source: theatlantic

For most of human history, horses have been, primarily, a technology. An intimate technology, yes — people named their horses, and groomed them, and sometimes loved them — but horses were, for the most part, tools: They helped humanity to get around and get things done. Once steam power and internal combustion came along, though, that relationship changed drastically. As horses were eclipsed by more efficient methods of moving people and things — trains, cars, planes — their role in human culture shifted, as well. We quickly came to see horses more as what they had been, of course, all along: fellow animals.

That shift is evident in a longstanding dream that is a little bit fanciful, a little bit practical, a little bit silly, and a little bit wonderful: the quest for the mechanical horse. While some creations — the Scammel mechanical horse, the Iron Horse — imagined themselves as horses’ mechanized successors while not actually resembling them, many others have engaged in biomimicry of a more specific variety. While they are only one species we humans have seen fit to imitate with our machines — the world now hosts, among other automatons, the mechanical dog, the mechanical dinosaur, the mechanical pack mule, the mechanical elephant, the mechanical flea, and the mechanical shark — horses have held a special place in human hearts.
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source: psycheskinnerhubpages

Some people take the notion of mechanical horses much more literally than as a metaphor for a motorcycle or car. here are some examples of modes of transport with one horsepower…. I am listing only horses that actually make forward motion with a rider or drawing a carriage.

While many have imagined mechanical horses, including patents filed in 1878 and 1893, few constructed a version that actually worked.

1932: Sam Barton’s Horse
Sam Barton was a Vaudeville clown who liked to entertain the crowds with his bicycle powered horse.

1933: Horse of Steel
This Italian petrol-engine powered horse had mechanical steel pipe legs. It was said to be able to traverse relatively rough terrain.

1936: Hobbyhorse
This toy turns up and down motion into forward progress–albeit rather slowly.

1937: Hobby Horses
While these barely count as horse-like (it is more aesthetic than function) these boardwalk horses are fun, stylish and do have some horse-like motion built in.

1941: Roy Sheldon Gas Powered Horse
This model had a slight galloping motion although the legs seem to have been fixed in place.

1951: Bogart’s Mini-Horse
George A. Bogart created a small mechanical horse that could pull a cart on level ground with good traction.

1968: Blowtorch
W.J. McIntyre created a series of horses where a petrol engine turned small wheels under the hooves. The legs moved but the motion was cosmetic rather than locomotive.

2004: Movie Prop Horse

2006: R7
Not exactly a horse, but the four-legged RT is equipped for a comfortable ride.

2009: Maker Faire
This mechanical horse appeared at the Maker Faire in Newcastle. I am not sure that it really meets my requirements of forward motion and ride-ability, but I am giving it the benefit of the doubt.

Modern: Child’s Peddle Horse
Does anyone have one of these? I assume they work similar to a peddle car.