
Now in Pit Pony, and more than a bit sadly (but nevertheless intensely realistic for all that) although eleven year old Willie Maclean is both a talented and indeed an eagerly appreciative of learning scholar (and had also promised his dying mother that he would keep up with his education, that he would not leave school prematurely) after a mining accident at the Oceans Deep coal mine (a disastrous rockfall) severely injures both Willie's father and older brother, Willie must leave school to work as a so-called trapper at the mine (opening and closing doors and gates for wagons and monitoring trapdoors in order to provide adequate ventilation) because, with his father and older brother both unable to work due to injury, the family would have been kicked out of their affordable company housing (as no active wage earner, even for a few days or weeks, would have resulted in immediate eviction). And although Willie despises, although he very much hates the very idea of working at Oceans Deep (for he would much rather study and/or engage in some type of employment involving horses), he nevertheless must become a trapper in order to help out his family, in order to make sure that he and his family actually have a roof over their collective heads. But very much fortunately for Willie, there is indeed one bright spot with regard to him having to work at the coal mine, namely that he befriends a pit pony named Gem (actually a Sable Island horse) and soon moves from being simply a trapper to being a driver, to actually driving a wagon pulled by Gem (a much more pleasing prospect for Willie, as he is now, even though still employed at Oceans Deep, working with horses, and responsible for Gem, responsible for a horse with whom he has forged a very strong bond of companionship, even actual friendship).
And while the above description of the basic plot lines of Pit Pony might at first seem a trifle like a standard tale of a young boy and his trusty horse, the novel is not ever (at least in my humble opinion) either overly sentimental or cliched, as Joyce Barkhouse never once attempts to hide and make light of the stark and often even heartbreaking, frightening realities of coal mining for both old and young (poisonous gasses, nasty bullying by more senior miners with a superiority complex, the ever-present dangers of rockfalls and mine explosions, that illness, serious injury and even death are not generally taken into account by the mine owners and managers, in other words, that the coal miners, just like the pit ponies, are more often than not simply resources to be used over and over again and then callously cast aside if or rather when they break down). Therefore, sadly but reflective of bona fide reality, and without us readers of Pit Pony ever actually being told, without the Oceans Deep mine owners and upper level management ever appearing or giving voice, we nevertheless and palpably so always one hundred percent feel and yes experience the immense power and clout owners and managers are continuously able to exert over the miners and their respective families (distressing perhaps, but a truth that is nevertheless both necessary and always presented by the author, by Joyce Barkhouse in a fashion that is still absolutely suitable and appropriate for the intended audience, for the intended age group, for children from about the age of ten onwards).
Now with regard to the ending of Pit Pony, I do leave the necessary caveat that sadly, Gem the pit pony does not survive the depicted and described mine disaster (as Willie Maclean decides to turn back his wagon in order to save the life of his tormentor Simon Ross instead of simply leaving as quickly as possible, resulting in Willie and Gem being caught in the mine collapse and rockfall). And while on an entirely personal and indeed emotional level, I am and continue to be more than a trifle angry and upset that the author, that Joyce Barkhouse chooses to basically "kill off" Gem so to speak, the logical part of myself does somewhat and even more than somewhat if truth be told understand the reasons why, as for one and realistically speaking, pit ponies very often did die during mine disasters and generally more frequently than their human counterparts, than the employed coal miners and that for two, Gem's death actually is in a way even necessary for Willie to be not only able but also willing to leave the Oceans Deep coal mine and continue with his interrupted education (once his brother and father are again well enough to return to work). For I seriously doubt that Willie (even for education's sake, even for his grandmother and for the promise he had made to his dying mother) would willingly leave the mine and go back to school (or to do some other type of non mining job) if Gem were still a pit pony at Oceans Deep (but Gem's demise, while indeed sad and yes also more than somewhat infuriating, and that Willie is actually able to keep her new born foal for himself, this does in a way liberate him from mining to pursue his education, which now, even his family seems to very much support and consider a worthwhile endeavour not to be squandered).
July 2, 2017
Read Aloud 6 yrs +
Reader 8 yrs +
Literary Awards
Ann Connor Brimer Award (1991)
Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People Nominee 1991
Worldview - Universally Acceptable
Setting:
Location - Nova Scotia
Time Period - 1902
Review
Eleven-year-old Willie doesn’t want to work in the mines even though his father is a coal miner and his grandfather before him. Willie dreams of getting a good education and making a different future for himself. When both his father and brother are injured in an accident at the mine Willie has no choice. He must go to work in the mines or see his family turned out of their company owned home with no where to go.
His natural affinity and passion for horses allow him to bond with a pony in the mines named Gem, who will work with no one else. He is promoted to drive a coal cart. The time he spent with horses in the past, which his father felt was time wasted, proves to be a credit to him and his family.
When disaster strikes again, Willie must choose whether to save himself or go back for the bully who has made his life miserable.
This sweet and wholesome story is a pleasure to read. It is perfect for an early chapter book with short chapters and large print. It is not ideal for a very first novel however, since it includes a very small amount of local dialect that young readers will struggle with. It would read aloud beautifully as well.
The pen and ink drawings are a charming addition that children will enjoy.
There is movie as well as a CBC TV show based on this book. I have not watched either of these and cannot attest to their appropriateness.
TV Series:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pit_Pon...
Movie:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pit_Pon...
Teacher Application
A lovely early novel to teach children about child labor, mining and life in early 1900 Nova Scotia.
Field Trip Opportunity
http://www.minersmuseum.com/experienc...
Parental Warning
N/A
October 27, 2019
Pit Pony is an enjoyable children's story about colliers on Cape Breton Island in the early 1900s. My son and I both liked it, and toward the end, he didn't want me to put the book down. A few editing errors in the text bugged me, but the story is interesting, and the author does a lovely job describing the time and the mines. She creates vivid mental images for the reader, and the wholesome values portrayed--loyalty to family, responsibility and putting others' needs before your wants, forgiveness--are great for kids and adults alike. The glossary at the back for the pronunciation and meaning of the occasional Gaelic words that show up in the text proves very useful.
The happy/sad ending may be upsetting for some of the younger crowd who are fond of horses. I remember disliking this book as a horse-crazy kid, for that reason. As an adult, the ending still makes me tear up, but I can appreciate the book now as more than just a horse story.
The happy/sad ending may be upsetting for some of the younger crowd who are fond of horses. I remember disliking this book as a horse-crazy kid, for that reason. As an adult, the ending still makes me tear up, but I can appreciate the book now as more than just a horse story.
January 25, 2018
A fast reading short story which is complete in its information and plot. Totally enjoyed learning a bit about ponies working in the coal mines and also learned those mines were under the ocean! A very hard life to live.
July 12, 2011
Pit Pony was a good book, and I'd definetely recommend it.
March 3, 2012
Wonderfully enlightening story about Nova Scotia, mining days, hardship of children. Happy Ending.
February 3, 2013
Read aloud to my 5 & 7 year old daughters. Fabulous storytelling and my kids learned a bit about Canadian history, the dangers of mining, and child labour.
February 26, 2014
My favorite part was when the boy made it out of the mine. The worst part was when it started to collapse. The best character was the boy. there was no worst character
Read
February 7, 2015Great book, my grandaughter is studying at school. Nice to see good literature being studied:-)
September 8, 2016
A great Canadian story for elementary kids.
December 11, 2018
This is the story of a boy who had to work in the Cape Breton mines when his father was injured, and the pony he befriended there. Beautiful illustrations. Wonderful illustrations.
December 16, 2019
I don't know why I chose this book. Pit ponies worked in mines, which are notoriously dangerous and poorly paid, so I should have realised the book was going to be a total downer. Plus the dear old trope of most animal stories that demands the death of the beloved animal at some point in the narrative. Barkhouse tried to pretty that one up with a sop to hope for the future, but ick.
A star and a half, rounded up because it was my own fault for choosing this book. I would have liked a bit more about the specific culture of Nova Scotia, which was precisely what we didn't get; the author preferred to focus on her downer story. Not a good choice for a night time read.
A star and a half, rounded up because it was my own fault for choosing this book. I would have liked a bit more about the specific culture of Nova Scotia, which was precisely what we didn't get; the author preferred to focus on her downer story. Not a good choice for a night time read.
January 5, 2026
picked this up from my local little free library - I never encountered this book as a kid and was curious. It was a quick, easy read and I really enjoyed it. It had drama and heart and did a great job aiming the material at the age group - it didn't shy away from accurately portraying how hard life was during the time period but did it in a way that is appropriate for the age of the readers. I would have loved this book as a kid.
November 23, 2020
A simple, sweet, and safely sad story about a boy who loves horses but, because of his family's extreme poverty, must leave school and his trips to the horse paddocks to work in the mines. Nothing earth-shattering here, but nothing too sappy or poorly-written, either.
March 23, 2021
I’m done
October 31, 2023
This one was a tear-jerker but kenzie and i both loved it.
March 6, 2025
I read this in grade six in one day. I couldn't put it down. I remember it as being one of my favorite books when I was a kid.
April 19, 2024
A classic!
May 26, 2025
Willie is an eleven-year-old boy living in Nova Scotia in the early 1900s. His father and older brother both work in the coal mines. Willie knows he will have to work in the mines when he gets a little older, but he longs to work with what he loves, horses.
This book for me was an eye-opening experience into the lives of people of the past. Accidents in the mine, explosions, dust, poisonous gases, wearying work, consumption---all these were a routine part of life working in the mines.
This book for me was an eye-opening experience into the lives of people of the past. Accidents in the mine, explosions, dust, poisonous gases, wearying work, consumption---all these were a routine part of life working in the mines.
October 19, 2025
I was a bit bummed with the movie that they changed major plot lines but it was really good in some ways but I HIGHLY recommend reading the book first. As an aside Ellen/Elliot Page's first role was in pit pony.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews