In the years leading up to 2015, Collinsville hit a low point as cuts forced miners to look elsewhere for work and the town's two pubs had shut. So the town banded together at the start of 2015 with the idea to create the Pit Pony Experience to help attract visitors to town. A crowd-funding campaign raised $190,500, a whopping $40,500 over target, which funded a grand bronze pit pony sculpture, donors' wall and a drive trail dotted with stunning murals to create "selfie walls". The release of A Miner's Best Friend marks the fifth anniversary of the launch of the Pit Pony Experience.