I have to tell you I grew up in Brooklyn and have enjoyed Coney since childhood and 50 years ago rode those Steeplechase Horses around and slid down the giant Sliding Pond within !!!
My dad was telling me how when he was a kid he remembers holding onto his aunt for dear life! I looked it up and several people died including a 10 year old boy. I could've never been born because of this ridiculous ride. It does look fun though lol
I rode this same exact ride as it was in the 1960's! I was like 7 yrs old and dont under estimate this horsey,i thought i was gonna fall off! Great memories of this classic horsey race ride! God i miss those days so much!
My favorite part of every visit to Steeplechase Park! Went there many, many times throughout the 1950s and early 1960s. When you were very young, the attendants made sure you cinched up the leather belt around your waist. There was always talk by the attendants that “last week” somebody fell off a horse to terrible injury or death, but somehow the story never got into the Daily News or the Post. Then they released the horses from the area where you mounted them to be ratcheted up a big hill, which gave you the momentum for the ride. The climb was plenty of time to undo the belt! A pause at the top of the “hill” - and then away you flew for maybe 90 seconds of exhilarating terror!
Hey, I rode this thing as a kid in the '60's somewhere in FLA on vacation - holding on to my Dad for my life. This thing was dangerous as hell - no straps- no nothing to keep you on - just sliding around on a slick, metal horse doing about 20 mph. Nerdy? I think not - on that day I became a MAN!
Only 1 safety rule! 'Hold on tight...Real tight'!! I rode this with my Uncle many many years ago! What a blast! Thanks for posting this for some good 'ol memories!
My mom lived in Wildwood NJ as a kid and she would tell me about horses that went down a track really fast. I guess it was like this!! She lived there from 1935 to 1945. Wow,what fun!!!
Damn I loved this ride. I guess I was about 10 and rode with my dad. I remember there was absolutely nothing holding you on these horses. You just held on to the reins. If you fell off, too bad (this was an age before all the law suits.) After you got off the ride, you had to walk through a stage with all the Steeplechase evil clowns (as I call them.) They'd slap you on your ass with a wooden paddle, give you an electric shock, or blow women's skirts up with an air hose. Can you IMAGINE any of this today?? lol
Elizabeth! I think I still have nightmares about those clowns. Many of them were midgets so at 9 years old they were just my height and they'd smile at you with their painted faces as they whapped you. I begged my dad to figure out a way I could ride the horses and not go through the stage with the clowns but there was no other exit. I guess it's too late for a law suit since Steeplechase closed in 1964 and all the clowns are dead.
Here is a funny story :) I grew up in UK, all the houses are 100's of years old. So not only was I sleeping in a very old creaky, drafty house right? My late grandmother "thought" clowns were cute. She had an arrangement of them at the bottom of my bed. I lay terrified of them! Looking at them over the covers! lol! They looked so creepy and scary! I am not sure what it is about clowns? But I also have been scarred since I was a kid ha ha! Still hate clowns as an adult! :P I enjoyed your story though, love to go back into the past and hear others stories as well! God Bless :) x e.
Gggg, our tour guide told us about this when I went with my school last month. Dear lord, I would’ve had a panic attack if I rode this version. I could barely handle the current version at Coney Island.
I remember it well. I also remember the audience. There was a sort of circular bleachers (U shaped) focused on the stage where people completing the mechanical horse (or "horses on the track") ride had to get by the clowns. There were always at least a couple of old guys up there, who apparently bought a cheap ticket and spent their day watching people getting electric shocks from the cattle prods carried by the clowns, and seeing a bit of leg as the women's skirts got blown up when they unknowingly stepped on the air vent.
I rode the steeplechase twice about 1956. The first time I was on a horse by myself. The second time I was on the same horse with my father. The second ride was a lot faster.
I rode this back in the 60's as a small boy. I remember the safety strap around my waist (hahaha) and holding on for dear life. I also recall that there were small variations between the tracks, making the 'race' uneven
Me too, early 60's.. I was very young but remember being so scared and crying...LOL I was on with my Mom....then she made me go in that steel barrel tunnel thing that I hated too. Needless to say ever since I hate rides!!
But the real fun started when you got to the end of the ride and the clowns wacked you in the rear end, or the gals walked over the air vent that blew up!!
Damn this sucks!!! I never got a chance to ride this, but all the old people in My family did, it was torn down 3 years before I was born. I could only surmise based on what they told Me and the film footage I have seen here & there throughout My life. I am so jealous ;). My Parents, Aunts, Uncles and, Cousins got ride this, even My GrandMother and Great-Grandmother rode it Sadly for me I never rode this ride.
Fortunately, your generation had things they did not have like penicillin and electricity. You lived to enjoy Diet Coke and a Quarter pounder with cheese... It was a fair trade off.
@@stevepotfora7461 What the hell you talking about? I was Born & Raised in NYC but I didn't eat a lot of the _PHAKE PHAST PHOOD_ nor took most _"MediSINs."_ Mainly going to Hospitals for Emergencies like for deep cuts needing stitches. *_What's a "DIE-t Coke?"_* _ANSWER: ToxSICK POISON._ I NEVER enjoyed it beyond one taste of the horrid Saccharin/Aspartame. I drank Cane Sugar Cola's & stopped (1980s) in My 20s due to Phosphoric Acid. *_1/4 Pounder -_* I never liked _CrackDonalds,_ I HATE Stupid CLOWNS since a little Girl. At age 6, 1973 I learned how to cook eggs, unlike much of these sorry-ass know-NOTHNG kids today. Cooked My own BEEF Burgers & fried Chicken from My Grt.GrandParents farm at 10 y/o My Father had brought up to NYC for Us to EAT. *_Electricity -_* My Elder Family had Electricity in their home, _they was about that $money$._ My eldest relatives I grew up with was My Great-Grand Parents born in 1883/1889/1894 dying out by late-1960s - early-1980s. My Elders who LIVED BEFORE My Great-GrandParents probably didn't have Electricity. Reason of probability - accept it or not, more & more evidence keeps coming out of advanced Technology People & Societies had PRIOR to _late_ 1800s. *_Penicillin/MOLD FUNGUS -_* My Great-GrandParents - 2 Were FARMERS healed themselves & Us with HERBS. No need for Penicillin. All Summers until age 13 I went to S. Carolina to help on My Father's Family Farm planting seeds for those Herbs.
This thing would have been amongst the oldest (if not thee oldest) ride in the world if it were spared to this day, probably with the most rides given of any amusement park attraction ever .....
I was too young to ride this. It was fun to watch, and it was a gravity ride (powered by going downhill most of the ride). They have a new version that's more like a roller coaster.
My father took me in early 1960's when I was in my thirties -- my first experience -- he was wearing his fedora and we both were in coats -- was the ride open year round?
My dad was telling me how when he was a kid he remembers holding onto his aunt for dear life! I looked it up and several people died including a 10 year old boy. I could've never been born because of this ridiculous ride. It does look fun though lol
