1950's Vintage Horse Kiddie Ride

Wow....I really hate to see this go! But moving and downsizing.... Several years ago when we were just getting started with the Christmas tree farm, we purchased a coin operated horse. Drove all the all to Dallas to get it. Brought it home and put it on the back porch. The intent was, to refurbish it and use it in the shop when the Christmas trees were ready for sale, which we knew was a few years ago. Fast forward to a few years later....and well, Trendy Tree took off and the Christmas trees fell by the wayside. They didn't actually fall, we just stopped planting more realizing our time was more appropriately working on our website business. We just let the trees grow away and now some of them are topping out at 15' or more! The horse enjoyed an easy life on the back porch, ridden by the grandchildren and okay, we'll admit it....a few grownups. It really made for nice pics of kids, cousins and just about anyone who visited us. We never did get around to refurbishing the horse but I did research it as much as I could. It "appears" to be one of the 1950's (maybe 1960's) Champion kiddie rides by Bally. We don't know for sure, we're only basing this on pictures we have see of old original rides and refurbished ones. We are basing our opinion on the shape of the horse and the base. We have no official proof. It didn't matter to us really what it was, it worked and we liked it. It had been repainted before we bought it and you can see a goldish/yellowish color underneath the more recent paint. We never did anything to it, except put a new electrical cord on it that the dog chewed the end off of. You know dogs and back porches...nothing is safe. To turn it off and on, we just plugged it into a power strip so the kids could just push a button and turn it on. It doesn't play any music or anything and it runs the same speed. It will run until you turn it off. The coin mechanism box is still attached, but doesn't work. Don't know if it's fixable or what. There are companies out there that restore these horses and the finished products range from $3,000 to $6,000! Really, it's surprising when you start researching. The seemingly practical thing to do would be to actually restore it and sell it for a better price....but if we haven't restored it in ten years.....we're not going to. But it's still kind of sad to see it go. As far as we know, it is the original saddle. It's missing some pieces and well....it's OLD! Still has stirrups. The leather bridle is missing, but the bit is in the mouth. Don't know if that's original or not. If you're interested in seeing some of the refurbished horses that are for sale just Google Champion Kiddie Ride and you will be amazed at the restoration and availability of replacement parts out there! So if you're looking for a rainy day project that your children or grandchildren will adore.....this horse is for you))) Heck, they'll love if you don't do anything but bring it home! Sale price is $1,000. Email me if interested. [email protected]