The Nipper — Catherine Cookson

The Nipper's been sold for a pit pony!'

Losing both his job and his home when the small farm he lives on is sold, fifteen-year-old Sandy is horrified when his much-loved young pony, the Nipper, is sold as a pit pony, destined to spend the rest of his life hauling coal underground, unlikely ever to see daylight or have fresh grass again. Desperate to share his pony's misfortunes, Sandy impulsively follows him down into the mines -- into a world of back breaking labour amidst squalid conditions.

But trouble is brewing and as the miners' talk turns to strikes and violence threatens, Sandy finds himself caught up in a dangerous race against time -- a race in which he is to need every ounce of the courage and strength that his gallant-hearted pony, The Nipper, can give…

The Nipper is a gripping tale of loyalty and determination, set against the harsh background of life in a north-eastern mining area in the early 1800s.