Customer Reviews

Radio Flyer Liberty Spring Horse with Sound

5 star:		(75)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I ordered this horse from different online store and was disappointed to receive a horse that lacked many of the advertised features. It had a hard plastic saddle instead of authentic padded leather-like one, only one position stirrups instead of three, did not have integrated steps for easier mounting or stabilization cones on the base. I called Radio Flyer and was told that they changed this model and the one I received was the new version. On my question why they changed it to a lower quality product they said it was the company decision. I ended up returning it and found the good one. I would like to warn all of you reading these glowing reviews that most of the reviewers have the older version with many nice features. If these features are important to you, please make sure you are getting the right version and spare yourself from disappointment and hassle of returning it. It is a shame that such a good company like Radio Flyer would do something like that.

When I bought this horse online for my granddaughter's birthday, I checked over all the horses I could find and hoped that this would be somehting that would be safe and fun. The construction is incredible. The seat is soft smooth leather and padded. My two year little one, easily mounts the horse, and although she is cautious in her undertakings, and some times fearful, she was quickly at ease with this horse. Radio Flyer must have grandchildren as they combed every piece of this product, as did the very protective uncle who put it together, and it is perfect. He could find no unsafe areas, it is made of the sturdest metal and covered wonderfully so no springs can pinch little bodies anywhere. My son said it was a piece of cake putting together. The sounds are so fun, my granddaughter giggles when the horse gallops and the songs are cute. Although it was the most expensive, it is the old saying that you get what you pay for and this was the right purchase. This horse will be passed to generations in sheer delight. Thank you Radio Flyer, as always a company of integrity products. Mimi

*****UPDATED AUGUST 01, 2011*****

Can I just say that this is still a favorite in our house, four years after we bought it. Our eldest is now 5 years old and we have a 3 year old as well. It still is ridden almost everyday by them and all their friends and the horse still looks and works as if it were brand new. Our girls weigh 44.5 lbs and 50.5 lbs and when they ride the horse it no longer scoots across the floor; they can get the legs to lift up off the ground if they rock it with enough strength but we've warned them that they might break it if they continue doing so. Amazingly enough; the batteries are still the originals, mind you, we usually turn it off now when we are done playing on it. The whole toy, springs, plastic body, material spring covers, rope hair; are all flawless; they look and function as if we just bought it. Kudos to Radio Flyer for making such a sturdy children's toy.

*****UPDATED AUGUST 28TH 2008*****
It has been a year since we bought our horse and it is still one of the most played with toys in our house. I don't think it goes a day without being ridden at least once. I haven't had to change the batteries yet, which I must say surprises me since it gets left on constantly. I have to make a correction to my original review, the sound is SUPPOSE to be motion activated, but we have left it on accidentally and 2 am in the morning the thing goes off and wakes the whole household. Not a big deal, you just have to make sure to switch it off, because it will go off even without someone on it. My daughter is 27 months old now and weighs 33 lbs and when she really rides it, it does move a bit but not so much that we've felt a need to secure it down with anything. The movement is minimal, we just make sure to pull it out from the wall. I also think that amazon has changed the picture of what they originally had up when I wrote my first review because the current picture looks more like the model we have, although the saddle still looks different. Our daughter can now reach the stir-ups with no problems, but still uses the back support bar most of the time. We have been nothing but happy with ours and I stand by my original review, it is a wonderful toy that I would recommend to anyone.

*****ORIGINAL REVIEW AUGUST 2007*****
We bought this for my daughter who is only 16 months old, even though the manufacturer recommended age was 24 months to 6 years. After reading some of the other reviews and looking a bit closer I realized that the horse that we bought, even though it has the same manufacturer and name is not the same one that Amazon is selling. We bought ours at Toy R Us for the same price but there are a few differences. Our saddle and saddle blanket are both plastic not leather and fabric. We do not have the little step and we don't have the bulky looking feet or the "adjustable" stirrups. Other than that I think it is the same though. I wish I would have seen this one before I bought ours as it looks like it's an upgraded version. I am writing this review anyway so that people are aware that there are two different style (maybe more) both made by Radio Flyer and both called Liberty Spring Horse with sound.
Our horse came in a pretty heavy duty box, which was great for us because we had to ship it out of the country and didn't have to worry about it getting damaged in transit. It was pretty easy to assemble, it came with straight forward instructions and the necessary tools needed for assembly, minus a screwdriver I think. My husband had it fully assembled in less than 20 minutes. Our daughter loves it. Even without the little step she is able to climb up on it using the base and the legs that house the springs. We don't have to help her at all. If she were bigger, I'm sure it would be a lot easier but she is determined and has figured out how to make it work. It bounces or rocks back and forth depending on whether she jumps up and down or rocks her body forward and back. She has no problem reaching the handlebars but her legs aren't long enough to comfortably reach the stirrups yet something that might not have been the case had we had the three leveled stirrups. She'll grow into them though and right now she is happy using the back support pegs to rest her feet on. This even allows her to stand up and pretend to be a jockey!!! The springs are covered by a black, pretty thick, padded piece of material which Velcro's on and can be removed if needed. It is very stable, even without the bulky feet, and doesn't slip or slide a bit on our tile floors, although my daughter is only 25 pounds right now, but she can get a bit carried away when she rocks out and it still doesn`t move.
We chose to get the model that has sound and I am glad we did. It takes three AA batteries (not included) and has an on off switch, which is located on the underside of the horses belly. It also has two different sound levels, a low and a high. Our horse has four different sounds, a horse whinnying and snorting. Then it has two gait sounds, a trot (clip clop clip clop) and a canter (clip clip clop clip clip clop). It also plays a musical version of Home on the Range. All the sounds are motion activated so even if you leave it on by accident, it won't play unless it's moved. The frame is made out of steel, the horse body is thick plastic and the mane and tail are weaved rope. It is made, as far as I can tell, very well, it doesn't look or feel cheap and they took a bit of time to do some detail. All in all, we are happy with our version and think that it is a wonderful addition to our toy collection. I would highly recommend it to everyone. I uploaded two pictures of my daughter onto the site so that you can see the differences between our and Amazon's version.

It's an awsome toy, my 2-year-old grandaughter loves it, has no trouble getting on and off it. The only suggestion I would have is to strap it to the floor if you don't have carpet - cuz when she gets going she starts moving around the room in little bits. This is a child that loves "bouncing" She's had it for a month and rides it every single day. Sound does turn off, so if you tire of the noise, that is an option.

I wanted to pass on some quick information on Liberty. There are actually two different models - one with sound and one without sound. In addition I think the Liberty with sound also has a "leather" saddle - make sure you are getting the right Liberty that you want. I wanted the one with sound and of course I have the other one - just some information ......

I read reviews on this and expected my grandson who was 23 months at Christmas to be able to get on and off this spring horse without difficulty. Not so, we have to help him on and off and can't leave him alone in the room with it. I know he will enjoy it when he is a probably 2 1/2 but it is not for an average size 2 year old. We have put it up for now but hope to use it in about 6 months. It looks great and my older grandsons age 6 and 7 got on it and enjoyed sitting on it, so I think it will be good later on. It was a great buy on Amazon versus the Toysrus here.

***2012 UPDATE***
We still have this horsie, still love it, and it's in great condition after 4 years. However, I was distressed to read in other reviews that Radio Flyer has cheapened their product -- what I reviewed is not what you'll get if you order this. I hope buyers can track down the version we have!
***END UPDATE***

We bought this for our 15-month old daughter, though the product is recommended for slightly older children. If your child is running and climbing pretty well, s/he is probably ready. Our daughter gets on and off the horse by herself and immediately mastered staying on and bouncing. Rocking back and forth took a few days. She loves it so much that I can tell her to "go ride horsie" when she's about to throw a fit, and she does!

It required some serious but not too difficult assembly (horse's head piece weirdly evokes "The Godfather"), and once it's put together it looks like a classic that will be passed down from generation to generation. The one we got had a slight dent in one of the leg pieces, but once assembled you couldn't tell.

The sounds ("Home on the Range," clip clops, and whinnys) are charming, and after a month they haven't started to bug us yet. If they ever do, there's an off switch. The yarn hair on the tail and mane is a nice alternative to the usual plastic. My daughter loves to pet horsie. I found the horse's face and expression cuter than in the pictures. I can't recommend it enough -- looks great, loads of fun, we love it.

I didn't realize there had been a change in this horse until just now as I was going to review the one we have. I must admit the other one sounds a lot better in terms of features and one major important factor: safety. I am giving this horse 3 stars for that reason. The hard plastic and stirrups that don't move I am fine with...growing up we had a spring horse and it wasn't padded, and there were 4 of us constantly using it so that's not a big deal. But, 3 or 4 times so far this horse has tipped over on my daughter. Luckily she's managed to escape unharmed, however, it is a heavy toy and I am going to have to look into ways to keep it on the floor. The fact that it's fallen over on her a few times hasn't dampened her enthusiasm for the horse, and we will continue to look for a solution to keep it upright.

I understand the company wanted to make other changes, however, to take away a very necessary safety feature was simply idiotic. I'm glad they put covers on the springs but the cones to keep it stable need to make their way back into production.

Now on to how my daughter feels about it: she loves it. She rides it every single day. I can't remember the recommended weight limit but even my son, who is 9, has had a few rides on it. The first time my daughter rode it she was looking for the slot to put in a quarter, like the horses at the grocery store. She was delighted to find there's no need for that.

And in the end, would I recommend this to a friend? Probably not, not the current model. The old one with stabilizers, yes, this one, no, which is a real shame because this toy would be perfect but for that important missing part.

This horse is pretty neat! Assembly instructions were easy to comprehend and the horse assembled without a "hitch" (no pun intended! ha!)! Make sure you have plenty of room as the toy takes up a lot of space. I didn't realize that one of the periodic noises the horse makes is a song (Home on the Range). I would have preferred the Lone Ranger theme or no song at all. My kid is still a bit young to ride the horse unassisted, but I am confident that this will quickly become one of her favorite toys when she gets a little older!

I bought this as a Christmas gift for my daughter. She loves this horse! She was very sick over Christmas and the horse actually brought a smile to her face. She is big for her age, VERY active and learns very quickly. The horse is a little big for her yet, but she has learned how to get up on it anyway. She does want help getting off. (She can get off herself but is a little nervous about doing so.) She loves the sounds and will smack it on the saddle to make it make noise. We have had no problems as of yet, but she has smacked her face on the horses head by riding it too hard. Didn't seem to stop her for very long. Over all, we are very pleased. I believe I made the right choice by going with the sounds. Her noisy toys are her favorite toys!!