Eric & Ernie The Welsh Ponies Find New Home

If you read our sad story about the death of Sparky the pit pony earlier this year, then you'll be pleased to know that, although Sparky can never be replaced, the museum he lived at has found two new ponies - Eric and Ernie.

Eric and Ernie are Welsh ponies, and have been adopted by the National Mining Museum in West Yorkshire from the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).

Here's Eric on the left and Ernie on the right with one of the museum's miners.

© National Mining Museum

They had been rescued by the RSPCA from a coalfield area in Wales where they had been abandoned.

Sparky was the oldest deep mine pit pony left in the country, and had worked down coalmines dragging equipment and coal.

Eric and Ernie have never been down a coalmine and won't be used for that, but will wear the pit harnesses and protective headgear that ponies used to use in the mines so that visitors can see what it was like for them.

Welsh ponies were ideal for working in mines as they are small and tough.

Eric and Ernie are both three years old and 12 hands high, which means they are roughly 124cm high at the shoulders, about the same height as an average seven-year-old boy.

© National Mining Museum

The new ponies are still settling in with their stablemates Colonel the shire horse, Patch the cob and Robbie the Welsh pony.

Staff at the museum say that Ernie is already full of confidence and enjoying the attention from visitors. Eric is a bit shy at the moment but apparently can be coaxed with a tasty carrot!