Museum horse at work
Next to the Bottle & Glass Inn is the Carter's Yard. The tack-room and stable block were moved to the Museum and they are brought to life by the horses which are kept there.
William is the Museum's Shire Horse. Standing 18 hands or almost 2 metres high he is a fine example of the heavy working horse which would have ploughed on farms or pulled heavy loads around the roads of the Black Country.
At the other end of the scale is Benji, the Museum's Pit Pony. This Shetland cross has never worked down a coal mine but is similar to those thousands of horses which transported coal from the pit face to the bottom of the shaft. Today he is used to haul smaller carts around the Museum often involved with maintenance work or moving goods about.
From time to time other horses can be seen at the Museum showing the range of different type and size of animal used before the days of the internal combustion engine.