Fifty years ago the horse was given to their two sons by their grandfather, who had acquired it at a clearance sale, and May and Colin can well remember their sons enjoying a ride on it.

Known as a Mobo Bronco, it was a popular toy made by the English company D. Sebel & Co between 1947 to 1972. It moved along when the rider sat on it and pushed down the stirrups. Mobo stood for ‘mobile toys’ and the company also made other Mobo toys – although they weren’t as popular.

After the Criddle sons grew out of the toy horse, it was kept on May and Colin’s back veranda and in the garden shed for years. When they moved to Busselton from Geraldton some years ago, it came along.

“It was so rusty, but we couldn’t part with it,” May said.

But all good things come to an end, they say, so with nowhere to keep it any longer there was no other option than take it out of the shed.

“We couldn’t throw it in the rubbish tip so our daughter-in-law kindly brought it up here (to the museum),” she said.

“When they said that it had been all done up I was thrilled, but I never thought we would hear any more about it. Then we were asked here to have a look and when we saw it we couldn’t believe it.

“They have done a wonderful job, we’re almost speechless.”

If you want to have a look at the the Criddle family’s old Mobo Bronco, it is on display in a glass cabinet in the museum.

Museum volunteer Vern Elliott is the one who turned it from rust to beauty.