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Flying Horses

People enjoy riding carousels, or merry-go-rounds, all over the world. Today, a carousel is a type of ride that spins around and around. Riders sit on wooden animals that move up and down while the carousel turns. But the word carousel used to be a name for different games that were played while riding horses. In one of these games, riders tried to put a long pole through a ring that hung from a tree. A man in France decided to build a wooden circle with pretend horses to help people practise the game. His innovation became the first carousel.

The first practise carousels were very small. They had only one or two wooden horses. There were no motors, so a person, or sometimes a horse, had to push the carousel to make it turn. Still, many people enjoyed watching riders practise getting a pole through a ring while sitting on pretend horses. They thought the machine looked like fun to ride. Soon, small carousels were being built for fairs all over Europe.

In the 1800s, an Englishman built a carousel powered by a steam engine. This brought big changes to the little ride! Thanks to steam power, carousels were able to spin much faster. In America, people designed carousel horses that could move up and down as they went around in a circle. Steam-powered carousels were also able to carry the weight of many more horses and riders.

Today’s carousels run on electric motors and have mirrors, lights, music and beautifully painted animals. There have been many changes over the years to the way carousels work and look. But the joy carousels bring to riders is one thing that has not changed.