Before the advent of the western movie genre that began in the late 30's and ran throughout the 40's and 50's, most of these finely-wrought, beautiful metal horses were fashioned after Thoroughbreds, Arabians, or military mounts, and were generally created out of bronze, copper, or brass. They graced the side tables of men's clubs, jockey clubs, country clubs, hotels, the desks of executives, the bookshelves of fine homes, and an occasional horse-loving lady's boudoir table.

But with the advent of the hard-ridin', fast shootin', rootin' tootin' westerns that caught the nation's imagination and took away some of the pain of the war and the depression, big metal foundries such as Dodge Metal Manufacturing, K O, and Abbot Metals began to commission fine art sculptures of elegant western type horses in full regalia and produce them for the public to meet the growing demand for all things western!

This Gladys Brown Edwards Statue became the standard for all of the larger (10-13") western horse figure copies.  See copy just below this photo.  Then see next generation copy below that one.

These highly detailed sculptures were modeled by the era's greatest equine artists, and then each original model was painstakingly reduced to metal castings. The smallest ones usually were made in two or three molds, but the more detailed, larger horses often took up to five or more separate molds which were then fitted painstakingly together, soldered and welded, polished and dipped into fine metal to coat them, and then exquisitely polished, antiqued and rubbed by hand to create the wonderful deep glowing coppery finish we have come to associate with these horses.

The Gladys Brown Edwards 8" Horse below became the standard for later copies (see row of various copies further down) and was one the MOST popular western horse figurines of all time.

Of course, over the years, these original molds wore out, and because the companies wanted to keep producing the greatly popular horses, new molds were created by using castings of one of the existing horse models. Those fine sculptures created by the original artists were far too expensive to come by, so copies of copies were manufactured.

From right to left, first through fourth generation copies of horse shown above,

Because Americans loved these horse models so greatly, other companies created very nice copies of the horses produced by these artists (whether authorized or not!), probably using these same methods. By 1953, there were at least fifty different types of horse statues that were patterned closely after those beautiful originals, although each copier made one or two minor changes so that no one would accuse them of making copies of someone else's work.

As these re-moldings wore out, more re-castings were done from the newer models, and many of the finer details of the original horses were lost. In the expediency of making more models as cheaply as possible, manufacturers started simply altering the mold so that the once gracefully curved tails that had touched the hock of one leg now stuck out in a stiff flag completely away from the rear legs, (see fifth generation copy below) and the realistic looking removable saddles became simpler, less expensive-to-make molded-on saddles. This practice continued until the newer cast horses were smaller, fatter, less finely-detailed, with unsightly visible mold-marks. Most of the newer models did not boast removable saddles and finely cast realistic bits that were strung with wire and chains to resemble the real bridles worn by real horses. Now, simple holes were drilled through the mouths, and a ball-chain rein was attached instead.

It was from these less expensive re-castings and lower quality moldings of the originals that the popular "Carnival Horse" statues were derived. Many novelties manufacturers simply made a cast of one of the nicer expensive horses (yep, they had pirates back then, too) and made a cheap, mass-produced copy that was then sold to carnivals, boardwalks, fairs, and punch board companies to be used as prizes for midway games. These prize horses were very popular for many years, because everyone wanted to have one of those stunningly beautiful statues sold by Dodge or KO, but couldn't afford one!

Smaller models were mass-produced by other metal manufacturing companies to sell as souvenirs, stamped or labeled to fit the need, and sold to tourists and children wanting a small memento of their visit. A great many of these were also copies of earlier Dodge or KO originals.

These are small copies of the bigger horses.  The tallest is only 7".  These were often given away as prizes, or purchased as souvenirs.

Today, we are extremely lucky if we find one of those old masterpieces of fine sculpture by such greats as Gladys Brown Edwards or Estes Tartar, and we usually must settle for the less expensive but just as enjoyably collectible "Carnival Horse" copies that show up on eBay in good numbers now and then.

Stunning opalescent copper finish of a Gladys Brown Edwards rearing stallion, meant to be attached to a trophy base or clock base.

If you are a newbie to collecting metal horses, or maybe just carnival horses, check out the books offered by Carolyn Martin on eBay. Ms. Martin has photographed thousands of metal horses from all around the world, and she has provided good solid information on the manufacturers and sculptors. You will get a much better idea of how very many metal horses are out there, and which ones you might want to search for. Then, if you are really ready to boogie, check out my guide for collecting these wonderful items. Good luck!