Ride 'Im Cowboy

World's Fair Advert, December 26th 1953

While several British companies seem to have jumped on the kiddie ride bandwagon at the same time, making it impossible to confirm who was the first to get their design off of paper and onto the production line, it is likely that this little Robinson Partners pony was the very first British-made kiddie ride.

Reports in The World's Fair newspaper mention that the horses were being operated on Brighton's West Pier as early as Easter 1953 (a good five or six months before other companies released their rides onto the market!) and, by Christmas of that year, the horses were also in use at Littlewoods department stores in London.

While this is again hard to confirm, the horse most likely has another achievement to its names as having the longest production run in kiddie ride history.  It was still in production over 40 years later in 1995 when Robinson Partners was dissolved.  The design of both the horse and base was never altered.  Apparently Robinson Partners knew how to create a truly timeless machine!

The only thing that did change throughout the decades appears to be the name stencilled on the front of the base.  I have seen him under the names of Champ, Robby and, most commonly, Trigger.  A picture from the Robinson Partners factory in 1966 shows the horse names as "Champ", but I have no idea of the naming sequence beyond that.  The earliest examples don't seem to have had a name at all, hence I have named him "Ride-'Im Cowboy" on this website, the three words which seem to have been consistently stencilled on the side of the base over the years.  The horse was also referred to simply as "Rocking Horse" in some advertising material.

The horse was constructed of metal with external stove-enamelling (meaning the rides rarely needed to be repainted).  A 1953 report described the horse's colouring at "chocolate", but all that I have seen have been grey with darker patches on their flanks.  Measuring 3'6" tall, 3' long and 1'6" wide, the horse was far more compact than its early rivals, making it ideal for sites such as shops and smaller arcades.

Unknown shop, May 1996

The very first models on Brighton's West Pier operated on a threepence coin and ran for 90 seconds after a button was pressed.  The button was actually an old fashioned bus bell push, complete with the "press once" lettering, as was used on most Robinson Partners rides.

A report in "The World's Fair" states that Robinson Partners exhibited small spaceship toys at the 1954 Amusement Trade Exhibition which could be used in place of this horse.