Pit Pony

Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, 1904. Willie MacLean is an 12-year-old with a passion for horses and is helping his family get by the best since the death of his older brother in at the local coal mine (the Pit). Willie's older sister, Nellie, is perused by the Scot newcomer Ned Hall, who is always at odds with the mine's owner, Mr. Frawley over the working conditions. Meanwhile, Charley is hiding from the widow MacTavish over her husband's death, while Willie decides to enter his beloved horse, Sable, in a riding competition.

Nellie's Aunt Rose arrives for a visit, and she does not get along with Ned after learning that Nellie lied to her about him being a farmer instead of a miner. But Ned and Nellie's wedding plans hit a snag when Mr. Frawley wants Ned to work on Saturday, (the day of the wedding) and threatens to fire him if Ned takes off. Meanwhile, Willie is angry that Ned is forced to miss their training session for baseball, and Charley has to tutor Willie instead.

Willie and schoolmates, Mollie and Angus, are forced to spend the night in an abandoned house reputed to be haunted on a dare from pit boy Spider. There, Willie thinks he sees his father who advices him that things will get better. Meanwhile, Rose continues to resent Ned, but offers Nellie her mother's prized wedding dress, while Ned is offered to take the day off for his wedding by co-worker Allen, only to have tragedy strike in the mine.

In the aftermath of the recent pit flooding, Ned wants to organize a protest of the working conditions. But Mr. Frawley, and his MORE cynical and nasty boss, Wendell Crowe, only want to keep one section closed and keep the mine operating in fear of loss of profits. As the wedding of Ned and Nellie draws near, Aunt Rose begins to try to talk Nellie out of marrying Ned in fear of being set up for a major heartache. Meanwhile, Willie, Mollie, Angus and other schoolmates prepare to face off against Spider, Strech, Stringy, and the other pit boys in a grudge baseball game.

With Ned unjustly fired as an example by Mr. Frawley, Rose wants to take Maggie, Sarah, and Willie back to Halifax with her. Willie refuses to leave, town as does Nellie, until Ned, feeling he's failed her, breaks off their engagement. However, it takes some persuasion by Willie to try to plead on Mr. Frawley to let Ned have his old job at the mine back.

With Ned and Nellie away in nearby Sydney celebrating their honeymoon, the snobbish, city slicker Rose finds herself the center of attention by a traveling violinist, named John Scottie MacNeil, whom she snubs, making Willie and his sisters the center of hostility from the townspeople for teaching the legendary musician badly. As Maggie and Sarah prepare to move to Halifax with Rose, Willie seeks the company of Charley where MacNeil persuades Willie to live his difficulties through the magic of music.