Far West

 Another complicated horse ride, manufactured by numerous different companies over the years, sometimes with very slight differences.  I will attempt to round them all up into this one page!

The earliest record I've found of this horse is in a photograph taken at the October 1969 IMA Exhibition in Berlin.  There it was being exhibited by Rhenania-Automaten, but there's nothing to say whether it was manufactured or distributed by this company, or indeed if it was going under the name of "Far West" at that point.  They did show a ride called "Minitrotter" at the exhibition, so possibly that was this horse.

It then turns up on the stand of the Italian firm Albertazzi at the Milan Fair in May 1972.  However, I know for a fact that this version was manufactured by Walmatich, another Italian company, so presumably Albertazzi were distributors of the machine.  The horse now had a revolver affixed on top of its head and a TV screen-style box stood in front of it.  While sitting upon the horse, riders could "fire" the revolver at moving figures on the screen.

Walmatich also sold the gun separately so, theoretically, it's possible that many horses that have this feature didn't originally (and vice versa).  Why must the history of coin operated rides be so confusing?

The Walmatich version was widely distributed in the UK by Ruffler & Deith in the mid-late 1970s.  It also turns up on Model Racing's stands at various trade shows in both Britan and Italy so I presume that they had a hand in distributing the horses as well!

Falgas's Galloping Horse has the same basic pose but with some differences to the moulding of the mane and tack.  The Falgas version was released in the mid-late 1980s and widely distributed in the UK by Williams Amusements.


Falgas Galloping Horse - Carnivale Amusements, Chapel St Leonards, June 2017.  This particular unit was a beautiful example with both his original colours and sound.  Hearing those galloping hooves and crazy high pitched whinnying took me right back to my childhood!