Western Running Horse

The Western Running Horse is being used here to refer to a specific type of horse made by a group of USA makers. They are made of hard plastic from the 1950s to 1960s era. The first was probably made by Beton and copied by the other makers Ajax, Archer Plastics, and Lido. Usually they are marked with a maker name inside the body cavity. Occasionally they are not, and it is helpful in online auctions to be able to recognize them by other characteristics.

Seen from the side they look much alike.

However it is useful to know that the Archer horse has a curly pattern just under the saddle, and the Lido horse has an x pattern in the same place and upon the reins.

Archer detail

Lido detail

Seen from the rear it is obvious they fall into two types. the narrower stance is Archer and Lido which fortunately have the patterning at the saddles. The wider type is Ajax and Beton. To tell the difference between them it helps to look at the thickness of the legs, and how the Beton horse has a higher and straighter neck.

The companies also made a bucking bronco in hard plastic, which ca be seen at Western Bucking Bronco